Culinary Arts bring the heat in their new kitchen - Imperial Valley Press

Second-year students Karisma Kumar (left), 17, and Desiree Almodovar (right), 17, with first-year student Megan Gamez (middle),17, pose in the new Culinary Arts kitchen. PHOTO SARAH ALVARADO-HERNANDEZ

This school year at Southwest High School, Culinary Arts students get to experience a new kitchen, new equipment and new tools.

Amanda Hill, the Culinary Arts teacher who has been teaching for nine years, expressed how excited she is to utilize a new kitchen with her students.

“This will be a more professional experience,” Hill said.

She is looking forward to making new and more complex recipes because last year the Culinary Arts program had a lack of equipment and space. The new kitchen was partially funded by the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant and it took 10 months to rebuild. The new kitchen has gone from a vocational lab to a full commercial kitchen. This year, Hill plans to revise the curriculum to use all equipment and allow students to learn how to use each tool and all equipment proficiently.

Culinary Arts teacher Amanda Hill poses in the new commercial kitchen during the Kafe 56 re-opening on Sept. 18. PHOTO SARAH ALVARADO-HERNANDEZ

“We have a new ice cream machine and I am looking forward to making ice cream and sorbets to incorporate into the Kafe 56’s dessert menu,” Hill said with a smile.

She added that culinary arts is a hospitality industry that provides significant job opportunities.

“Cooking is vital in living a healthy lifestyle,” she said.

Hill described the cooking and the culinarian experience as “ever-changing,” “physical” and “rewarding.”

Second-year Culinary Arts student Karisma Kumar, 17, is excited about making new recipes in the kitchen.

Kumar said that the new kitchen is “nothing like home.”

Kumar said she looks forward to making new foods she hasn’t made before, and to use the new equipment and tools. She looks forward to making anything with meat, pasta or sushi. Kumar said being able to cook is a necessity to help yourself in the future and “being able to provide for yourself like in college.”

The culinary experience for Kumar is “tasty,” “delightful” and “new.”

Second-year Culinary Arts student Desiree Almodovar, 17, said it is very nice to be able to have the opportunity to use the new kitchen for her senior year. Almodovar looks forward to being able to learn new to prepare new things that she has never cooked before. She hopes she gets to make wings or churros with the new deep fryer this year. With the new grills, she hopes to make a lot of foods.

“I would love to make some chicken parmesan or hamburgers,” she said. “It allows me to get one-on-one experience with an actual restaurant-like kitchen.”

Culinary Arts gives students an opportunity to not only cook the food, but serve it as well. Almodovar would want to participate regularly in the Kafe 56 events to be able to serve parents, staff and students.

First-year (and only year) culinary student Megan Gamez, 17, said she feels “honored” and “special” in being able to use this kitchen. She is grateful she didn’t have to go through what last year’s students went through, which included classroom activities but no access to a full kitchen to practice techniques. With a commercial kitchen, students can participate in a variety of culinary events.

“I am excited to be a part of the catering,” Gamez said.

Gamez said she joined Culinary Arts because she was “inexperienced” in the kitchen. She wanted to develop her independence by learning this life skill. This year, she is in a class full of second-year students.

“I am surrounded by wise people,” she said.

She feels “extremely grateful” to be working with such experienced individuals. Gamez said she feels very inexperienced but is hopeful she will learn the skills she needs for the future.

This year Culinary Arts will be participating in big events like the Imperial Valley Food Bank’s Harvest Bowl, which will take place on Oct. 12 and many more Kafe 56’s on half-Wednesdays at Southwest High School.

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https://www.ivpressonline.com/ivhigh/southwest/culinary-arts-bring-the-heat-in-their-new-kitchen/article_d0d814f0-e891-11e9-8783-8718cbcdf572.html

2019-10-07 07:20:00Z
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