When it comes to high school competitions, none is quite so delicious as the Student Chef Showdown.

The showdown pits teams of students from the culinary arts and the baking and bastry classes against one another as each team prepares a three-course meal for the audience to judge.

“The food was really good,” said Sheldon Stremler, whose granddaughter was a chef in the competition.

“Some of it’s interesting.”

Each team had a theme they stuck with throughout the menu, including French, Russian, Caribbean, two Italian, vegetarian Latin American and Persian cuisines.

During the event, held Saturday, Nov. 15, at Oak Harbor High School, guests ventured around the room collecting one- or two-ounce samples of the different courses to taste. They then voted on their favorite appetizer, entree, dessert and overall team.

“Food is a passion of mine,” said David Marrufo, a chef on the Caribbean-inspired team. He said the competition was “a great experience for anyone who’s interested in a career in the culinary world.

“You get a lot of experience doing this competition, serving, preparing food and practicing greeting guests.”

Two of those guests Saturday evening were with the Washington Restaurant Association. Kim and Lyle Hildahl both work in the ProStart program, which partners with schools and restaurants around Washington to provide industry connections to culinary students.

“I help connect the students with the local restaurant operators for job shadowing, mentoring and future employment,” Kim Hildahl said.

Her husband, Lyle Hildahl, runs the Education Foundation with the association and often attends the school competitions.

“The fun thing about competitions … is it gets all the kids involved,” Lyle Hildahl said. “(It) shows what they can do to the public, get immediate feedback, which is very awarding for them.”

For him, one of the highlights included the duck confit poutine, the entree prepared by Patrick Punch on the French-inspired team. It won the best entree.

“He prepared it the way you would normally do it right,” Lyle Hildahl said. “The flavors came out. Letting it rest in your mouth for a little bit, you can just tell how tender and flavorful it was.”

The winning appetizer was the Persian baba ganoush, served with flatbread, prepared by Cody Gumbel, who also made the entree for his team.

Gumbel said he was inspired by his past instructional assistant, who is Iranian, to make Persian food.

The other winners included the Latin American team’s dessert, tuile cups with berries and mango sabayon. The French team won best overall team.

“I liked them all,” Lyle Hildahl said. “There was something about every presentation that stood out.

“More than anything, what I loved was how proud the kids were of the dishes they prepared. It was like they owned it, they loved it.”

The competition also served as a fundraiser for the culinary program to help get the students to larger competitions later in the school year, including a ProStart state invitational, and then nationals, both in the spring.

“I’m just really proud of all our kids,” Lyle Hildahl said. “Oak Harbor in particular has been a standout program. I’m excited to be involved with them.”

Chef Mary Arthur, who instructs both of the classes that participated in the competition, said that the students enjoy it, as well.

“It’s a favorite thing for the students to do,” Arthur said.

“Every one of them, even the real shy ones, you could tell loved being there; loved what they were doing; loved the fact that they got to cook, bake and serve their family, their friends,” Lyle Hildahl said.