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Kids' culinary camp a sizzling hit
Supervised by Debbie Ellingsworth, chef instructor in UDs Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HRIM), the 10-member crew made items ranging from blueberry milkshakes to quesadillas to eggs Benedict, and concluded their five days of culinary adventures with a celebratory lunch of pizza and ice cream (both homemade, of course). In the week of kitchen duty that began each morning at 9 with meal preparation and ended four hours later with a group clean-up effort, the budding chefs also learned about nutrition, kitchen and food safety and new ways to make formerly hated foods unexpectedly tasty.
I made the point of telling the group that the way something tastes all depends on the way its cooked, Ellingsworth said, and I had one participant who particularly appreciated this. She hated mushrooms but found to her surprise that she loved them when theyd been sautéed and used as filling in a spring roll.
I didnt want anyone to be bored, and I had a list of menu items planned, but over the years Ive also learned to ask what participants want to make, Ellingsworth said, and this year that opened the floodgates. According to Ellingsworth, suggestions ran the gamut from cream puffs to eggs Benedict to steak--not things she would have expected from students their age--and she was also pleasantly surprised at the maturity of participants kitchen conduct and cooking skills. Ellingsworth said that by encouraging participants innovation she was able to tailor her instruction specifically to the group, and she explained that one way she did this was repeating ingredients. A lot of the teaching had to do with using repeated ingredients in different ways, she said.
Friday’s class ended on a high note as each participant carried away a bag of soft pretzel nuggets made from scratch and fresh from the oven, courtesy of a recipe from Ellingsworth. Article by Becca Hutchinson To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |