By Marlee Jackson

Dozens of high schoolers scurried around stainless-steel prep stations Feb. 7-8 slicing, seasoning and sautéing U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish — a lean, clean, new-to-them protein that was the star ingredient in Alabama FCCLA’s state culinary arts competition. 

State Adviser Theresa Long said this year’s menu was chosen to connect Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) teachers and students to Alabama-grown products. Alabama Catfish Checkoff provided catfish for the contest.

“I want our teachers and students to interact with real products grown by real people in our state,” Long said. “Many of these students had never prepared catfish until they began practicing for the state contest, but now, they’re familiar with the product and will hopefully choose to cook it again.”

Winner Winner, Catfish Dinner

During the two-day event at Jefferson State Community College, young chefs prepared blackened catfish, slaw, a starch and a sauce during the timed contest.

Students’ preparation earned high praise from the panel of expert judges. In addition to taste and presentation, students were graded on food safety, organization and cleanliness. The culinary arts STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) event is just one of FCCLA’s myriad of contests whose winners were recognized during State FCCLA Convention in Montgomery March 7. 

Emilee Carter of Davidson High School in Mobile earned top marks in the catfish-centric cooking contest and moves on to national competition this summer.

Pelham High School students Rilee Glass and Quinn Garner received second and third, respectively.

Pond to Plate

Months before students handled their first catfish fillet in teaching kitchens across the state, FCCLA advisers netted insight into fish farming. Several dozen teachers gathered on the banks of Kyser Farms’ catfish ponds in Hale County last fall to watch crews seine, or harvest, fish. 

The inquisitive teachers-turned-students had a flurry of questions for the Kyser family, with many taking videos and snapping photos to share with their students. 

Townsend Kyser said he appreciated the chance to educate teachers about his family’s industry. Alabama is the second-largest catfish-producing state in the nation, with most ponds nestled in the fertile Black Belt Region of west Alabama.

“It’s great to promote agriculture, aquaculture and catfish all at once,” he said after the workshop. “Then, they can take that back to students who are generations removed from the farm so they can at least get a little idea of what we go through every day.”

Those teachers included Alex Areco, the Pelham High School culinary arts instructor. Areco said he was amazed to learn the ins and outs of catfish farming.

“I didn’t even know there were any (catfish farms) in Alabama, and I teach food for a living!” Areco said. “It makes it a lot more personal to know catfish comes from Alabama.”

The teacher-focused field trip wrapped up with a lunch of fried catfish, plus a blackened fish cooking demonstration by Stacey Little of the SouthernBite.com food blog. 

The pond-to-plate workshop paid dividends for advisers and their young chefs, Long said.

“A lot of times when you talk about people eating catfish, it’s fried, but there are so many ways to prepare it,” she said. “Working with Alabama’s catfish farmers helped our teachers and students understand a major industry in Alabama while expanding their horizons on the many ways fish can be enjoyed. It was a win-win.”