March 11, 2016

Lafayette Student Appears on Food Network’s CHOPPED March 15

Drew Friedman of Port Washington, N.Y., a senior at Lafayette College, will appear on the March 15 episode of Food Network’s “Chopped: College” as a contestant, squaring off ladle to ladle with other college-age kitchen masters.

The food challenge pits contestants against one another to concoct the best dish from loaded pantries, but must beat a 20-minute clock and feature odd ingredients like cotton candy or tripe.

Each episode consists of three rounds. The winner, selected by judges, takes home $10,000.

An economics and psychology double major, Friedman’s course to killer kitchen chops began when he was a child. His mother is a caterer in Long Island, N.Y., and works long hours. His dad doesn’t know how to cook. That meant time for the young Friedman to tinker around the stove on his own, and soon he was whipping up his own pasta dishes and worrying over sauces.

By 2009, as a 15-year-old high school sophomore, Friedman used some of his mother’s catering-business contacts to cook up a charity event. During Cuisine for a Cure, Friedman cooked meals like chicken francaise and wasabi-rubbed skirt steak, sold them and donated the money to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Does Lafayette’s Friedman have the recipe for success? Tune in to Chopped: College on the Food Network at 10 p.m. (EST), Tuesday, March 15 to find out.