Girls Rule Teen Chef Contest
by Krista Michelle Arrigo

Patricia chops veggies for her spinach salad.

Patricia smiles with her culinary vo-tech instructor, Barbara DuPree.

Interested in culinary arts? Then get cookin'! Check out The Art Institutes' Web site, www.artinstitutes.edu/nc, and find out how you can enter the next Best Teen Chef in America Competition, or enroll in any one of their 29 locations. Surf the JNA Institute of Culinary Arts Web site, www.culinaryarts.com, and learn how you can enroll in culinary arts and restaurant management school online. Click on www.goodcooking.com, www.epicurious.com, or www.gourmet.com to find lots of delicious recipes, food news, restaurant reviews, and cooking how-tos.

Patricia Homma, 18, knows how to cook up a recipe for scholarship success. Out of 18 finalists at this year's Art Institutes' Best Teen Chef in America Competition, the Atlanta, GA, representative won first place, making her the first female ever to win the title!

"At one point it was a male-dominated industry," says Sarah Gorham, certified executive chef (CEC) and chef director at The Art Institute in Atlanta. "In this competition, women are more and more in number in regard to percentage."

The numbers tell all: At this year's competition, 14 of the 18 finalists were female. And Patricia was confident she was among the best. "I knew I would be in the top six," she says. "But they didn't call my name, so I thought maybe I had [gotten] first or second [place]."

Amidst the excitement, she never did hear her name called. "My teacher was tapping me on my shoulder, and I couldn't believe it." Soon after, Patricia realized she had just won a full scholarship to study culinary arts at The Art Institute of her choice -- her dream come true.

"I want to become a master chef," she says. And have her own cooking show, of course!

For Patricia, winning the contest is only the beginning of her culinary career, but she knows it will help her along the way. "It's a door opening in the industry," she says. "To become [a master chef] you need to have a good reputation. I'm very dedicated to cooking and following my profession. I really love it, so I'll have no problem performing."

Patricia's confidence and focus on her goal aren't the only things that helped her win. In addition to training with an Art Institute chef who coached her on how to prepare the winning meal -- crab cakes, spinach salad, roasted chicken with mushroom sauce, oven-roasted potatoes, green beans, and carrots -- she also cooked on her own. "I practiced the recipe for the contest with my family and friends," she says.

Patricia accepts her $30,000 tuition scholarship check with Chef Joseph Shilling, emcee of the competition.

And although most of the contestants were coached by The Art Institute chefs as well, Patricia paid extra attention and picked up a tip, which she thinks ultimately won her the title.

"I cooked the chicken differently," she explains. "To season it, I used everything in my meal that I wasn't going to use, and stuck it inside the chicken for flavor." She remembers her coach saying not to throw away scraps, like potato peels and mushroom stems, but to somehow use it in her cooking. "So I just made it a stuffed chicken," she says.

With her creativity and confidence, Patricia is a good example of why you shouldn't put your dreams on the back burner -- even in a male-dominated profession.