Student groups cook for a cause

Student chefs faced off Saturday to aid Japan quake victims.

The competition — which the Japanese Student Association modeled after the popular show Iron Chef on Food Network — brought the teams and supporters of six different student associations together in a one-hour cook-off in the Kings Court dining hall.

All the teams worked to incorporate dried cranberries — which had been announced as the secret ingredient — into their three-course menus.

College junior Mili Mehta said the competition was a great “team-bonding experience” and added that it was especially relevant because “Iron Chef is really big right now.”

Mehta, who was competing as part of the South Asia Society’s team, said that all proceeds from ticket sales are going toward Japan relief efforts.

While the chefs were working at their kitchen stations, members of the audience participated in the Japanese card game karuta to win a seat on the judging panel. College sophomore David Fantarella said he found it “fun to watch the different groups compete.”

The six judges were impressed by the quality of the food. Wharton senior Richa Gupta said participating in the competition as a judge was a lot of fun.

“The food was better than expected,” Gupta added.

This year’s winning menu came from the Penn Taiwanese Society, which won the judges over with its banana chip-crusted shrimp with cranberry cream sauce, cranberry-stuffed pork tenderloin with a creamy cranberry compote and cranberry sweet sticky rice steamed over bamboo leaves as dessert.

Team captain and College senior Huge Ma said he was “ecstatic” about winning the title of Penn Iron Chef, describing it as “one of the proudest achievements of [his] life.” The Taiwanese Society team was competing for the third year in a row and had prepared in advance to win the competition.

JSA Co-President and College junior Reina Moriyama said she was “happy with the turnout” at the event and added that the “fans were very enthusiastic.”

The Iron Chef competition is the biggest spring semester event organized by the JSA and will be the final open event on its calendar.

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