Lime sherbet, orange burgers, lemon chicken: the aroma of citrus filled the rally court during lunch on Thursday, April 12 as students and teachers competed in the Iron Chef competition. Hosted by Leadership’s Communications commission, Iron Chef gave six teams the opportunity to cook and serve dishes — all containing the special ingredient, citrus — for both judges and students to try.

The dishes that the teams created included orange cheesecakes, citrus crepes and lemon risotto. But what impressed the judges most was a three course breakfast, lunch and dinner set cooked by the teacher team. The judges, principal April Scott, assistant principal Dennis Plaza and ASB secretary Deb Mandac, awarded the entry of blueberry pancakes, lemon risotto, Thai chicken and citrus sherbet first place, based on taste, presentation and originality in the competition.

“We had so many good ideas for our dishes, so we went with breakfast, lunch and dinner so we could present them all,” science teacher Pooya Hajjarian, who competed on the teacher team, said.

Students in the crowd were allowed to sample dishes as well. One group prepared Indian foods with a citrus twist and another made crepes while a third cooked teriyaki with orange sauce. But the crowd favorite was a burger containing bacon and orange slices, which received second place.

“Citrus and burgers aren’t a normal combination, but we thought, ‘Why not?’” junior Adi Nag said as he put together burgers for the crowd behind him.

According to Communications commissioner junior Serena Chew, the purpose of the Iron Chef competition was to showcase the unique culinary talents of students and teachers on campus.

“Our job is to recognize unusual or special skills that students have, and cooking isn’t something that we normally notice,” Chew said. “We’re pretty happy with how Iron Chef turned out. There were a lot of people, the judges enjoyed the food and the students seemed to enjoy trying everything.”