Culinary Lab 2016 - more fun than you thought

Saturday morning. Early. And around 10 high school seniors from across Arizona are clustering in the Dairy Council's not-really-large test kitchen in Tempe. Ten more students are huddled in the conference room.

In the kitchen, they're testing recipes they've developed in the month since the first lab session. In the conference room, C-CAP Arizona's culinary coordinator, Nicole Swartz, is leading a discussion on cheeses, the making and uses of, along with a primer on nutritional values.

"This year, our students are really working on developing original recipes," she says.  "I can see they're looking to balance creativity with nutrition."

In the second year of Culinary Lab, she, along with the Arizona Dairy Council's director of nutrition, Terri Verason, is happy to see enthusiasm and serious work from the students.

Professional chefs and C-CAP grads Luke Cornelius and Jelani Port are also assisting, working directly with the students in the kitchen and in evaluating recipes.

"It's a good dynamic," Luke says. "It's a really vivid demonstration of how important it is to work together and be part of a team.

"Plus, they're learning about costing out everything that goes into producing a dish, including the food, and prep and presentation time. It's something you have to understand about the work in a professional kitchen."

"We're really focusing on developing a professional approach," Jelani says. "And the students are learning from our experiences, too."

Lab student Alexis Cox, from Flagstaff, agrees. 

"I can't believe how much of a family this is," she says, gesturing around the kitchen. 

"Learning how to work as a whole team is the best thing."