The "Iron Chef"-style cook-off will pit three student groups and one faculty group against each other to make three dishes, complete with a required ingredient.

The team with a clear edge has four students who participate in ProStart, a four-semester culinary program offered at the high school.

Rich aromas of steak with a bleu cheese sauce wafted through the school's classroom kitchen last week as the ProStart class busily minced and whisked.

"I've wanted to be a chef since I was 4," said Heather Sheets, a junior who had just finished making a cherry souffle and will be competing with the ProStart team Friday.

Although the team has done competitive cooking before, cooking in front of their peers turns the pressure up a notch. The team did a couple of practice runs in front of other classes in preparation for a contest earlier this year, "and that was really nerve wracking," she said.

Sheets, who does most of the cooking at home ("my mom expects me to"), is not alone in preferring gourmet cooking to fast food.

And it goes beyond a hobby — many teens want to make cooking a career.

Now they're cooking

The popularity of the Food Network and shows like "Top Chef" and "Iron Chef" have encouraged students to look at cooking as a viable career, said Gerry Fritsch, a family and consumer education teacher at Sun Prairie High School and ProStart coordinator.

Paul Short, program director for Madison Area Technical College's culinary arts program, agrees.

"I think there's definitely increased interest in culinary (careers) across the board," Short said. "All those shows have contributed to an increase in desire to get into this industry."

The eat- and buy-local trend might also be tempting people back to the kitchen.

"There's just a real strong sense of comfort, I think, to going back to cooking your own food," Short said.

While today's family and consumer education program is more advanced than what some remember from high school home economics, the ProStart program is an even more intensive kitchen-based program. In addition to Sun Prairie, other area high schools offer the program, including all Madison high schools, and those in DeForest, Stoughton, Sauk Prairie and Waunakee, according to the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.

MATC recognizes the sanitation certificate that comes as part of the ProStart certification, and the school is looking at expanding what certificates it accepts from students who have completed the program.

Benefit for pantry

Friday's contest is the first time the school has tried a cooking competition fundraiser. All proceeds will go to Sunshine Place, the city's combination food pantry and used clothing store.

"It was just kind of a joke idea at first," said Sara Schneider, a Sun Prairie senior and student council president who came up with idea.

As in the real "Iron Chef," the audience will be kept apprised of what the teams are cooking and their progress. Brandon Bay, deli manager at Sun Prairie's Sentry Foods, who helps teach the ProStart students knife skills, will be the master of ceremonies.

"I'll be walking around explaining what people are doing," he said.

Bay said he enjoys working with the high school students and is amazed how far the curriculum has come from his high school home economics class.

"We did bagels and pizza," Bay said. "We weren't allowed to use knives."

At Iron Chef Sun Prairie, each group will have two butane burners to create three dishes to stun the taste buds of three judges, including Superintendent Tim Culver.

This is the first food challenge Culver's judged, but "I love to eat," so it should be fun, he said.

And lucky for the chefs, he's not too picky.

"I eat anything," he said.

If you go:

Iron Chef Sun Prairie will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday in the high school cafeteria. Cost of admission will be one canned good plus a $2 donation. All proceeds will go to the Sun Prairie Sunshine Place.

The rules: Each team will make three dishes using the secret ingredient. Teams may bring up to $20 worth of cooking ingredients. Kitchen staples, such as spices, broths, vegetables and proteins will be provided. Dishes will be judged on originality, flavor and plating.