I spent Saturday at the World Food Championships at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and if you have a kid who watches cooking shows like they’re the Super Bowl, this one belongs on your radar. The whole building smells like spices and simmering sauces from the competition kitchens, and every few minutes you hear a whistle as the “Cheferees” lead chefs to the judges’ table with their final dishes. It’s a lot of fun to be in the middle of.
There’s plenty going on, from barbecue teams to a school lunch throw down, but the part I couldn’t stop thinking about was WFC Jr.
WFC Jr.: Kid Cooks Competing Alongside the Pros
WFC Jr. is the championships’ competition for young cooks, and Saturday’s competitors were ages 10 to 17. Some worked solo, while others teamed up with classmates or siblings to get their dish done in the allotted time. Every entree featured Indiana pork, and the range was impressive: Asian to Southwestern, casual comfort food to plates that looked like they came out of a fine dining kitchen. When those dishes hit the table, I was blown away by how beautiful they were.
If your child is always “helping” with dinner, inventing recipes, or narrating their own cooking show from the kitchen, watching kids their own age compete is a whole different experience than watching TV. It also changes the dinner table conversation from “do you like it?” to “how would you make it?”
The School Food Showdown Reimagines the Lunch Tray
This one hit close to home for any parent who’s packed a lunch that came back untouched. The MAHA School Food Showdown paired five Taher chefs with student sous chefs, and the two finalists had 60 minutes and identical market baskets to build a meal they could serve to 100 students using standard school kitchen equipment.
I loved the creativity here, and I would have happily eaten nearly everything I saw. There were scratch-made dumplings, tostadas with black beans and sweet potatoes, fun dipping sauces, smoothies, fruity parfaits, and fizzy fruit boba drinks. Everything looked filling and appetizing, the kind of elevated school lunch I would have dreamed about as a kid, and still dream about now as a mom with kids in school.
The Culinary Combine: Speed, Skill and a Little Pressure
Think NFL Combine, but with knives. Competitors rotate through 10 timed stations testing speed, accuracy and technique. I watched one chef come back for another run, hoping to lower her time and move up in the standings, and she beat the best recorded time. I also walked away knowing the difference between a French omelet and an American omelet, which I did not expect from my Saturday. If you’re wondering, French is folded three times with no browning, American is folded twice and cooked through, allowing for browning.
It’s a great one for kids to see, because it shows the everyday skills that make the fancy plates possible. Also, as a home cook, it was great to see how to actually process a green pepper and properly fabricate an avocado. As for spatchcocking a chicken…I don’t think I’ll be doing that any time soon.
Fire Woman, the BBQ Wild Card and Redemption Stages
Out in the Live Fire Zone, the Fire Woman Championship had women cooking over open flame across two sessions. In the BBQ Zone, teams in the Day Two Wild Card were fighting for one more shot at the barbecue finals, and over on the Redemption Stages, eliminated cooks battled through a quick-fire bracket for a second chance. There was even a junior competitor that qualified for the WFC Jr. Competition who opted to compete over live fire instead.
There’s something for every kind of foodie kid, whether yours gravitates toward desserts, grilling, or watching the clock tick down.
Sunday, Oct. 18: Finals Day
Sunday is championship day in all ten categories: bacon, barbecue, burgers, chef, dessert, live fire, noodles, sandwiches, seafood and vegetarian. The awards show crowns the ten category champs, who then earn invitations to the separate Final Table event to compete for the overall World Food Champion title. I’ll be there! I haven’t seen this yet so I’m looking forward to it, I hear the energy is just buzzing through the building as the chefs compete for $10,000 and other prizes!
Know Before You Go
Hours: 8 am – 9 pm
Tickets: $15 and up. Kids 8 years and under are free.
Parking: Ride the bus, bike or pay $10 on site.
Food/sampling: Available from vendors and some competitors, but most sampling was on previous nights
Restrooms and strollers: Stroller friendly, plenty of space. Restrooms available
Best ages: 8 years and up, or any age that loves food or competition
My tip: Eat before you go and plan a snack stop, all of that food will make you hungry. There is a cafe on site and several spots to taste food. If attention spans are short, Sunday is a great day to attend because at any given time there are three or four competitions taking place.
