Lively and encouraging, Chef Jenkins’ culinary class provides a positive, hands-on atmosphere for aspiring chefs, utilizing one of the only commercial kitchens in Humble ISD history.
Chef Jenkins prides herself on efficiency. In the culinary course, students will first become ServSafe Certified, a program providing high-quality food safety education, hygiene, and training for those interested in the food service industry. ServSafe follows students throughout the entirety of the course, through daily lessons and preparing for catering events. THEN, students can begin cooking.
Starting with the basics, students are taught cooking essentials, baking essentials and knife skills such as how to handle the knife and how to effectively make different cuts. Students are appraised on their individual contributions and eventually, are entered into courses called practicals where they are required to cook or bake small items on their own like muffins. For advanced students, they are required to cook a dish that is more challenging, such as a mother sauce.
Collaboration is an important lesson in a commercial kitchen. Students take on the task of catering for events in and outside of Summer Creek. Students put on their culinary uniforms and prepare chicken for catering, using different seasonings and bases. The students begin the rice pilaf, a dish that consists of sautéed, seasoned rice steamed in bouillon. They compliment the dish with a side of green beans and a sauce prepared by Jessica Nguyen.
“The overall experience of it is very rewarding because you get to learn all these things, ” senior Sous Chef Taryn Brouer said. “It’s something you get to take with you for the rest of your life.”
Brouer has been in the program for 3 years. As a Sous Chef, she is second in command to Chef Jenkins and is responsible for creating menus and running catering events.
“It’s not just Home Ec,” Brouer said. “We are actually cooking everyday and it gets stressful sometimes, but it’s very rewarding.”
