Mix together about 10 teens – still dreaming of being horizontal under a coverlet at this ungodly 9 a.m. hour – some pots, pans, gas stoves, vegetables, a long list of ingredients and some really sharp knives, and a cynic might see a recipe for disaster.
The instructor reminds these cooks-in-the-making about hand-washing, pulling back long hair, the proper way to handle those knives when slicing and dicing, and the importance of actually reading the recipe before anything else. Their faces blank, their eyes gaze anywhere but toward teacher Marilu Hirschinger. Or any other human in the room, for that matter.
This must be what greets a junior high school teacher every morning.
Then Hirschinger gives the all-clear to begin, and a strange chemical reaction ignites. Envision warm water added to yeast. The near-dormant youngsters begin to move. They talk. They team together – not always in the assigned boy-girl plan – but it happens. The needed ingredients get from one table to another. They ask questions. Within 10 minutes, this brood is bubbling and churning and attentive.
“Mmmm. It smells good.”
“OOOOOohh. Mushrooms are so gross. My hands are slimy.”
“You cut the meat, and I’ll make the dough.”
Two girls examine a bok choy as if it were a lab experiment, but it gets chopped and added to the rest of the ingredients.
This is the third day of the week-long “Cooking Basics” class at Kitchen on the Green at the Expo Recreation Center in Aurora. More than 100 cooking classes for kids to adults are taught here through the city’s recreation program.
The “basics” title is a bit of a misnomer. This is not your french toast-on-a-stick kind of class. The students, who must be age 12-16, skip the fruit smoothies and egg-salad sandwiches and are catapulted to chicken cordon bleu in puff pastry and mac and cheese in béchamel sauce. Another day, the group rolls out dough for ravioli and tortellini. The third class celebrates Asian cuisine, and the group splits up to make dim sum, spring rolls and kung pao beef. A variety of pastry techniques – apple pie, cream puffs – are conquered on the fourth day, and the class ends with the delightful chaos of an Iron Chef competition, where students take a bounty of ingredients and create meals without recipes.
“Teenagers are awesome cooks,” says instructor Gigia Kolouch. “They’re really excited. They like the idea that they can impress their friends and families with what they cook.”
While a few cooking classes for children are offered in the metro area, none are as involved as the ones Aurora offers for teens.
“Kids are capable of doing more than we think they are,” says Pam Hueseman, a senior recreation specialist and facility manager at Expo. “Our classes are more skill-oriented, not just making tacos.”
Time-strapped parents may not help young ones learn, so these classes try to reel in future cooks.
Amanda Smith, 12, is one of those students who already is hooked. The Aurora girl has taken 10 different cooking classes and has registered for another, “Pizza Pizzaz,” in August. “I love cooking and I like to learn. Plus, I like seeing how good it smells.”
Alex Zelmanowicz of Aurora is in his first cooking class. He’s 14 and has cooked before – if you count cereal and toast. “I wanted to try something different. I want to keep cooking.”
When it’s time for the students to make buns filled with pork, instructor Hirschinger finds out there are several students who don’t eat the meat, so she hurriedly changes plans. Some of the buns will be filled with pork, some chicken, and others will be made without filling.
Flexibility is just one of the life skills that cooking teaches, says chef Thesala Jones, who taught the group knife skills and sauce-making. “(Cooking) does wonders for their self-esteem. It’s terrific for teaching teamwork. There are so many elements to being successful in the kitchen. You have to come up with a plan, then execute that plan for success. Then there’s the sense of camaraderie.”
After the meal is cooked and served, forks fly. Quiet munching turns into a critique of the lunch.
Marcus Hall, 13, of Denver has been left slightly taste-challenged by a recent tonsillectomy, but he’s sampled enough to know the kung pao beef is his favorite dish.
The group lingers in their chairs, discussing what might be changed about the final results. Vegetables instead of pork. More Szechwan pepper here, less salt there.
Now that’s a recipe for being a good cook.
Staff writer Cynthia J. Pasquale can be reached at 303-820-1722 or cpasquale@denverpost.com.
Cooking classes
Hey, teenagers (and tweens): Run out of things to do this summer? Why not spend the last couple of weeks learning how to do something useful and tasty? The city of Aurora and Stir It Up Cooking School in Boulder offer classes just for kids.
Aurora’s Kitchen on the Green
Expo Recreation Center, 10955 E. Exposition Ave., Aurora, 303-326-8630 or auroragov.org/recreation
Aug. 2, 9 a.m.-noon, Pizza Pizazz, ages 12 to 16, calzones, pizza, focaccia. $26 Aurora residents, $34 non-residents
Aug. 4, 10 a.m.-noon, Brain Fr-E-E-Z-E, ages 7 to 12, homemade vanilla ice cream, banana splits, ice cream sodas, sauces, $20 Aurora residents, $26 non-residents
Aug. 7, 10 a.m.-noon, Candy Factory, ages 7 to 12, peanut butter cups, ice cream truffles, peppermint patties, chocolate-covered strawberries, $20 Aurora residents, $26 non-residents
Aug. 9, 9:30 a.m.-noon, Vegetarian Cooking, ages 12-16, tempeh tacos, ginger glazed tofu, asparagus frittata & vegetable stir fry, soy chocolate mousse, $26 Aurora residents, $24 non-residents
Stir It Up Cooking School offers private cooking parties and classes at owner Carol Wiggins Boulder home, in addition to the following classes, which are full, but have space on the waiting list.
Aug 7-11, 1-4 p.m. ($165) and Aug. 21-23 9 a.m.-noon, ($100) Junior Chef Camp, ages 8-11, quiche, tofu pocket sushi, minestrone soup, fusilli with zucchini and fonduta, greek meatballs, almond biscotti, orange-flavored banana pie, cinnamon sopaipillas.
Aug 14-18, 12:30-4 p.m. ($185), Chef Camp, ages 12-15, quiche, omelet-wrapped sushi, pizza on the grill, roasted romaine salad, chicken and vegetable phyllo cups, mango lime granita, chocolate pavlova with fruit.
-Kristen Browning-Blas
