Culinary Arts Students Hope to Cook Up a Future in Food

With waiting lists to get into culinary arts classes, five-star chefs mentoring cooking competition teams, school districts sending teachers to summer institutes to learn industry standards and students vying for entrance into the nation’s top cooking schools, the traditional “Home Ec” is off the menu.

“It’s no longer how to cook sugar cookies,” said Unna Valdez, who teaches culinary arts at Sandia High School.

At Sandia, 198 of the school’s 2,000 students are enrolled in the Culinary Arts program, with waiting lists to get into some of the classes. Roughly half of those 198 students are interested in pursuing careers in the food industry, while the rest are taking the classes just for fun.

The most obvious attraction is the popularity of Food Network and such shows as “Top Chef” and “Iron Chef,” which have glamorized food preparation and spun dreams of cooking careers for a new generation of foodies.

“I already know how to bake,” said Sandia junior Luna Martinez, 17, who plans to open a bakery after college. “I love food. It’s a big thing for me. I’m always hungry.”

Recently, high schools from New Mexico sent four-person teams to a Pro Start culinary arts competition at the Albuquerque Convention Center. They showed off culinary skills over two Bunsen burners before adoring crowds salivating over saffron rice, buffalo with molasses sauce, rabbit, chile rellenos and the artistic presentations plucked straight from gourmet magazines.

First-year students must learn about food safety and sanitation before they get down to the business — and fun part — of cooking.

They are judged on safety, sanitation and knife cuts, as well as mise en place (“everything in place”), preparation and plating.

“A girl next to me still had a sticker on her lemon,” Sandia junior Brice Maines said after a recent competition, adding “They’re supposed to take the sticker off.”

Head judge Jorge de la Torre said the quality of the student dishes has improved over the last several years as chefs in gourmet restaurants lend their expertise and students become more aware of the possibilities of food. De la Torre is the dean of Johnson and Wales University in Denver, which offers a degree in culinary arts and is a four-year college targeted by many local culinary students.

“There’s a huge excitement,” he said.

De la Torre, a 1986 St. Pius High School graduate, recalls being the only boy in his creative cooking class. He now sees equal numbers of boys and girls in competitions and classrooms who are looking at a future in food jobs at casinos, spas, cruise lines and resorts. Other career possibilities involve nutrition and product development for food companies.

“Cooking’s here to stay,” he said. “It really is a viable option that has great career possibilities.”

At Central New Mexico Community College, enrollment in culinary arts classes has increased by 98 percent since 2007, with a 72 percent increase in students declaring culinary arts as a major, said Donna Diller, CNM’s program manager for Culinary Arts and Hospitality and Tourism. The classes fill up quickly and often have wait lists.

“A lot of it is people love to eat,” Diller said.

The school, which is accredited by the American Culinary Federation, boasts a “100 percent job placement” for its culinary arts graduates, she said. Some work as chefs at local hotels and casinos or open their own businesses.

“The industry as a whole is much more recognized,” she said, adding the department no longer has to market or recruit potential students.

Of the city’s 14 high schools, 12 now have culinary arts programs.

Valley High’s Fara Pettus is an “old school” home economics teacher who converted to “culinary arts” nine years ago when Albuquerque Public Schools sent teachers to a summer institute to become familiar with food industry standards.

“I wore aprons,” Pettus recalled from the early days. “I didn’t wear chef jackets.”

Now, Valley’s program has grown from one to two teachers with more than 300 students and an industrial kitchen paid for through grants.

The classes raise money for their ingredients and competitions by catering school events. Sandia’s culinary arts classes, for instance, were hired by the school to cater breakfast for 11th-graders taking the recent state standards-based assessment. They also have catered sports banquets.

Photo Credit – PAT VASQUEZ-CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL
Cutline – Jeff Trent, left, keeps a trained eye on the Clovis team as he judges a high school cooking contest at the Pro Start culinary arts competition at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Trent is sous chef at the Hard Rock Resort and Casino.