Nashoba Tech Eats Up Two First Place Medals At Taste Of Middlesex

WESTFORD — If you're looking for a good mousse to make for the holidays, you might want to reach out to some Nashoba Tech students for help with the recipe. Their Chocolate Salted Caramel Mousse won both Best Dessert and Best Presentation for the school at the Taste of Middlesex.

Students in the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management programs at Nashoba Valley Technical High School were double winners at the recent Taste of Middlesex, hosted by the Middlesex West Chamber of Commerce and held at the Boxboro Regency Hotel & Conference Center. They went up against more than 30 other culinary presenters.

Representing the in-school restaurant The Elegant Chef, the group won in the Best Dessert and Best Presentation categories for its Chocolate Salted Caramel Mousse.

Students who participated include Kendra Carter (senior, Chelmsford), Addison Cosker (junior, Shirley), Cheyenne Fuchs (senior, Tewksbury), Ashley Parsons (junior, Chelmsford) Cory Prehl (junior, Ayer), Brianna Schmoyer (senior, Harvard), Connor Stenquist (junior, Chelmsford) and Zackery Whitman (junior, Shirley) along with Chef-Instructors Carley Capraro and Jeremy Bussiere.

The Chocolate Salted Caramel Mousse that won the two awards consists of a chocolate tart shell dipped in a dark-chocolate ganache, filled with a fluffy salted-caramel mousse, and topped with a dark chocolate sauce, fresh whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. Capraro said the students created the recipe on their own through trial and error.

Other local food-service establishments that competed in the event include 110 Grill in Chelmsford, Evviva Trattoria in Westford, the Westford Regency, Concord’s Colonial Inn, Burton’s Grill of Westford, Kimball Farm of Westford, Groton Inn and Tavern in the Square of Littleton.