Junior Madeleine “Maddie” Arroyo and senior Julia Hohne were recently crowned champions of the World Food Championships (WFC) Junior Competition held on Nov. 8. 

What was your experience like participating in the World Food Championship? 

Arroyo: My experience was totally surreal in the World Food Championship. It was my first time completing anything and especially a cooking competition. I was just so happy to be there and to be able to see all the cool chefs and foods. It was stressful but honestly for me it was just like one of those cooking shows with cameras in your face and loud whistles blowing right (at you) as you’re trying to focus on your final touches.

Hohne: Participating in the World Food Championship was one of the best experiences of my life. It was also one of the most stressful. (World Food Championship) is one of the largest culinary competitions in the world. Thousands of people come from all over to showcase their dishes, so it was intimidating. 

Describe the dish that you made, and what inspired you to create it.

Arroyo: The dish was our take on Gordita’s al pastor, which is something I grew up eating and is still my favorite. The meat was inspired by a Puerto Rican slow roasted pork shoulder that I make every year for Christmas, and we converted it into a recipe that created a similar tender pull apart pork in a pan. With the pork we had refried beans, onions, pineapples, an amazing habanero/tomatillo salsa, savoy cabbage and an avocado crema. I ate it for dinner every night for two weeks and honestly I still would.

Hohne: Our dish was Gorditas with Puerco Pibil inspired pork, pineapple habanero salsa, avocado lime crema and refried dark red kidney beans, topped with savoy cabbage, pineapple and onion. It was inspired by Maddie’s Puerto Rican/Mexican heritage, and it was a dish she grew up making. Hispanic food often has a negative stigma around it, and a lot of people see it as unhealthy. We wanted to showcase that Hispanic food is actually really healthy for you as well as very delicious.

What do you like most about the dish that you made? 

Arroyo: My favorite part was probably the pork, too. It was so juicy and it tasted so similar to food I grew up with. Since we live in Carmel there’s not many authentic Mexican places to eat and none of my family lives in Indiana, so it was amazing to be able to bring that into my life here, to remind me of my family.

Hohne: Personally, the pork was my favorite. Not just because of the taste, but also because of how much work and effort it took to get it there. Pork takes hours of marinating, braising and roasting to get tender and flavorful. But we only had an hour to get all of our cooking done, so we had to come up with a way to get all of the flavors and texture in ten minutes or less. The process took weeks of trial and error, note taking, research and time, but in the end, we were very happy with the end product.

What inspired your love for cooking? 

Arroyo: I started to fall in love with cooking when I was old enough to talk. My father would make us a special breakfast, lunch and dinner. He grew up cooking for his family, as well as having many jobs as a cook. Not only did he cook to feed us but it was a way he showed he cared and it’s how his family showed it too. At its base, food is a basic need of life and the way he saw it, it was more than that, it was him telling us he was there, that he would always give us love and life. I quickly became obsessed as he taught me how to make everything possible. After I got older, I went into baking and decorating–being an artsy person. But last year in November my father passed away. We didn’t know it was coming and we weren’t there to say goodbye. I knew then I needed to be serious about my future, and I have since fallen in love with food science and the culinary world more than ever. When I cook now I feel my dad’s love and I want to give others that same love when I make them dishes.

Hohne: I’ve always loved cooking, but my love for it began during my childhood. I grew up with two single parents, each with their own very different style of preparing food. We had this tradition at my dads house though, every Saturday, he would make my sisters and I chocolate chip pancakes with our Mickey Mouse waffle maker. When I was about 6, I got up early to help him make these bisquick pancakes, and it began my love for cooking. After that, I would go immediately to the baking aisle and pick out a box mix for that week, and when I was about 8 or 9, I started cooking from scratch and making my own recipes. Now, I make all the birthday cakes for my friends and family’s birthdays, I make special desserts as Christmas presents, I have a little side business on Nextdoor where I sell custom desserts to my neighbors and I’m president of Culinary FCCLA.

What is your favorite dish to cook?

Arroyo: My favorite thing to make is my special cookies. They are supposed to be a “dupe” recipe from a famous bakery that I’ve modified a bit, basically they are these huge chocolate chip cookies that are cakey and are amazing for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

Hohne: I am a pastry chef/baker first and foremost, so cake decorating is my favorite “dish” to make because you can do anything you want. I have made cakes ranging from gravity defying cereal bowls to a Sun and Moon FNAF explosion cake. Cake decorating allows me to be creative and I never get bored with it. That said, I really love making homemade pasta. It’s so easy to make, and there’s so much you can do with it. It also tastes way better than boxed pasta, in my opinion. I love to make mac and cheese from scratch because mac and cheese is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods. When I make it from scratch, I get to do my own take on it and do whatever I want to it.

What profession are you going into? Is it culinary-based? 

Arroyo: My biggest dream is to be a Food Scientist, my IB biology teacher, Mr. Fitzgerald, has been such an amazing teacher to me and it’s made me obsessed with biochemistry and science as a whole. Seeing my two favorite things combined into one topic that could help people would be everything to me.

Hohne: I am going to be studying business administration and entrepreneurship, as well as baking and pastry at IvyTech next year. My dream is to either own my own bakery one day or be an executive pastry chef where I get to completely design the menu. But before I get there, I want to spend a few years after college studying and working with food around the world, specifically Seattle, Italy and France. I will be spending my time in college saving up for it, but I’m very excited to learn about international cuisines and translate that into my work.

What is your favorite part about cooking? 

Arroyo: My favorite part about cooking is eating the food. I’m actually a very, very stressed chef, and if something is not perfect I can’t move on, so I tend to over complicate things. By the end I’m exhausted, so it’s really awesome to have all the work pay off and the food actually be delicious.

Hohne: No two chefs are the same. Everyone has their own story to tell, and their own way of expressing themselves and their passions; cooking is a way to do that. I love cooking because I get to express myself and tell my story in a way that makes people happy, and It’s something that teaches me something new everyday. There are so many ways you can interpret a dish, and if you’re really passionate about what you’re doing, you can create something no one has seen before. I used to be offended whenever people would refer to me as the “girl who cooks” or the
“girl who makes food,” because that was all anyone would recognize me as, and it made me feel like it was the only thing I was good at. But now, I accept it as the accomplishment it truly is. The fact that I was able to make an impression on people and be recognized for my passion makes me so proud of everything I’ve done and accomplished over the years.”

How does one get into the WFC? 

Maddie Arroyo: The best way to get into it is by joining the FCCLA culinary club (at this school). I was asked to compete in the qualifiers after a month in the club. What’s important is to show the people around you that you are eager to learn and grow as a chef (and) that you can work hard. The culinary world is based all on connections so it’s best to start them young and take all the chances you can get.

Julia Hohne: The World Food Championship is by far the biggest competition I’ve participated in. Only two teams from (this school) were able to compete, and it was originally only supposed to be one. It was mentioned to me by Chef Carter, who is the sponsor for Culinary FCCLA. He mentioned it in one of our meetings, and only four people were able to participate. Two weeks before the actual competition, there was a preliminary competition, where both teams would battle it out and present their dish to 11 judges for the chance to make it to the final. Maddie and I decided to do a different dish for the preliminary than we would for the final, despite everyone telling us not to do that, because we wanted to challenge ourselves. We had about 2-3 weeks before the competition to conceptualize, practice and perfect our dish and its plating. The day of the preliminary, we went to Fishers Test Kitchen and each team had to work with about four feet of space and create/plate the dish in an hour. It ended up being close enough that both teams made it to the (World Foods Championship), and we had two weeks to create a new dish.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting to get into culinary? 

Arroyo: My advice is to learn the basics first, the flavors (and) what a meal should be composed of. From there, find your passion and what interests you in culinary. Whether it’s plating or one subcategory, find something that will keep you interested and happy to learn. After that it’s practice. Practice, until you feel confident in yourself. Nobody is going to be fully perfect, every Chef can learn something so take the time to listen and grow from the people around you. 

Hohne: Everyone’s culinary journey is different, and some people don’t get into it until much later in life. It’s hard, despite some people who try to make it seem like it’s not. If you’re just getting into cooking, start small, perfect your technique on a few simple dishes, and work your way up. Be open to criticism and be willing to make changes when someone makes suggestions, and also remember that there is always something new to learn and always room for improvement. If culinary is something you want to make a career out of, do it. Do research into what that really means and make sure you have the motivation to make it in the industry because kitchens can be very intense work environments, but they’re also very fun to work in. Make connections in the industry, get a low-level job to learn and make your way up, and never give up on yourself or your passion.

What advice would you give to someone who is/wants to participate in the WFC? 

Arroyo: Make connections and take your chances.

Hohne: World Foods takes a lot of time, effort and patience to get into. This was the second year a Junior competition has been held, and the first year (this school) has sent students to compete because it was held in Indiana instead of Texas. You have to be able to work with your partner and keep yourself humble and level-headed to compete, but it’s a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has the motivation to participate.