This past weekend the Scottsdale Culinary Festival introduced a new experience, the Teen Cook Off: Challenge to the Chef’s. Valley teens were invited to participate and were judged on their cooking skills by local chefs.

The competition was held on Saturday April 16th. The teams of teens compteted “Iron Chef style” according to the Culinary Festivals website. The winners, Cheyenne Lee and Makenzie Davidson, each received a $2,500 scholarship towards culinary school, a $250 Whole Foods gift car and a blender.

Jared Witte (17) and Jacob Degiuli (17) students of Paradise Valley High school also made it to the final round. They have both been cooking since they were younger, and this was not the first competition they competed in.

Both teens found out about the competition from their Culinary Arts teacher. The two are had been working together to collaborate and get ideas for the competition, using their difference backgrounds and individual experiences to build off of each other. They had also collaborated with other classmates to get even more experiences and knowledge to take with them to the competition.

This competition was just another learning experience for the two teens.

“This is something I definitely want to do as a career… Maybe start in industrial kitchens and work from there, if not I’d start at SCC. I haven’t quite decided yet,” Jared said.

Jacob, a senior, has formed his plan. “I plan on going to the SCC this fall and working towards a culinary arts degree,” he said.

The leaders of the culinary festival noticed an increase in interest in cooking among teens. According to the even chair, Thomas Cooper, they “wanted to give these teens a platform to show off their skills, meet some of the valley’s best chefs and mingle with our thriving foodie community.”

The Scottsdale League for the Arts wanted to celebrate the culinary arts youth programs.

“We hope that the students participating will get the chance to learn, grown and meet industry professionals that can give them advice as they progress with their careers,” Jen Pruett a representative for the festival, said.