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South's superchef Photo by Jim Craven South Medford High School junior Chris Beavers took the top state cooking prize and will showcase more of his culinary talent at a national event next month. Chris Beavers faces national cooking contest By VICKI GUARINO They warned Chris Beavers not to get his hopes up. After all, he was just a junior competing against top student chefs from high schools around the state. Entering the Oregon culinary arts competition would be good practice for next year, Chris' teacher, Leslie Ashcraft, and his mother, chef Rene Beavers, advised. Practice? Sure. But the heck with next year. Beavers won the state event with a rice and vegetable stir-fry and a platter of grilled steak and eggplant. Now he's dicing and braising his way to national competition. The state meet in Portland two weeks ago has turned out to be practice for this year; the appetizer, so to speak, for a main course of competitive cooking. Chris will represent Oregon at a national educators' conference next month in Kansas City, Mo. Chris is the first Medford student to go so far with a skillet and a spoon. "I really didn't know what to expect," Chris says of his first attempt at competitive cooking. In the state match, Chris had an hour and a half to take a piece of sirloin, assorted vegetables, rice and herbs and make a meal. The student cooks were judged by professional culinary arts instructors for taste and creativity, as well as timing and sanitation. Chris says his mother was so nervous she had to leave the kitchen. Chris was bothered only by the judges' close scrutiny. Ashcraft laughs. Chris didn't realize, she says, that the judges were watching so closely because he was doing so well. "He has a natural instinct," Ashcraft says. "He has the flair for food _ how it goes together. It's something you can't teach. "Not too many students come your way who have that." Chris has been learning how to cook since he was 4 years old, helping his mother. Life in the Beavers household revolves around cooking, he says. "The kitchen is in the center of the house," Chris says. "It's where everything happens." He attempted his first solo meal _ a pancake breakfast _ at age 6 or 7. He can't recall exactly how old he was, but he does recollect the doughy result. "They weren't done. I remember that distinctly." There have been other mishaps through the years, and one memorable fire when an overheated pot of oil started burning. Splatters even caught the kitchen floor on fire. A few blunders even got Chris banned from the kitchen, but only temporarily. By the time Chris arrived at South Medford High School, he was skilled enough to bypass the basic cooking classes. He went directly into Ashcraft's career foods program, and began turning out luncheons and baked goods in the Service by South catering program. He's adept at everything from soup to cakes. The toughest assignment has been learning how to cook fish. A stream of overcooked and undercooked fillets passed through Chris' hands before he got it right. His favorite foods are those with a Mediterranean accent. Jacksonville chef Anthony Mouyious, who helped launch The Mediterranean restaurant in Jacksonville, and now is the McCully House chef, has been a mentor to Chris. The student will be going back to Mouyious soon to start drilling for the national competition. The match is part of a Vocational Industrial Clubs of America annual convention. Students enrolled in everything from welding to woodworking will be competing with students from across the country. The cooking portion of the competition will involve 8 hours of slicing and mixing, sauteing and baking. Chris is just now getting sample recipes for practice, but he's confident that all of his years in the kitchen will serve him well. "It's all complicated until you've done it a couple of times." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA