NH students battle in MRE cooking competition

CONCORD- The New Hampshire Department of Education and the New Hampshire Army National Guard are teaming up to host the 2019 Chopped Challenge, a cooking competition in the style of Chopped or Iron Chef America, among six New Hampshire high schools Career and Technical Education programs.

Where: Salem High School

Date: November 20th (snow date November 21st)

Time: Team Arrival 3:00 pm Competition Start 4:00 pm Judging 5:30 pm Awards 6:00 pm

Who: NH CTE Marketing, Video Production, and Culinary Arts Programs from Nashua, Milford, Pinkerton, Salem, Alvirne, and the Manchester School of Technology.

What: A friendly competition to increase awareness of CTE programs and opportunities for high school students in the National Guard. Teams of three culinary students will be paired with an administrator from their home school and a New Hampshire Army National Guardsman. The teams will be tasked with writing a menu in 15 minutes and creating four plates for judging in an hour that they will then create from three different MRE's supplied to them the day of the contest.

"This competition will not only give our talented CTE students a chance to show off their skills, across several programs, but also put them in contact with the dedicated men and women serving in the New Hampshire National Guard," said Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut. "I'm looking forward to seeing these teams turn field rations into gourmets meals."

"As a connoisseur of MRE's going back to the 1980s, I have tasted a diverse array of gastronomic delicacies specially crafted for the soldier on the go," said New Hampshire Adjutant Gen. David Mikolaities. "I'm confident these students have the culinary genius and imagination to raise the level of palpability of this iconic and much maligned military food item. I can't wait to see, and taste, their takes."

"I'm very pleased the Department of Education and National Guard are offering this great opportunity to culinary, marketing, and ROTC students to collaborate and compete," said Nashua Culinary Arts Teacher David Quimby, who is helping to organize the event.

Students will not know which MRE's are to be used until the start of the competition. Schools will be given 12 MRE's to practice and get familiar with before the week of the contest. The Guard will also be unveiling one secret ingredient that will need to be used in the dishes.

Students from each school's Marketing and Video Production CTE programs will also be competing.

For more information, contact David Quimby, Nashua Technology Center, (603) 966-2469, quimbyd@nashua.edu or SGT Zerk-Eli Manner, NH National Guard, (603) 491-0149, Zerkeli.manner2.mil@mail.mil

To arrange coverage, contact Grant Bosse, Department of Education, (603) 513-3030, grant.bosse@doe.nh.gov.