Photo courtesy of Digital Media teacher Zachary Roper

  At San Luis Obispo High School, the countless electives offered to students vary greatly. One of the most popular and high-demand electives that students can attend is Culinary Arts, taught by Nathan Jaggers. So far this trimester, culinary students have participated in multiple activities and created dishes. 

  “So far this trimester, we have done a lot of stuff. Most of the recipes we make have some sort of learning component behind it, so it’s actually pretty interesting,” said Culinary Arts II student and junior Holly Latuska.

  Since students have returned from Thanksgiving break for the second trimester of the year, Culinary Arts students have created various delicacies. 

  While learning about the cultivation of cheese and all the different types of it, students made saag paneer, a popular spinach and cheese dish that originates from India. 

  The students also learned how to cook vegetables with different methods. They blanched, roasted, sauteed, and braised the vegetables. 

  Before winter break, they also made Christmas cookies with icing in order to celebrate the popular upcoming holiday.

  At the beginning of February, the culinary classes also made African American soul food to celebrate Black History Month. The menu included dishes that originate from southern recipes, with hush puppies, fried catfish, tartar and cocktail sauces, and creamy coleslaw.

  Most recently, SLOHS Culinary Arts students have begun a butchery unit, in which they will learn how to get the proper cuts of different meats. All of the students even got their own chicken to cut in class. They located the different parts of the meat and cut them.

  “My favorite part of culinary so far is probably just all of the different dishes we get to make. It’s just so cool to see the history behind different dishes and what kind of history or culture they come from, and then try the dishes we make. It’s a really fulfilling experience,” said Latuska. 

  There will be much more in store for the rest of the school year for culinary students.