Your meal is served: Mango tango scallop ceviche. Braised short ribs with miso mashed potatoes. Mixed berry cornbread country pudding with blueberry ice cream. And your chefs? Culinary students at Miami-Dade middle and high schools.

Every year, students work in teams to create dishes in four categories: vegetarian, meat, seafood and dessert. Their dishes must not only look, smell and taste good. Students must also come up with a sales pitch for judges and answer questions about their dishes – what inspired them, how they were prepared, which ingredients were selected and why.

This year’s Taste of Education, hosted by The Education Fund and held at Hialeah Park, featured students from more than 25 schools. Each school worked on site to create their dishes for the panels of judges, which included leading chefs and culinary instructors, including John Noble Masi, lead culinary faculty at FIU Hospitality; AHA Hospitality Group founder Andrew Platt; Isa Leal of FEI; chefs Allen Susser and Danny Serfer of Mignonette/Blue Collar; 305 Chef Paulette Bilsky; and food writer Linda Gassenheimer. After the judging, students returned to their stations to prepare dishes for the public. 

And the winners:

People’s Choice Award, presented by Hialeah Park and CareerSource South Florida: Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni by MAST Fish Tales Café from MAST Academy

Best Meat Dish: Braised Short Ribs with Miso Mashed Potatoes by A.C.E from American Senior High School

Best Seafood Dish: Mango Tango Scallop Ceviche by Soaring Eagles from Lawton Chiles Middle School

Best Vegetarian Dish: Roti with Curried Chickpeas, Potatoes, and Mango Chutney by Go Lighting from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School

Best Dessert: Mixed Berry Cornbread Country Pudding with Blueberry Ice Cream by Dutch Oven Divas from Miami Springs Senior High School

Best Sales Pitch: Braised Short Ribs with Miso Mashed Potatoes by A.C.E from American Senior High School

Best Visual Presentation: Braised Short Ribs with Miso Mashed Potatoes by A.C.E from American Senior High School

The runners-up: 

People’s Choice Award: Copa de Caramelo by NMB from North Miami Beach Senior High School

Meat Dish: Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni by MAST Fish Tales Café from MAST Academy

Seafood: Spicy Curry Shrimp with White Rice in a Plantain Cup by Mean Green Chefs from North Miami Senior High School

Vegetarian: Vegetarian Ceviche by Chop It Like It’s Hot from Homestead Senior High School

Dessert: Copa de Caramelo by NMB from North Miami Beach Senior High School

Sales Pitch: Seafood Royale by Cafe 39 – The Island Shack from Jose de Diego Middle School

Visual Presentation: Copa de Caramelo by NMB from North Miami Beach Senior High School

Taste of Education supports The Education Fund’s programming that seeks to maximize every child’s potential through programs, including:

• Food Forests for Schools, eco-learning labs that serve 81 schools
• Culinary and Visual Arts, supporting students through the annual Taste of Education
• Ocean Bank Center for Educational Materials, providing more than $29 million in free supplies to public school educators
• Find out more at educationfund.org