When you walk into room 27 you are delighted with a delicious aromas coming from the food created by the culinary students at Hampton Bays High School. There are many electives a student can choose from in Hampton Bays High School including those in the extensive culinary program. The culinary program offers different classes for all levels of skill. Chef Curtis, a Hampton Bays alum teaches the classes.
In Basic Food Prep 1 & 2 students are introduced to the basic principles of food preparation. Chef Curtis teaches the students essential cooking techniques and nutrition basics while also making sure they understand what they are cooking. Chef wants the students to be able to go home at the end of the school day and be able to open their fridges and know what they can make with the ingredients they have. Food Prep is a fan-favorite course with the students because it is a very hands-on class and the students love to be able to eat the food they cook. Keira Nappi is a first-time food prep student and she said she “loves cooking with friends and learning new cooking skills.” She talked about how much she’s learned from the class and how important it is to learn these skills just to survive and be able to sustain yourself. Food Prep is a great class for beginners and if you want to learn how to cook basic recipes.
Cooking with Confidence is a new class this school year which is for more advanced food prep students. In this class, Chef Curtis wants you to know where everything in the kitchen is and what certain cooking terms are. Cooking with confidence equips the students with essential culinary skills but also allows them to be creative with their cooking. Chef Curtis stated that he wants “students to experiment with different flavors and techniques so they can feel more confident while they are cooking.” This class would be perfect if you had previously liked food prep or cooking and want to take another class.
Culinary Arts 1 & 2 is a college-level class where students go more hands on and into depth on baking and cake decorating as well as many other culinary skills. First-year students in the culinary arts classes receive the Suffolk County Food Managers certificate and if they complete the two-year program senior students will graduate with seven credits towards Suffolk Community Colleges Culinary Arts program, really setting them up for a future in the culinary sphere.
Regardless of the class, Chef Curtis states that the lesson schedule is flexible and it can change depending on the events they are catering for; if a student wants to learn how to cook something in particular, Chef will always try to to make it happen, encouraging their love and enthusiasm for cooking.
