Eleven teams of students battled in the Student Activities Board’s Charger Chopped last Saturday, with team “Lank” taking first place.
Contestants had 50 minutes to create a dish containing the mystery ingredients of strawberries, coconut milk, and chili-garlic sauce.
Director of Student Activities Maddie Clark, Assistant Professor of History Anna Vincenzi, and senior Vinny Hill judged each dish based on presentation, creativity, originality, and taste.
The competition was originally scheduled to last 30 minutes, but a fuse blew out midway through the competition and the judges increased the allotted time by about 20 minutes, according to Clark.
Juniors Matthew Byrne, Jack Cote, and Isaac Green of team “Lank” won with a winning dish of strawberry garlic chili stir-fry with coconut butter chicken.
“We thought the garlic chili would go well in a stir-fry,” Byrne said. “We decided to do noodles instead of rice and just went from there.”
Byrne said it was his first time officially participating, as he was a spectator in the previous Charger Chopped. He said he was called in as an emergency substitute for a missing contestant.
Byrne said that the name of the team came from Cote’s brother, Max.
Junior Rachel Schroder of runner-up team “Chopped Your Chances of Winning” said that she enjoyed her time at the event.
“It was a super fun experience overall,” she said. “What better thing to do on a Saturday than to cook with your friends with food you didn’t have to buy?”
Schroder’s team cooked a deconstructed taco, which they called “Untacobles,” containing butter rice, ground beef, strawberry salsa, and a coconut cream sauce.
“The flavors really did blend well,” Schroder said. “It was a surprise because we had to mix three different ingredients that did not seem like they would go well together.”
SAB hosts a Charger Chopped event approximately every other year, with the previous event occurring in spring 2022, according to Clark.
Clark said the event is popular, even if it is not an SAB staple like President’s Ball.
“As far as I know, it’s always been full,” Clark said. “It was smaller this year. We only had 12 available spots.”
Clark said SAB filled all 12 spots, but due to a last-minute cancellation, 11 teams ended up competing.
