Students from Mesquite High School earned first place in a North Texas culinary competition that challenged participants to apply their kitchen skills in a high-pressure, real-world setting.
The annual Taste of the Cowboys Youth Challenge, hosted by the Dallas Cowboys and Dairy MAX, brought together teams from six high schools. The event began at Paul Quinn College, where students met mentors and learned from college leaders, and concluded at The Star in Frisco.
Participants were tasked with preparing dishes under time constraints similar to those found in professional kitchens. The winning team prepared Sideline 7-Layer Dip, Rowdy’s Chicken Birria Tacos with a side of cilantro lime rice, and, for dessert, Sweet DCC [Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders] Churro Cheesecake Tacos.
“In your school kitchen, you learn, you have teachers there to help you, but in a real kitchen, it’s much harder. The person is telling you, ‘I need this here at this time,’” said Landyn Davis, a senior at Mesquite High School, KRLD News reported. “The pressure is much greater. At school, you can learn and have a chef teach you the ways and help you. In a real kitchen, it’s much harder, you have to focus on your own.”
Chef instructor Sandra Sepulveda said the competition pushed students to develop skills beyond cooking.
“I think this experience has taught them responsibility as individuals and as a team, how to work together, use their creativity,” she said, per KRLD. “It challenges them to use their taste buds, all their senses, looking at dishes, beautifully plating them, eating with their eyes first. Everything is timed, so they’re challenged in a lot of areas.”
As the winning team, Mesquite High School will receive a $10,000 donation from Dairy MAX and the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Foundation.
Organizers say the program is designed to expose students to a wide range of career paths.
“It’s amazing. We get the opportunity to plant that seed and for them to see the whole process, knowing these students are passionate about it,” said Trajuan Briggs, Dairy MAX’s youth health and wellness manager, per KRLD. “This might be something that evolves into a career, or it might be something that may be a hobby or helps them connect culturally or connect with family.”
Briggs added that Dairy MAX has supported the program for the past decade and highlighted the variety of opportunities tied to culinary and agricultural work.
The competition also included time at Paul Quinn College’s We Over Me Farm, where students learned about food production and sustainability. The campus replaced its football field with a two-acre farm that grows organic produce.
“The main task we have and enjoy doing is to show people and students where our food comes from,” said farm director Isiah Mataruka, KRLD reported. “We do traditional farming and hydroponics. For students to come and see the process, we can see the excitement when they see a seed become the food that ends up on their plate. It’s educational and is also getting students to appreciate where their food comes from.”
Mataruka said the program introduces students to a range of skills, from agriculture to business practices.
“There’s a whole buffet of choices a student can make,” he said. “How do you recycle? How do you take care of your soil? What’s the best fertilizer or the best way to manage your ecosystem? Students, when they see that early in life, they learn to respect nature and learn to respect farmers in different markets.”
Students from Mesquite High School will next collaborate with food service professionals from Legends Global, the group responsible for preparing food at AT&T Stadium.
Duncanville High School claimed second place, winning a $5,000 award, while Cedar Hill High School took home a third-place prize of $2,000.
John Horn High School in Mesquite ISD, Skyline High School in Dallas ISD, and Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas ISD finished in fourth, fifth, and sixth place, respectively, each receiving $500 from the Gene and Jerry Jones Foundation and Dairy Max.
