This week’s Grade 7 Top Chef challenge brought together everything students had learned across their first three kitchen lessons. 

Their task was to recreate a teacher-modelled dish: a crisp Thyme-and-Butter Potato Rösti topped with a carefully cooked egg. Although the finished plate appeared simple, producing it successfully required students to draw upon a surprisingly complex range of practical and collaborative skills. 

Putting Learning into Practice 

Throughout the challenge, students demonstrated: 

• Health and safety awareness 

• Safe and accurate knife skills 

• Confident use of the gas stoves 

• Previously learned egg skills, including poaching and frying 

• Group work with clearly defined roles 

• Communication and collaborative decision-making 

• Problem-solving under time pressure 

• Careful presentation 

• Thorough end-of-lesson clean-downs 

Students observed the teacher model closely and then worked together to reproduce it. They grated, seasoned, shaped and cooked their Rösti before attempting the particularly challenging task of turning it without breaking it. At the same time, they had to manage their workspace, share equipment, and coordinate the cooking of the egg. 

There was not enough time to complete the accompanying sauce, but the students adapted sensibly, prioritizing the essential elements and presenting what they had produced with pride. 

The results were remarkable—and remarkably close to my original model! 

The finished plates showed what students had cooked, and the lesson revealed how much they had learned. 

In a successful kitchen, everyone has a role, everyone contributes and everyone belongs. This challenge was more than the successful completion of a recipe: It was a celebration of independence, responsibility, collaboration and the confidence that develops when students recognize their place within a team.