The Tastiest Elective: Intro to Culinary Arts at Duchesne

For some students at Duchesne Academy, the last class of the day is Introduction to Culinary Arts, a general elective where students learn about food safety and preparation. 

Before class begins, students change from their uniform skirts to navy blue pants before heading to the cafeteria. In order to fulfill safety guidelines in the kitchen, they tie back their hair and wear caps during the whole class.

The small class is led by Upper School Math teacher Patrycja Torrens. While she is an expert in math concepts, teaching Pre-Calculus and all of Duchesne’s Calculus classes, she also has experience in the kitchen, having attended culinary school and worked in a restaurant.

Sophomore Ana Sofia listening to Intro to Culinary Arts teacher Patrycja Torrens’s feedback on her hollandaise sauce. (Photo: Lynn Pennington).

Over the course of the class, students have learned the importance of mise en place, the French culinary phrase for organizing your workspace before cooking, and also critical knife skills.

During the first two weeks of the course, lessons were centered around preparing eggs. They learned how to cook fried, poached, and sunny side up eggs. In addition, they prepared eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce.

The completed eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce that includes avocado, poached egg, spring onion, all on top of an English muffin. (Photo: Lynn Pennington).

The following items they learned to make were salad dressing, risotto, roasted chicken, and pasta from scratch. Students took home their own pasta to eat with their families. Torrens demonstrated the cooking steps, and students partnered up while they followed her instructions. 

During the last final weeks of the class, students will be turning away from the savory flavors to more sweet dishes. They will be making scones, pie crust with pie filling, and flavored ice cream. 

Through this class, students are able to learn more about the artistry and science of cooking and baking for their futures. Senior Jismi George shared that she is grateful she has more knowledge about cooking: "It is really informative, and I have learned a lot. Now going to college, I know how to make risotto and practical dishes that I will benefit from."