REALLY Learning to Cook

In many households it seems that dinner preparation has become a task of taking something out of the freezer and using the microwave to heat it.  A lot of people say they don’t have time to cook and so, children are not learning how. By moving away from the ability to prepare a range of food at home, enjoyment at restaurants has increased. Despite the economy’s dip the last few years, eating out has increased.

The need for educated kitchen help has been recognized throughout West Virginia with most counties participating in the Pro-Start program.   Developed by the West Virginia Department of Education and the National Restaurant Association, the high school program provides a start in a food service career with professional training in all aspects of operating and maintaining a food service business.

Joshua Hedrick graduated from Beckley’s Academy of Careers and Technology Pro-Start program and is now enrolled at the Mountwest Culinary Arts Program in Huntington. He enjoyed eating so much as a kid that he wanted to become a food critic when he grew up. But then he realized he had to take journalism classes and decided, instead, to really learn to cook.

John Strehle grew up in a large Greek family on the north side of Chicago where he decided at an early age that he wanted to become a fireman. The extended family gathered at his house for Thanksgiving and food always was equated with good times and love. After a stint working at the Chicago Board of Trade, his family then moved to Ashland, Kentucky. At 44 years of age his wife and his mother suggested he go back to school to do something he loved. He is now at Mountwest Culinary Arts Program to really learn how to cook.

Melissa Taylor moved a lot as a kid and always enjoyed cooking, but she really wanted to become a doctor. Organic chemistry was her undoing, however, and she landed in the accounting department at Marshall. She said she could do the work but she certainly was not passionate about it. When her job at Borders bookstore ended, she realized she needed a career that she could love and so she enrolled at Mountwest Culinary Arts Program to really learn how to cook.

These three students, all in their first year of the program, will be part of this year’s Mountwest Culinary Arts team at the Cast Iron Skillet Cook-off at The Greenbrier February 1st and 2nd. The team will also include four community members with a range of cooking experience, as well as Isabel Cross and Larry Perry from the Program.

Last year Isabel Cross took a team to the Cast Iron Skillet Cook-off at the Greenbrier and they won the Grand Championship. Their experience is explained in this blog published shortly after the event on WVFarm2u.

This year they will return to the competition in the Throw-Down category where they will compete against two other teams which scored within 1.5 points of them last January.

The Mountwest Culinary Arts Program in Huntington is part of Mountwest Community and Technical College.  It had been part of Marshall University until a few years ago when the state legislature decided to separate two-year programs from the umbrella of the university.  The Culinary Arts Program moved into a new kitchen facility on 8th Avenue and also has some food service activity on the new campus located off 5th Street Road south of I-64.