Grade 11 student Erica Berg is one of the many students who take the Culinary courses at Riverside Secondary. This is Berg’s second time she enrolled in the class. Berg starts off her morning routine jumping straight into bringing to life a recipe that will be served to her classmates and friends for the lunch rush. Berg said that she would highly recommend the class. “It’s really fun; you develop useful skills and learn delicious recipes that you’ll also use in your future. For anyone unsure about taking the class Berg said, “don’t worry about asking too many questions and even though the big industrial kitchen can seem intimidating at first, the teachers and students make it a friendly environment that’ll make you feel right at home.” Berg’s favorite recipes to make are scones and pizza dough, but her arms don’t really appreciate the job of hand-cutting 250 pounds of potatoes per day to be made into the popular french fries. Students even get to know some unusual recipes. Who would have thought to put zucchini in their brownies? But they taste delicious according to Berg. She ends her class with blogging in her journal the recipes she made and what skills she learned for that day. The class’s teacher’s chef Roberto Arciaga and chef Mona Gara, are putting in the extra effort into advertising, making sure the menu and daily specials are played on the TV screens around the school so more students become interested in taking the class. The two Chefs hope to see more new faces in the class in years to come. Unfortunately, Chef Roberto Arciaga’s last day will be Friday, October 30 as he is returning to teach Culinary classes at Gleneagle Secondary; Riverside wishes him all the best.
Erica Berg dishes out the daily news on what life is like in Culinary Arts (Best of luck Roberto!!)
Interested in cooking? Find out what a day in the life of a culinary student is like.