Last week, the competition was sizzling as Las Cruces Public Schools hosted its third annual Grill and Thrill High School BBQ Competition Special Edition: Battle of the Bites. The competition heated up as every high school competed to showcase its best dish.
Culinary teams from across the district brought their creativity, cooking skills, and entrepreneurial spirit to the table. When the smoke cleared, Centennial High School’s team, Feathers and Flames, emerged as the undisputed champions, sweeping all four judged competition categories and claiming the coveted Grand Champion title!
Before the competition kicked off, Senator Carrie Hamblen was a special guest at the unveiling of the district’s very own food truck. The new food truck was designed by Centennial High School junior Carlos Lozano, who also came up with the truck’s award-winning name, “The District Dish.” The truck is dedicated to supporting culinary arts and business entrepreneurship programs at every LCPS high school.
The Ultimate Food Truck Challenge required teams to create an original, portable street-food item cooked inside the food truck. Teams had just 45 minutes to prepare their dishes and clean their workspaces, putting their culinary skills, time management, and creativity to the test.
The Burger Battle featured high school teams creating gourmet burgers with beef, turkey, chicken, or plant-based patties. Students had to season and cook their patties on-site, incorporate a randomly selected secret ingredient, and achieve a medium-well cook. Judges evaluated temperature, flavor balance, texture, creativity, presentation, and how well the secret ingredient enhanced each burger.
For the Dessert Showdown, teams developed creative desserts to complement grill or food truck cuisine. Desserts had to be free of peanuts, tree nuts, and shellfish and feature a strong visual presentation.
Centennial High School’s culinary team proved it had the perfect recipe for success, earning top honors in every judged category:
• Signature Drink Challenge: Feathers and Flames
• Dessert Showdown: Feathers and Flames
• Burger Battle: Feathers and Flames
• Ultimate Food Truck Item Challenge: Feathers and Flames
• Grand Champions: Feathers and Flames
The competition also featured a special People’s Choice Award, voted on by middle school students for their favorite signature drink. Las Cruces High School’s team, Ruff N Smokey, earned the crowd’s approval and took home the People’s Choice title!
A big round of applause also goes to all six participating teams for bringing their creativity, teamwork, and school spirit to the competition. With sizzling flavors, imaginative concepts, and a brand-new food truck designed to open doors for students across the district, this year’s Battle of the Bites proved that LCPS students are cooking up something special.
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