Cooking up a new class of chefs

"Dream kitchen' spices up culinary arts program

While another team prepares to make soup, Jefferson City High School senior Chase Bryson chops garlic into fine pieces for his group's leek and potato soup.
While another team prepares to make soup, Jefferson City High School senior Chase Bryson chops garlic into fine pieces for his group's leek and potato soup.

The culinary arts classroom at Nichols Career Center has been outfitted with a "dream kitchen" that's priming students for industry jobs and scholarships.

Instructor Amber Moore said the long, rectangular classroom used to be divided into three regular classrooms. The center never had a full-blown culinary program until this semester, and it's been a year-long process getting everything together.

Moore said the kitchen has everything she could have ever wanted, and even some culinary professionals have expressed envy.

"The kids realize how lucky they are," Moore said.

If students take the full two-year program, they graduate with an industry-recognized certificate that sets them up for higher-paid jobs in the industry.

She said she already has students who are working in the field and were given a higher pay grade because of their experience in the classroom.

The students are more appealing to employers because they already know how to run equipment found in an industry kitchen - it cuts down on months of training time, Moore said.

Last year, the students worked with ovens and stoves found in a typical home. Now, the students are cooking up tasty creations using industry-grade equipment, including a self-filtering fryer, six gas-burning stoves, a grill, a griddle and a smart oven, Moore said.

The four-rack smart oven has foods preprogrammed into its system, she said. If a student is cooking bacon, he can push the bacon icon and the oven knows how long it should be cooked for. Students can also put trays of food in at separate times and the oven knows to start a different timer for that rack.

"When I was in culinary school, you didn't see these because it was too expensive," Moore said. "Now it's typical in the industry."

Eleventh-grade student Keyarah Strickland said when she heard about the new culinary program, she jumped at the opportunity to sign up.

Upon seeing the new equipment, she said, she didn't even want to touch it. She's enjoyed being in the class and eventually wants to own her own bakery.

Her favorite lesson so far has been learning different knife cuts. The class made swans out of apple slices and elaborate bouquets of flowers out of masterfully carved radishes, carrots and squash.

"I always go home and tell my mom what I've been doing," Strickland said.

"She's really supportive and got me a new knife set. She's noticed how much better I've gotten."

With the new equipment, students are going a little deeper into the lessons compared to last year, Moore said.

On Tuesday, the students made potato and leek soup from chicken stock they made the week before.

Moore said she used to just make the chicken stock herself and bring it in, but now they're making everything from scratch.

So far, they've studied the importance of kitchen sanitation, knife cuts and will continue learning soups and sauces.

Next semester, the class will have two guest speakers to talk about beef and pork, and they'll learn more about vegetables and fruits.