Each spring semester as a culmination of all of the skills that freshmen learn in their cooking classes, students go head-to-head in a competition known as “Clash of the Cooks!” Each year, a new theme is chosen by staff – this year’s theme was “Quesadillas.” Then, using the theme, each cooking group works with their instructors to find (and often modify) a recipe and learn to cook a dish that fits within the theme.
Every group prepares their unique dish to bring to a meeting of the cooking classes. All participating students and staff members then have a chance to sample all of the dishes and vote for their favorites. Dishes are judged on three categories – presentation, overall taste, and the uniqueness of the dish.
This year, we had some amazing contenders! Here are the quesadillas that were presented to the judge’s panel:
William Eggspeare: A breakfast quesadilla comprised of eggs, fresh veggies, and chives grown in the College Experience garden.
Big Apple: A desert themed apple pie quesadilla, served with whipped cream!
Southwest Frittata: A gluten-free quesadilla, made with corn tortillas, eggs and southwest flavor.
Pepperoni Pizza: A crowd favorite, with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and chopped pepperoni.
Fruity Chocolate Thunder: A gastronomic experience, with Nutella, strawberries and cinnamon.
After a lot of deliberation (not to mention, second helpings), everyone was able to vote and the winners were chosen, but it was a tough race!
Best Presentation: Willam Eggspeare
Best Overall Taste: Pepperoni Pizza
Most creative/unique: Big Apple
Congrats to the winners! Clash of the Cooks is a really fun way each year to practice new skills, try to recipes, and celebrate accomplishments in cooking. We are really impressed with our freshmen (soon-to-be seniors) class this year!
What comes after graduation? Many College Experience students, in fact most, choose to remain in Albany. They maintain friendships with their fellow and former graduates, form romantic partnerships, and some get married.