Culinary gives an intense vibe from their classroom, and the way they work too. There are some people who enjoy working with others, but some prefer to do it solo–and Karla Resendiz is one of them. Resendiz is a freshman and chose Culinary Arts as her elective class. Her skills are visible in the dishes she makes, but she has her fair share of most and least favorite dishes.
“We get a lot of stuff done in a short period of time. About the same time there’s a lot of demonstrations. So I give a lot of demos,” Culinary teacher, Daniel Reyes, said.
The atmosphere in her culinary class is quiet. Resendiz says that her classmates are helpful and lend a hand to each other and that they all get along pretty well. Her class is cut into groups of three. But, when the curriculum calls for it, Chef Reyes, their teacher, prefers them to work independently. Their recipes are pre-decided and switched every semester. The first semester they did baking, and now, they’re working on savory foods. Chef Reyes has said that his classroom is fast paced, too.
“I love cooking. I enjoy it. I find it peaceful,” Resendiz, 9, said.
Resendiz originally picked up cooking as a hobby when she was a child–at about eight years old. To her, it’s not really a career and she can’t see herself pursuing it. She simply just enjoys cooking and often does it alone, because she feels as if someone would mess something up if she were to do it with a partner. She states that culinary class is very stressful for her, but it’s easier for her because she has a close partner, Helen Cervantes. They both separate the jobs for each other.
“I like the way I learn more things about cooking,” Resendiz, 9, said.
Resendiz has made different kinds of food. She’s made pastas like mac and cheese, and others like baked potatoes and enchiladas. Her favorite dish to make is pasta, because she enjoys making the dough the most. Out of all the dishes she’s made though, her least favorite has to be soup. In her opinion, it’s flavorless and not very tasty, and making it is unenjoyable for her, since she can’t change the recipe or else it could mess up the rest of the recipe. Resendiz says that she likes to make the dough for pasta dishes, and because of how much she likes making bread and pasta, it’s easier for her to hone her technique when she does it.
“She’s a good student, she tries hard. She doesn’t mind asking for help, a lot of times students don’t ask for help until it’s too late,” Chef Reyes, said.
Chef Reyes said that Resendiz is soft spoken, but she takes the lead in her group. She has a good set of skills, and it’s mirrored in the dishes she makes. She’s also been pretty productive as of late, and takes cooking much more seriously. Reyes said that when it comes to recipes, she’s diligent, she learned to ask before something goes wrong. In fact, Resendiz recently made something that looked pretty good to Chef Reyes. Culinary was working on soft dinner rolls, and because of the way the dough looked, Reyes said that it would turn out well.
“They struggle. Because it’s something new, so a lot of stuff we do our students have never tried before,” Chef Reyes, said.
Chef Reyes says that 95 percent of his international class have made foods they’ve never even seen or had before. He stated that he could almost say the same for his beginning culinary class. Resendiz states that in her own perspective, she performs well but tends to fail sometimes but she still tries hard.
“She helps her group because some of us don’t know how to cook very well,” Helen Cervantes, 11, said.
Resendiz and Cervantes bonded over culinary. In her eyes, Resendiz is a sweet person and cares about others, and during cooking, she is very helpful. With Cervantes, Resendiz has made dishes like alfredo pasta before, and recently finished making a dinner roll.
“Karla knows what she’s doing in the kitchen,” Helen Cervantes, 11, said.
