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JCC Iron Chef puts teens into cooking competition
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By ARLENE FINE, Senior Staff Reporter
Jon Gerst, 23, teen-services supervisor at The Mandel JCC, began his job just four months ago, and he is already cooking.
“We surveyed area Jewish teens to see what type of activities they would like to see at the JCC,” says Gerst. “We got a great response, and interest in a cooking competition was right up there.”
So, on Monday, Dec. 24, several teams of five teens each, will participate in the first-ever Iron Chef: Battle Chanukah 2007 competition at the JCC.
An avid cook himself, Gerst says the popularity of cooking shows and the fact that Cleveland’s Michael Symon was the latest Iron Chef makes cooking very “cool” in teens’ eyes. “It also provides them insight into what goes on in a kitchen,” he says.
As interest builds for the cook-off, Gerst is confident that more budding chefs will sign up before the Dec. 21 deadline. They can register individually or as a team.
The competition will be held at the JCC’s Stonehill Auditorium. All the cooking utensils, including hot plates and toaster ovens, are kosher and come from the Camp Wise kitchen. The food will also be kosher, including the “secret ingredient” that Iron Chef teams must incorporate into their recipes.
“The actual cooking time to create three dishes n appetizer, main course and dessert n should take about an hour,” says Gerst. Team members have to figure out their game plan and then execute their menu. A panel of special celebrity judges will determine which team earns the title of JCC Iron Chef.
While the teens are busy chopping, stirring and frying, audience members can also get into the act by participating in a kosher pickle eating contest. The winner gets a prize, “but it won’t be a jar of sour pickles,” promises Gerst.
The Iron Chef event is the first of many other teen-centered activities that Gerst, a recreation management major at Ohio University, is planning. There will be a “Dive-in Movie” for 7th- and 8th-graders on Dec. 26 at the JCC pool and a holiday dodgeball tournament on Dec. 28. (See “Citybeat,” page 50.)
“We are planning activities that will bring together Jewish teens who are JCC members n and those who are not n in creative, interesting ways,” says Gerst. “There is a teen population that the JCC was not serving, and we want to let them know they are very much part of this community.”
One of the cooking-team contestants is Shaker Heights ninth-grader Keri Semel. “I can’t wait for the competition,” she says. “It’s a fun way to meet people, and I love to cook.”
Keri likes to watch cooking shows, and “Top Chef” is her favorite. “I’ve learned how to chop things very fast,” she says. She is hoping the competition’s secret ingredient is cauliflower ...“because I like it.”
afine@cjn.org
WHAT:
Iron Chef JCC:
Battle Chanukah 2007
WHERE:
Mandel JCC Stonehill Auditorium
WHEN:
Mon., Dec. 24, 2-4
FEE:
For JCC member and non-member competitors and for audience
CONTACT:
Jon Gerst at 216-593-6218
“We surveyed area Jewish teens to see what type of activities they would like to see at the JCC,” says Gerst. “We got a great response, and interest in a cooking competition was right up there.”
So, on Monday, Dec. 24, several teams of five teens each, will participate in the first-ever Iron Chef: Battle Chanukah 2007 competition at the JCC.
An avid cook himself, Gerst says the popularity of cooking shows and the fact that Cleveland’s Michael Symon was the latest Iron Chef makes cooking very “cool” in teens’ eyes. “It also provides them insight into what goes on in a kitchen,” he says.
As interest builds for the cook-off, Gerst is confident that more budding chefs will sign up before the Dec. 21 deadline. They can register individually or as a team.
The competition will be held at the JCC’s Stonehill Auditorium. All the cooking utensils, including hot plates and toaster ovens, are kosher and come from the Camp Wise kitchen. The food will also be kosher, including the “secret ingredient” that Iron Chef teams must incorporate into their recipes.
“The actual cooking time to create three dishes n appetizer, main course and dessert n should take about an hour,” says Gerst. Team members have to figure out their game plan and then execute their menu. A panel of special celebrity judges will determine which team earns the title of JCC Iron Chef.
While the teens are busy chopping, stirring and frying, audience members can also get into the act by participating in a kosher pickle eating contest. The winner gets a prize, “but it won’t be a jar of sour pickles,” promises Gerst.
The Iron Chef event is the first of many other teen-centered activities that Gerst, a recreation management major at Ohio University, is planning. There will be a “Dive-in Movie” for 7th- and 8th-graders on Dec. 26 at the JCC pool and a holiday dodgeball tournament on Dec. 28. (See “Citybeat,” page 50.)
“We are planning activities that will bring together Jewish teens who are JCC members n and those who are not n in creative, interesting ways,” says Gerst. “There is a teen population that the JCC was not serving, and we want to let them know they are very much part of this community.”
One of the cooking-team contestants is Shaker Heights ninth-grader Keri Semel. “I can’t wait for the competition,” she says. “It’s a fun way to meet people, and I love to cook.”
Keri likes to watch cooking shows, and “Top Chef” is her favorite. “I’ve learned how to chop things very fast,” she says. She is hoping the competition’s secret ingredient is cauliflower ...“because I like it.”
afine@cjn.org
WHAT:
Iron Chef JCC:
Battle Chanukah 2007
WHERE:
Mandel JCC Stonehill Auditorium
WHEN:
Mon., Dec. 24, 2-4
FEE:
For JCC member and non-member competitors and for audience
CONTACT:
Jon Gerst at 216-593-6218
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