NPSS holds chilli cook-off in Charlie Lake

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Students at a Fort St. John school showcased their cooking skills at a chilli cook-off contest last Friday. 

North Peace Secondary School (NPSS) held its annual chilli cook-off on May 2nd at Rotary RV Park in Charlie Lake. 

The NPSS students arrived at the park at 9:30 a.m. and started preparing their meals to be judged between 12 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. 

After winning the contest and receiving the trophy at a ceremony that day, students Stephan Tymchuck, Cody Williams, Kyrstopher Cappis and Logan Stirling spoke to Energeticcity.ca, calling it a great way to have fun.

“You get to go outside, team up with some friends, put your skills to the test and demonstrate how much you know about culinary [skills],” said Tymchuck.

“At the end of it, you get to show off if you’re the best, or if you can compete.”

Tymchuck credits the team’s win to their use of spices, multiple proteins and dedication to multiple food flavours. 

“We also were the only group that used multiple breads of beets, because older groups just used hamburgers, but we used pork, bacon, sausage and beef,” said Tymchuck.

Stirling said he felt they were sure to win after assessing the competition.

“We were going around testing other people’s chilis and comparing it [to our own] and we were feeling fairly confident about it,” said Stirling. 

Williams said the group took several days to prepare for the event. 

“We started preparing about four days prior … we started buying our supplies two days beforehand and the day before,” said Williams. 

“I felt it was the perfect amount of time to get everything right.” 

Williams said they had fun from start to finish and recommended the event to other students.

“We had a wicked fun time, it turned out so good,” said Williams.