Earlier this month, HelloFresh partnered with the Food Education Fund for a unique and inspiring event—The Recipe Remix Challenge. During this hands-on experience, students from Brooklyn Steam Center put their culinary skills to the test in a cooking challenge using one of our meal kits. However, to spark their creativity and raise the stakes, no recipe cards were provided. Instead, the students relied on the strategies and skills they’ve learned to craft a dish that would set them apart.
Using ingredients from our Chicken Shawarma Bowl meal kit, the teams utilized different techniques to create their dishes in hopes of being crowned the recipe remix winner!
We spoke with Kyle M., Program Manager at the Food Education Fund, to gain deeper insight into how the challenge originated and why it’s such a meaningful event for the students.
Students from Brooklyn Steam Center work together to conceptualize their meal for the HelloFresh challenge.
HelloFresh: How did the idea for the HelloFresh Recipe Remix Challenge come about?
Kyle M: The idea for this event stemmed from the mission of the Food Education Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing programs that immerse students in the dynamic world of hospitality. We aim to equip them with the knowledge, practical skills, and industry connections necessary for their success. The Brooklyn STEAM Center was looking for an engaging way to ignite student creativity and highlight the skills students had developed throughout their culinary education. Working with HelloFresh, the challenge exemplifies how collaboration can drive impact for students while building stronger connections between education and the hospitality industry.
HF: Can you share a bit about the partnership between HelloFresh, the Food Education Fund, and the Brooklyn STEAM Center?
Kyle M: HelloFresh has been a major contributor to the Food Education Fund’s (FEF) efforts to empower high school students from all five boroughs of New York City through culinary arts and hospitality programming. HelloFresh’s presence can be seen across many of our programs – from holding student workshops for recipe development to supporting site visits for Pass the Spatula, our student food media education program, to donating high-quality ingredients to be used in culinary lessons.
Because of its magnet school schedule, the Brooklyn STEAM Center has unique needs for its students. As classes are only held for juniors and seniors, FEF needs to ensure we provide as many opportunities for integration and engagement as possible – and, now entering its third year, the HelloFresh Challenge is the perfect way to do that! It combines creativity, culinary knowledge, pressure, and technical skills, all while showcasing Brooklyn STEAM students and their exceptional capabilities.
Students from the Brooklyn STEAM Center
HF: Without recipe cards, what strategies or tips are given to the students beforehand to help guide their culinary creativity?
Kyle M: Chef Heggie and Chef Nye at the Brooklyn STEAM Center lead a very strong culinary curriculum that prepares students well for the culinary world. Their program prompts students to take a base recipe and put their spin on it in their everyday kitchen exploration. The Food Education Fund provides a program called “Visiting Industry Professionals” where we bring in chefs in the industry to lead cooking demonstrations in line with Chef Heggie’s curriculum. Between both resources, students are prepared to work through challenges like the HelloFresh event to showcase what they’ve learned through their culinary education.
HF: Why do you feel this event is important for the students? What skills or lessons do you hope they gain from participating?
Kyle M: Students are influenced by what they see on social media and TV. Most culinary students are familiar with Chopped and are excited to experience a challenge like it. The HelloFresh Challenge provides this experience while also offering them to try techniques like “fondant potatoes” that they typically would not explore in a standard culinary curriculum.
For the 2024 Recipe Remix Challenge, the winning team created a unique dish: chicken shawarma fried rice featuring sesame oil, cinnamon, and a medley of spices. When asked about the most challenging ingredient in the box, the winning team’s sous chef didn’t hesitate: “The hummus!”
She admitted they weren’t quite sure how to incorporate it at first. But despite this initial hurdle, their final dish impressed the panel of judges—members of HelloFresh’s culinary team.
The students’ final plated dishes for the 2024 Recipe Remix Challenge!
As our partnership with the Food Education Fund continues to grow, the Recipe Remix Challenge continues to be more than a competition; it’s an opportunity for students to gain confidence in the kitchen, experiment with ingredients, and explore their creativity.
“We are very excited to continue our partnership with HelloFresh and the Brooklyn STEAM Center, and we’re excited to create more opportunities for high school students,” said Kyle M.
