A Delaware high school team scored a historic win, beating out 80 other teams, in a national culinary competition in Washington, D.C.

The Team Delaware students from Caesar Rodney High School in Camden earned first place in the 2022 National ProStart Invitational, held over two days this past weekend.

This is the first win for a Delaware team at the National Student Invitational level.

Students Morgan Fitzhugh, Grace Gonzalez, Caitlin Hernandez, Sierra Maull and Carys Raber's winning menu featured flavors from France, Italy and Greece.

They made a frisée salad with egg yolk raviolo, Mediterranean lamb loin and a chocolate dome with balsamic raspberries. 

The team was led by educator Riki Senn and Thomas Hannum, an owner of Buckley's Tavern in Centreville and Wilmington's Goober's Diner, served as a mentor for the students.

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Each student on the team received a $7,000 scholarship from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which hosted the competition that featured more than 1,000 attendees and 68 judges

The Caesar Rodney team advanced to the national level after they won the state competition in late March. More than 100 students from 10 schools across Delaware took part in the ninth annual Delaware ProStart Student Invitational at the Chase Center at the Wilmington Riverfront.

Delaware’s ProStart Program, supported by the Delaware Restaurant Educational Foundation, reaches more than 3,000 students in 20 public high schools and two correctional facilities. 

At the national competition, the Caesar Rodney team cooked the same menu they made in Wilmington to win the statewide competition. In Delaware, the students impressed the judges, some of Delaware's best-known chefs and restaurateurs, with their precise and professional dishes and skilled presentation.

The students used a blowtorch to warm the plates before dishing out the food. They also put the dishes in insulated bags, similar to those used by pizza delivery drivers, to keep the food warm.

“We had our ups and downs, but in the end it was great. It’s so unbelievable, we’ve been through so much. It’s so crazy all of our hard work has paid off,” said Team Delaware in a prepared statement after their national honors.

Culinary teams from Caesar Rodney High School have won the state competition three years in a row and advanced to the national competition.

 In 2019, they placed 15th at the National Invitational.

They also won the 2020 state competition but were unable to compete in the national event after it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico