Bon appétit!
Culinary students sharpen skills at first Thanksgiving dinner
The Fayette County Career & Technology Institute hosted its first Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, providing culinary students with valuable hands-on experience in event planning and execution.
“This is a real simulated workplace, and the students get to learn everything about the industry,” said CTI Executive Director Cynthia Shaw. “And not just cooking or serving, they are running this restaurant.”
The 52 area high school students enrolled in the program served more than 200 guests as they learned not just what goes into creating a Thanksgiving menu, but also how to host a fine-dining experience.
Culinary instructor Chef Jacob Grimm said he decided to add the dining experience to the curriculum because it combined his favorite holiday meal with the opportunity for culinary students to get a true kitchen experience.
“The students have been very excited and passionate about today because they get to see things in the kitchen they have never been exposed to,” Grimm said. “Some of the kids have never cut bread before or stuffed a turkey, and now they get an opportunity to make and serve things like prime rib.”
For the price of $15, patrons were served a buffet-style dinner featuring traditional Thanksgiving fare of turkey, ham, stuffing and mashed potatoes as well as flank steak, glazed carrots and apple crumble.
“The students made everything, and they made everything fresh,” Grimm said. “Even when it came to our pastry chefs, they learned how to make pie dough from scratch and peeled fresh apples for the filling.”
Proceeds from the event went toward the culinary program, which includes an end-of-the-year dinner celebration for all of the students.
“The students get to pick the restaurant and be able to have a really cool fine-dining experience,” Grimm said.
Parker Gilleland, a senior at Laurel Highlands High School, said even though there was some pressure that went along with cooking for the inaugural event, he felt as if he and the other students embraced their roles and had fun in the process.
“It’s really been a great learning experience,” he said.
Parker has been with the program for three years, and hosting events such as this helps him prepare for his goal of becoming a chef in own restaurant.
And while not every student enrolled in the program has goals of working in the food and service industry, valuable lessons are being gained.
“It’s definitely helped me to become a more outgoing person,” said Khrya Batie, Laurel Highlands senior. “I feel like I’m capable of talking to other people and talking to large groups of people while still maintaining what I need to do. I feel like it expanded my personality a lot.”
Khyra, who is planning a career in pediatric psychology, said the lessons she’s learned from the program will help her within the future.
“I think most of all I learned about how to be optimistic,” Khyra said. “In the kitchen you have to stay optimistic whether things are going bad or going well – whether you’re behind or you’re ahead. You have to stay optimistic, and I think that mindset can be transferred over to pediatric psychology.”
The meal was met with rave reviews by dinner guest Laurie Sannado of Uniontown, who described the meal as “so good.”
“It’s just like something Mom would make for Thanksgiving,” Sannado said. “You can tell a lot of love went into this meal.”