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Teen chef cooks up success in the kitchen
By SEAN BARRON
When she was 3, Te’Ann Smith never thought that one day her cooking prowess would earn her a scholarship, win her a first-place title in a regional cooking competition and set the stage for her to compete for a chance to appear on a major cable network.
Instead, the 17-year-old Austintown Fitch High School senior was mainly interested in playing in the kitchen and sampling what was being prepared.
Te’Ann also was feeding her mind, largely by watching and learning from her grandmother, Jeanette Jackson, and her uncle, Russell Smith Jr., as they put together numerous elaborate dishes.
“Now I cook all the time,” Te’Ann said recently. “My mom is always busy, so I have to cook meals for me and my brother.”
It’s a safe bet, however, that many more people than Te’Ann and her brother will benefit from the teen’s culinary skills.
On April 17, Te’Ann, daughter of Tamron Smith and Roxann Jackson, earned a regional first-place title and a $3,000 scholarship in The Art Institute of Pittsburgh’s Best Teen Chef competition, an event that was open to 12th-graders.
As a result, Te’Ann and her family will leave Saturday for Houston, where she will take part at a national level in the two-day Best Teen Chef final-round competition at The Art Institute of Houston.
From there, Te’Ann will have an opportunity to compete to be an “Intern for a Day” on the Food Network in New York City.
“I was excited, but my mother was more excited than I was,” Te’Ann said of being named Best Teen Chef. “I was more in shock.”
Participants in the regional competition prepared shrimp cocktail, saut ed chicken, rice pilaf and fresh broccoli during timed events. They were judged on sanitation and safety, knife skills, cooking techniques, food temperature, taste and flavor, portion size, presentation and cleanup.
The teenager credits her mother for helping to build her confidence, in part by preparing Te’Ann to know how to handle when, not if, she won, Te’Ann said.
“My mom said I’d win two minutes before the judge said I won first place,” she added.
Some of Te’Ann’s favorite dishes to prepare are pastas such as chicken alfredo, soul food that includes collard greens, chicken and macaroni and cheese, and Asian recipes, she noted.
In August, Te’Ann plans to enter The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and pursue a bachelor’s degree in culinary management. Among her goals are to experience world cuisines and start a restaurant that specializes in Italian, Asian and soul dishes, she said.