At Moorpark High School, these students are preparing meals from scratch for a panel of judges. They’re using industry-standard equipment in a commercial-grade kitchen to create dishes that sound familiar, like a ceviche or a chipotle-style rice bowl.
Except each dish they’re creating today is vegan.
They’re doing it under the watchful eye of Le Cordon Bleu-trained Chef Christina Bingham.
"I've given them direction, and then they kind of took it and totally transformed things that maybe some of them have never had in their life. Vegan is a very scary name for most people, and we were able to kind of take that fear of vegan out of them and to create these things that taste delicious, so I'm extremely proud of them," said Bingham.
She said they’re acquiring important real-world skills, as well as technical skills.
"I feel like it's so important for these guys to have these skills, not just how to cut something, but how to wash a dish properly, how to create some things. They're really good life skills," she added.
"I really try to show them how easy it is, because I think when you say 'a home-cooked meal,' people think, 'oh, I need to be in the kitchen for hours slaving over this and that,' and that's not always the case. Some of these things are super simple, they're delicious, and they're low cost," Bingham said.
All of these students will be prepared for a variety of careers in the hospitality industry, but some have other ideas about how they’d like to utilize their skills.
"It's a career path because I like how, in this class specifically, I tried different recipes and new things that I never tried before," said one student. "It just opened my mind more and made me realize that I actually do want to go to culinary school for this stuff."
Another said, "I think I just like cooking at home, making stuff for my family, you know, so they can try new things and stuff. I think that's why I'm taking this class, to learn more, so I can cook more stuff for my family."
"It could set you up for a good path outside of school," said another. "It could set you up for a good job with a good income."
The vegan dishes today are being judged by a panel, who will select a winner to be added to the school’s lunchtime menu.
Kelli Hayes is a judge and also the Superintendent of Moorpark Unified School District.
"These kids are exploring their areas of interest, and that's really the purpose of career technical education, so we may be developing a future Michelin chef here," said Hayes. "Or it may be somebody who's going to be an amazing cook for their family."
Each and every dish looks and smells delicious and after judging, these teenagers pick up the crockery and the silverware and do the washing up!
