School lunch idea: Let's do sushi
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By Doug Snover
Twelve-year-old
Edward Fancher’s idea of a perfect school lunch might surprise you. It
might make your mouth water or your stomach churn, depending on your
feelings about sushi.
“It’d
be sushi,” the seventh-grader at Summit School of Ahwatukee says.
“With a good salad and soup. I like miso soup, with soy, tofu and green
onion.”
Having
that kind of refined taste buds is paying off big for Edward. He is the
only boy among five finalists heading to New York City soon to compete for
the title of “Kid with the Sharpest Taste Buds” in a contest sponsored
by Arm & Hammer, the baking soda company.
Kids
between the ages of 8-12 were invited to submit an essay of 100 words or
less on why they have the sharpest taste buds and describing the taste
sensation of their favorite food.
The
five finalists each receive a year’s supply of ice cream and are being
flown to New York City in mid-September to compete for the grand prize of
$1,000, a new refrigerator, and the title of “Arm & Hammer’s Kid
with the Sharpest Taste Buds.” The finals are being hosted by youthful
actress AnnaSophia Robb, star of the movie Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory.
Edward’s
mother, Katherine Fancher, said she read about the contest in a magazine
and realized “this was right up his alley.”
“He’s
very sophisticated” about taste, she said. Edward prefers fine dining
and entertained his family on their summer vacation by reviewing every
restaurant they visited, she said.
He
has a special preference for sushi. The essay he wrote for the contest
focused on the taste and texture of his favorite dish.
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Photo
by David Stone
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“I
like sushi a lot because there are so many different types and different
flavors,” he explained. “I like the texture and the flavor. I like the sea
flavor.”
He
enjoys ham, too. And peanut butter and jelly sandwiches--no crust, please.
However,
“I don’t really like steak when it gets charcoally,” he said.
The
competition in New York will include a 30-second stand-up routine on why he
should win. That should not stress Edward. His mother described him as
“reserved, but not shy. He sort of turns on when he’s on stage.”
Edward
obviously refined his tastes at an early age. That might be because he’s half
Greek, his mother said.
“Greeks
are very much into foods and flavors,” she said.
His
father, Ed, is a Texan, so Edward also has a taste for the hot and spicy,
according to his mother.
“He
has so many other special interests. He’s really good with computers. He plays
piano. And singing; he’s got perfect pitch,” she said.
It
is his taste buds that could make Edward a hero to Arm & Hammer, however.
“Everyone
knows that kids are the best judges of knowing when foods taste like they
should,” said Ray Brown, of Arm & Hammer’s Good Taste Labs.
“The
search will be a fun and engaging opportunity for kids to show off their
superior tasting skills. It will also serve as a reminder to moms that they need
to take care in managing odors in their refrigerators and freezers to ensure
that foods taste like they should.”
This
preliminaries consisted of two experiments: “Flavor Fluency,” that
challenged contestants’ ability to distinguish nuances in ice cream flavors;
and “Sweet-n-Salty Sleuth,” which asked kids to identify the difference
between salty and sweet.
A
final experiment of the “At-Home Taste Bud Audition” required kids to
identify different levels of sweetness. Those who successfully completed were
invited to put their taste buds to the test nationally by entering the “Kid
with the Sharpest Taste Buds” Contest.
The
competition in New York will test contestants’ ability to identify specific
flavors while blindfolded and their overall knowledge of taste buds.
The
finalists also will be judged in the “Ice Cube Challenge,” in which they
will identify which refrigerated foods and ice cubes have been protected by Arm
& Hammer baking soda.
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