Davies students take prize at second annual Rhode Island Seafood Cook-off
Savory with a little heat, Coconut-Curry Mussels with Grilled Pineapple Salsa served over rice, a dish created by three students from William M. Davies, Jr. Career & Technical High School, was the winner of the 2016 Rhode Island Seafood Cook-off for high school culinary students.
The featured ingredient at this year’s cook-off was local mussels, donated for the competition by American Mussel Harvesters. Student volunteers served samples of the four competing dishes to over 50 attendees, gathered on May 9 in the dining room at Chariho Area Career & Technical Center, who scored each recipe for flavor, creativity, and marketability. The winning recipe went up against offerings from Chariho (spicy Mussels Fra Diavolo served over pasta), Warwick Area Career & Technical Center (Mussels Braga, with finely ground linguica in a tomato sauce), and last year’s winner, Cranston Area Career & Technical Center (Avocado Mussels served with toast points for soaking up the sauce).
The Davies team of Alexandra Seyleman, Megan Connors, Roumel Reaux, and Chef Peter Fangiullo won lunch at one of the Newport Restaurant Group restaurants and will see their dish featured as a special at Trio restaurant.
Want to try your hand at the recipes? Here are all four:
Sponsors of the 2016 Rhode Island Seafood Cook-off are the Chariho Area Career & Technical Center, Rhode Island Sea Grant, the URI Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, and the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. Robert Rheault, East Coast Shellfish Grower’s Association, and Ken Ayars, R.I. Department of Environmental Management, both spoke at the event. Mussels were donated by American Mussel Harvesters, and lunch for the winning team was donated by Newport Restaurant Group.
