The sound of pans sizzling and the chopping of vegetables fills the room as the culinary students are prepping for their next competition. Julia Blankenship, JoHanna Sedillo and Naomi Dean, three culinary students at Klein Cain High School, share their experience in preparation for the upcoming competition.
Naomi Dean, a tenth grader, grew up around the kitchen, making culinary seem close to home for her. This closeness drives her passion for cooking.
“I’m so passionate about culinary because it brings me joy and happiness to cook and be in the kitchen,” Dean said.
Having family around the kitchen helped her connect to the class.
“My mom cooks in the kitchen, I cooked a lot when I was younger, and we just sort of bonded after that,” Dean said.
Sedillo also grew up around culinary arts. Her experience living on a farm-like home changed her perspective on cooking.
“Ever since I was young, my dad has taught me how to plant plants and cook using the plants,” Sedillo said. “He owns his own farm so we raise cows and other animals. I guess it’s cool for me seeing the chain of where everything comes from.”
Both seniors shared similar experiences within culinary, despite having different expertise.
“As a pathway, it teaches you a lot. I feel there’s certain skills and qualities that you learn in culinary that you can’t learn anywhere else on campus,” Blankenship said.
Sedillo has been to a competition before as a manager. Although she wasn’t cooking, she could talk about what the competition was and her personal experience with it.
“I have participated in the ProStart Competition,” Sedillo said. “It’s the biggest one you can do and you can get scholarships with it.”
She made many friends through the competition, and hopes to go back this year and actually compete.
“My favorite part about competing was definitely the people I made friends with,” Sedillo said. “I didn’t know them to begin with, but they’re some of my best friends now.”
Blankenship also hopes to compete this year, as a first time competitor she has a different perspective.
“The thing with culinary is that you roll around a lot so you can get a feel for everything,” Blankenship said. “So I love all of it.”
Bread team and Entree team seemed to stick out to Blankenship the most.
“I really like bread team because the yeast has to rise and you have to follow the steps,” Blankenship said. “But, I also really like entree team, which is sort of like the hot dishes and main courses.”
In preparation for the competition they all had different things to say. Naomi Dean, for example, is left quite unsure if she will be competing this year.
“I want to [compete], but we’ll just have to see how it goes,” Dean said.
Culinary arts is more than just a time commitment to these young chefs, it is their passion and lifestyle.
