Junior chef Emily Allen poses, as seen on Food Network’s Chopped Junior, Season 1.
Junior chef Lyla Allen poses, as seen on Food Network’s Chopped Junior, Season 1.
By Meagan Douches
When Lawrenceville’s Emily and Lyla Allen found out they had been selected to compete on the Food Network show Chopped Junior, they were literally jumping up and down with excitement.
But one of the biggest challenges was that they weren’t able to tell anyone that they were going to appear on the show.
The twins can’t disclose too much information about the experience until the episode airs later this month or in early January, though the two say that they had a great experience and wouldn’t change a thing.
Known as the Kitchen Twins, the 12-year-old sixth graders at Princeton Day School have already made a name for themselves in the food world.
Last year, they won Lawrence High School’s “Shark Tank” competition and launched their first product — a Make Your Own Kale Chips kit which is now sold at ShopRite stores around the state as well as at Pennington Market.
The twins say that the application process was extensive and they completed the first online portion back in May. After a Skype interview and a series of phone calls, the girls received an email announcing that they had been chosen in mid-July.
“We were just so excited, we were like mind blown,” Emily said. “Our parents told us that we were going to get on the show, but it was still a big surprise. It was so nerve-wracking at the same time though. ”
Chopped Junior is a new show on the Food Network modeled after the popular show Chopped, which features experienced adult chefs competing against each other.
Chopped Junior features kids between the ages of 9 and 15 as they compete in a cook-off consisting of three courses — an appetizer, entrée and dessert.
During each round, the contestants are given a “mystery basket” containing three to five diverse and/or unusual ingredients that they must include in their dish.
They are allowed to supplement their dish with ingredients that are available in the Chopped Junior kitchen’s pantry and fridge.
One chef is eliminated each round by a panel of judges until the final two face-off for the dessert course. A grand prize of $10,000 is at stake as the junior chefs compete.
Emily and Lyla had about a month to prepare for their Chopped Junior competition. They practiced cooking everyday and even made a special multi-course dinner for their parents’ anniversary.
“Our parents would give us mystery baskets for an appetizer, entrée and dessert and they put totally random things in it,” Emily said. “Lyla and I would have so much fun just creating stuff.”
“We would choose different stuff for each other,” Lyla added. “Like one time Emily gave me peanut butter M&Ms, bread, Lays potato chips and cocoa powder — that was so disgusting because it’s so bitter — but I made French toast.”
In addition to practicing with unpredictable ingredient combinations, the girls would set a time limit as they prepared each course, mimicking the style of the Chopped competition.
They say that due to lack of space, one girl would go at a time, taking over the kitchen and running around in search of ingredients.
The twins come from a family of healthy lifestyle advocates. Their parents Cricket and Brian Allen are owners of a natural food company called The Perfect Snaque, which helped the girls launch their Kale Chip product line last year.
The girls had originally applied to be on Chopped Junior as a team, but were selected to compete against each other and two other junior chefs. They didn’t mind this, though. The Allen twins say that they are very competitive towards each other and they saw the contest as another fun opportunity to go head-to-head.
“Everything’s a competition! Whose room is cleaner, who does better on a test, who can eat more — everything!” Lyla said.
When the time came to film the show last August, the Allen’s traveled to New York City to the Food Network’s studio headquarters in Manhattan. Though the twins were nervous, all of their time practicing made them feel prepared to go up against their competition.
Emily says that she was also very hyped up before the competition, but she was able to calm herself by remembering why she was there in the first place- her love of cooking.
“It was like, you’re on the show? I can’t believe this! I’m actually on Chopped Junior?” Emily said. “And then I was like, ‘Wait I’m really good at cooking!’ So I just reminded myself of how well I do.”
The Chopped Junior competition was hosted by television personality Ted Allen — who also hosts the adult version of the show — and featured celebrity judges Laila Ali, Aarón Sanchez and Art Smith. The girls said they were delighted to receive a wooden spoon signed by everyone on the show as a souvenir of their experience.
“It was really cool to meet [everyone],” Emily said.
“It’s very valuable stuff that we learned,” Lyla said. “Like having these professional chefs encourage you and tell you to never stop doing what you love — like cooking. It was really, really cool.”
Cricket and Brian Allen were very supportive of their daughters’ aspirations to be on the show throughout the application process and the competition. Cricket said that the couple didn’t have any expectations for the girls, they just wanted to encourage their passion for cooking.
“We were really nervous for them when they were on the show,” Cricket said. “But we believed in them and didn’t have a single doubt. The number one goal was to have fun and enjoy the process and experience.”
No matter the turnout of the competition, Emily and Lyla say that they had a great time and they plan to continue pursuing their passion. The girls are working their way up, with hopes to develop their own line of cooking utensils and one day, their own cooking show.
“Our mission is to get families in the kitchen and to spread our love of cooking and whole foods,” said both girls in unison.
The twins say that sometimes, when they’re in the kitchen alone, they pretend that they’re on TV, talking to the audience and explaining everything as they go along, preparing different dishes. Viewers will have to see how they did being on national television for the first time when their episode of Chopped Junior airs at the end of the year.
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