Culinary arts is a favorite among students at BBCHS and half of them didn’t even know it.  From culinary classes to baking classes, students are actually excited to learn.

Culinary and baking are electives at BBCHS and they are taught by Ms. Morris, Mrs. Mohammad, and Ms. Kelley. You have to take culinary first to learn the basics of cooking and then you can take baking. Some of the stuff you make is chicken alfredo, cookies, cinnamon twists, bagels, and much more. In baking class you could make biscuits, cake from scratch, calzones, muffins, cupcakes, bread from scratch, etc.

A lot of students don’t understand that you actually make the food in class with a group of friends and then you can eat whatever you make. I remember my first day in Culinary 1 when I asked Mrs. Mohammad if we really get to eat whatever I make. It seemed too good to be true.

Last year, the pandemic put a hold on culinary classes because everyone was online so they couldn’t do any hands-on projects. Everything was from home. The incoming freshman this year and even the sophomores don’t know about culinary arts. Last year the classes had to make everything from home, which can be stressful for people who may not have the supplies to make what the teacher tells them. I’ve heard a lot of students saying they wish they did those classes, but they just didn’t know it was that much fun. Senior Laurel O’Brien recalls, “I remember when I was a freshman the culinary hallway always smelled so good. People would walk out of the class with plates full of alfredo, and I knew I wanted to take that class. I’m a senior now and I’m taking Culinary 1, and it’s my favorite class.”

The baking and culinary classes normally go on a field trip to Chicago each year, and they did it this year to Crumbl Cookies in Wicker Park. The students got to walk around and go into different bakeries and see what they baked. Baking student Addison Lombardi said, “ I got out of a full day of school to walk around Chicago with my friends and eat cookies! I’m so glad I took culinary last year and now baking this year!”

Currently the baking classes are having a cake competition where they have to pick a cake to make based on any movie they choose. Some of the ideas are Tangled, Nightmare Before Christmas, Cookie Monster, Home, and Despicable Me. Last week Ms. Kelley’s culinary class made granola bars and puppy chow. The culinary class and the baking class make at least one recipe a week.

The culinary arts classes are fun, but you still have to learn like every other class. If we are making bread then we have a test on bread. The difference between these classes and many other classes is that whatever you learn will be useful in everyday life. You learn cup measurements and how gluten makes bread rise and how if you add a scoop of mayonnaise to your cake batter, it will make the cake more moist without changing the taste.

You literally get to cook and eat with your friends, I don’t know any class that’s better than that.