Old Colony students shoot for the stars at culinary competition

ROCHESTER — Chicken vindaloo tacos helped a group of Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School students blast off to Houston this spring. 

A team of Old Colony culinary students cooked their dish for judges at the Johnson Space Center and won third place in NASA’s HUNCH culinary challenge during their late April trip.

The competition challenges contenders to create and cook a recipe designed for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The Old Colony team was among the top 10 entrants nationwide, and was invited to Texas for the final round. 

Because the dish must be fit for space consumption, the chefs had to limit the sodium content. Elena Tan, of Lakeville, and Scarlet Savaria, of Rochester, said this posed a challenge, and pushed them to find creative flavor combinations that didn’t rely on salt. 

“The Indian flavors were easier for us to work with, and would be better for the astronauts in space,” Tan said. 

“A lot of Indian dishes have a deep, strong aroma and flavor, so it was easy to avoid sodium, because it wouldn't be really necessary,” Savaria added.

The team experimented with ways to enrich the flavor of the tacos without a high sodium content, and settled on a combination of lemon juice and vinegar to deepen the taste of the spices they used. The dish also included a cabbage slaw and crema, a tangy Mexican dairy product, for contrasting textures and flavors. 

The Indian-inspired chicken vindaloo tacos gave the Old Colony team a leg up in the competition, setting it apart from the more typical tacos other schools prepared. 

Juniors Tan and Savaria said the competition was a little easier this year, as this was the second year in a row they competed in the finals.

Even though they were a little nervous, they said they were more comfortable and confident thanks to the previous year’s experience. It also helped that the day felt like “friendly competition,” Tan said, with the teams talking and wishing each other luck beforehand. 

Savaria said the community was supportive of their trip, as many people showed up to fundraisers and offered encouragement.

“People were excited that we were going back again this year, because for Old Colony this was the second time we went in person to Houston to compete,” she said. “People were excited to hear that we were competing again and that we made it to finals again.”

Before flying down to Houston, the team had to submit a research paper and video sharing what they learned about space nutrition during their preparation for the competition. Tan and Savaria said they learned a lot during the research process and hope to apply it in their future careers. 

Savaria, who wants to eventually open a restaurant, said learning how to consider nutritional needs in a recipe will help her create her own dishes and menus.

Tan plans to work in nutrition, and said the competition is the perfect way to prepare.  

“This competition really helps me with creating a recipe for people with super strict diets,” she said. “It's what I want to do, so it's really interesting and cool to me that I get to do this.”