SAN MARCOS — The industrial kitchen classroom at Mission Hills High School was buzzing with students in crisp white uniforms on Thursday morning as they added the final touches to their steaming pots of pozole.
Students in the school’s culinary arts program had been perfecting their recipes for weeks to prepare for this moment on Oct. 19, when San Marcos Unified School District leaders would sample pozoles made by three student groups and choose one to be served as part of the district’s seasonal lunch menu.
After a round of tastings by Superintendent Andy Johnsen, Child Nutrition Services Executive Director Naomi Shadwell and other officials, the recipe by senior Samantha Dahl’s group was declared the winner.
Dahl took her first culinary class at Mission Hills last year and said that cooking has since become a passion. Having her group’s recipe chosen was an affirmation of their hard work.
“I got so excited. Honestly, I have been bragging about it because cooking is something I’m really passionate about,” Dahl said, laughing. “It was cool to see how everybody would work together and talk about how different their recipes were.”
One of the oldest dishes in Mexico, pozole is a soup typically made with chicken or pork, hominy (dried and nixtamalized corn kernels), tomatillos and cilantro, and garnished with lettuce, radishes and limes.
Mission Hills students all used turkey for their green pozoles, but each group brought their own style to the table. Sophomore Ashley Olguin, another leader of one of the final three groups, said their recipe was based on her family’s pozole that she grew up eating at birthday parties and other special events.
“For me, it was honestly fun getting to work with the rest of my team members and having them be involved in a recipe that’s part of my family,” Olguin said.
The competition was a first in the longtime culinary program at Mission Hills, part of the district’s Career Technical Education offerings. Instructor Ramon Maldonado, known as Chef Ramon, said the idea was formed after culinary students successfully catered several district events last year.
After posing the idea over the summer of having students create something for the lunch menu, the district’s Child Nutrition Services department got on board, and Maldonado and students got to work at the start of the school year.
“We talked about the history of pozole and started costing out different recipes. They [students] just bought into it, that’s the big thing — they really bought into the idea of making something that they can say is their own,” Maldonado said.
Senior Johnathan Lopez led a team that opted for a broth with green chilies for an added kick. He said that although they didn’t win, they were proud of their final result.
“It was a tough competition… I feel like we all put 110% into the recipe. We were satisfied with how it came out and the presentation. It was a really fun experience,” he said.
Some students in the program, including Lopez and Dahl, are planning to pursue careers in the field at culinary school after graduating. That is due, in large part, to their experience at Mission Hills.
“The culinary program is an excellent program. I think every school should offer it because it really gets you hands-on with different flavors,” Lopez said. “You get a real in-restaurant experience.”
