Junior sous chef Victoria Taylor, 11, sautéed vegetables during the seventh annual Junior Chef Competitionon Saturday.

The young chefs emerged as smoke swirled from a fog machine.

They swayed to booming, upbeat music that signaled their arrival. Ranging in age from 10 to 17, the youth were ready to showcase their talents, quick thinking and creativity in the seventh annual Junior Chef Competition.

The matchup: Team Nova versus Team Flaming Chefs. Each squad had an adult chef and a young sous chef to guide them in a two-part, timed competition for the title of San Antonio’s top young chefs.

More than 120 people cheered the teams last weekend as they weaved past vendor tables to the H-E-B Kitchen Campus at The Neighborhood Place on the West Side. Several celebrity judges critiqued the dessert and entree rounds at the competition hosted by chefs Milas Williams and Johnny Hernandez. The judges included Anthony Cubit, Leo Davila, Amos “Famous Amos” Brazan, Tatu Herrera, Geronimo Lopez and Raven Phelps-Jackson.

“These children were in a year-long training program,” Williams said. “They go through the first four to six months with me. I do my assessment — some don’t make it, and some do. The last five months, they train with their coaches.”

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The teams had one hour to prepare a dessert. The kitchen buzzed with activity as team members shouted “Yes, chef!” to their mentors’ instructions. Executive chef Alejandro Castro worked with each Flaming Chef member. He had them taste their sauce and watched as they kneaded dough.

“Behind, behind, behind!” sous chef Victoria Taylor, 11, shouted as she whisked by her Flaming Chef teammates. With a bowl of powdered sugar in her grip, she directed her team like a basketball player with full-court vision.

“If you’re done, go work on another task,” she said to her team with an intense stare.

Parents, family members crowded into the kitchen to cheer the youth from San Antonio, Houston and Texas City. Alayne Harris, 51, was among the ring of supporters who watched from the side, snapped photos and viewed the action beamed to two flat-screen televisions on a wall.

“You need to talk to each other,” Harris shouted to her son Detrick Harris, 14, on Team Flaming Chefs.

The event reminded her of an episode of the Food Network’s “Chopped” television show. Harris said it was a great opportunity for Williams to train her son. A freshman at Young Men’s Leadership Academy, Detrick’s nickname is “Sir-Mix-It-Up.”

Williams and the celebrity judges circled the kitchen, checking on the youth as they worked against the clock.

“Is it always this much chaos in the kitchen?” Bazan asked fellow judge Raven Phelps-Jackson. “It’s really this extreme?”

Manda Henderson, 36, and her daughter Kamrym Martin, 10, look at Cyeva Harris, 33, during the seventh annual Junior Chef Competition, a one-day event where two teams of youth are critiqued on taste and culinary skills in a professional kitchen setting Saturday.

Phelps-Jackson said it was about quick thinking during timed rounds and presentation.

“If not prepared right, it might not be presentable,” she said. “You eat with your eyes.”

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Team Nova’s adult chef Latoya Cole kept her team moving. The executive chef handed towels to her team to clean their station as they worked. Then it was time for them to plate their desserts.

“Good job, chef,” Cole said to 10-year-old Kamryn Martin as she drizzled a glaze on rows of donuts. “That looks good.”

The entree round brought surprises. Williams announced the ingredients of a mystery basket: watermelon, a yucca plant and a 7-pound red snapper. Teams had one hour and 35 minutes to complete the round.

Then he presented each of the youths’ parents with a black apron. They’d been drafted to cook on their children’s team.

“This is real now,” Williams said. “This is what you’ve been training for. Now, go!”

The teams dashed once again to their silver steel prep stations with their parents. Amanda Henderson, 36, worked beside her daughter, Kamryn, as she peeled a yucca plant. She was shocked but thrilled to lend a hand.

Williams and executive chef Kim Van Winkle washed used pans in sinks behind the squads. When time was up, the teams raised their arms from their dishes, happy with their efforts. After the judges critiqued and tasted their dishes, the championship belt went to Team Nova.

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Myara Harris-Kirby, 12, Kimora Taylor, 12 and Tyanice Stanton, 17, received starched, white coats as induction as chefs. Williams said the trio can be called upon by professional chefs to work and get actual pay. Each chef was ordained by executive chefs Geronimo Lopez, Leo Davila, Tatu Herrera, Anthony Cubit, Phelps-Jackson and other chefs seen on local and national food media sites.

Last year, the seasoned chefs anointed Victoria as a junior sous chef with the presentation of a coveted white garment. Now, she helped the team slip on their coats and a higher culinary level.

Sponsors included Ben E. Keith, The Henry Foundation, Prince Hall Masonic Affiliates, Tacit Growth Strategies and Walmart. The competition is one of the events Williams and his nonprofit World LOLEI, Loyalty Over Liberty Equals Integrity, have sponsored since 2014.

Kimora won World LOLEI’s most-improved award. Myara received the hard worker’s award. Stanton moved up to actual chef status. Each young chef received a knife set with a backpack, an Amazon series 8 edition fire tablet, professional chef apron, coat and pants.

Williams said the event is about making a lasting impact on the youths’ lives. For all of the cooking under pressure, discipline and time limits, the hope is those skills will help them succeed in life.

“Some are dealing with issues, and their outlet is in the kitchen,” Williams said. “At the end of the day, no matter who won, they were all winners.”

Vincent T. Davis started at the San Antonio Express-News in 1999 as a part-time City Desk Editorial Assistant working nights and weekends while attending San Antonio College and working on the staff of the campus newspaper, The Ranger. He completed a 3-month fellowship from the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in 2003 and earned his bachelors degree in communication design from Texas State University in 2006.