When it comes to culinary arts, Union County is quickly building a tradition of success at the Arkansas 4-H Food Challenge.

A year after winning the Junior Division, the Saucy Bosses delivered a third-place finish in the competition that was held earlier this month at the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute at University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College.

A trio, the Saucy Bosses have had four team members contribute to their success in the last two years.

Makena Saffold and Sadie Saffold, who collaborated with Sophie Wheeler a year ago to win the Junior Division crown, teamed up with Harley Cardin for their latest triumph.

“In 4-H, you have to be 5 to 19 to join,” said Bethany Gammill, who is the Union County 4-H agent. “They all have been in 4-H for a while now. The 4-H Food Challenge was started about four years ago, and they’ve had a team for three years now. Last year, they won the whole state, but one of their girls aged up, so Harley was their addition this year. They told us they wanted to participate.”

In short, this is no ordinary competition.

“They get 40 minutes to cook, clean and prepare a presentation on the dish,” Gammill said. “That includes the calorie count, how much it probably costs, MyPlate, which is all of the nutritional part of fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy, the food safety. They have to know all of that. How long they cooked the dish, what they used in it, what they could substitute in for different pieces.”

Gammill said the team had several practices to get ready for the event.

“At the food challenge and at our practices, they get a mystery ingredient per se,” Gammill said. “We ranged from sausage to tuna to sour cream to tortillas, rice, just anything that we could to get them prepared. At the state competition, they are either in a fruits and vegetable category, a protein category or a grain category.”

So which category were the Saucy Bosses placed in?

“The girls were put in a grain category, and their mystery ingredient was two pieces of bread,” Gammill said.

And with that, the trio decided that their dish would be a tuna sandwich with tartar sauce to dip it in.

“We don’t get to be in the kitchen with them, but we were sitting at the window to watch,” Gammill said. “I know they went and grabbed some canned tuna, mayonnaise, bread crumbs and Worcestershire sauce.

“They added garlic and salt and pepper. They basically mixed it all together, made two different patties, then put them on the hot plates that they had to heat them up. They toasted the bread a little bit and put it all together.”

Unfortunately, there was one ingredient that wasn’t added to the dish.

“They forgot the add the egg to make it really stick together well,” Gammill said. “It still stuck together, but after they cooked it, they knew they had forgotten to add the egg.”

For Gamill, the back-to-back top three finishes is a source of pride.

“They definitely work hard for where they placed the past few years,” Gammill said. “They’re very competitive with themselves. They were upset that they got third, and I tried to tell them, ‘You’ve placed in the top three two years in a row. Not many teams can say that.'”

Gammill said nutrition has been a subject the trio has concentrated on.

“In 4-H, they get to choose a project area,” Gammill said. “This can range from nutrition and wellness to robotics, woodworking and agriculture. These girls all have had nutrition in their record books. It might not be their main priority, but it is in one of their priorities.

“Health is big to them, so doing this contest and learning more about the healthy choices they can make in MyPlate and calories and nutrition and the intake that you need at their age versus as an adult versus as a toddler, they get to learn all of that through participating in this, which translates over to their record books. That’s what 4-H is all about. Learning by doing, and it will translate over to their livelihood as well.”

So what’s next for the trio?

Well, Makena Saffold and Cardin just began their freshman years at El Dorado, while Sadie Saffold is in the sixth grade at Washington Middle School.

The freshmen will move up to the senior team where Wheeler, also a freshman at El Dorado, is.

“They’ll have to come back as a senior team, which will work out,” Gammill said. “We should have three fairly strong ones on the senior team next year.”

And while there will be some new faces for the junior team, it would be wise not to count them out.

Their results certainly speak for themselves, and Gammill can attest to the work they have done to reach this point.

“These girls cook like nobody’s business. I promise you,” Gammill said.

The Saucy Bosses work to get their dish completed during the Arkansas 4-H Food Challenge, which was held earlier this month. The Union County trio finished third in the Junior Division. Sarah Saffold/Special to the News-TimesThe Saucy Bosses work to get their dish completed during the Arkansas 4-H Food Challenge, which was held earlier this month. The Union County trio finished third in the Junior Division. Sarah Saffold/Special to the News-Times

Dining and Cooking