This year, our school’s culinary program welcomes over 200 students. It is one of Sahuaro’s most popular classes/ programs, and it has been led by Aaron Vanuga since 2019. It is a completely free, 2-year curriculum that teaches students food prep, safety/handling, as well as many other aspects of the food and service industry. This class prepares students for real-world situations and later on, jobs or careers, and is one of the most helpful classes we have here at Sahuaro. This is a comprehensive career and technical education (CTE) program that helps you earn industry certifications like the ServSafe food safety training and the Arizona Foodhandler card.

Culinary is a 2-year program; you can start in any year, but upperclassmen are the top choice for the class, and it fills up rapidly. This year, we have also welcomed a second culinary teacher, Ms. Allison. She is a trained Pastry Chef and will be co-teaching with Mr. Aaron from now on. This year, I myself am in the 2nd-year advanced culinary class. My personal experience has been great in this class, and I have learned so many useful skills. I find myself recalling these skills and using them daily, and I have even been able to apply them to my own food service job. It helps us understand how and why we need to follow certain guidelines/ rules when it comes to handling food, as well as the importance of safety in the kitchen and in the workplace.

So far, in Advanced Culinary, the class has been reviewing previously learned skills from the first-year class, mainly going over knife technique. Mr. Aaron has also been getting us more comfortable with using yeast and different leaveners, such as biological, chemical, and physical. We have also been working on different doughs as well as many different sauces. One of the best things we’ve made so far was biscuits and gravy. The difference with the advanced class is that students are left with more independent time and hands-on work, and less instructional time. The point is to get students more comfortable being in the kitchen on their own and ready to follow recipes/prep food themselves.

As far as the curriculum, this class is fairly laid back and not complicated at all. Usually, in the 1st year of culinary, the class gets 2 days to cook; the first day to prep all food, and the second day to cook and serve food. As for Advanced Culinary, we usually have 3 days, giving us more time around the kitchen. On the days that the class isn’t in the kitchen, we have assignments and often fun projects, such as creating your own digital menu. They’re quite simple and correlate to whatever Mr. Aaron has been teaching the class. I highly recommend taking this class to anyone who is looking to venture out into different career options, understanding food prep and safety rules, or even just to feel the laid-back and fun environment of the class itself!