Culinary-arts program provides recipe for life

Love Lee - FreshVoice
The Culinary-Arts program at the Philadelphia Job Corps is something its students can really sink their teeth into.

The Job Corps is a nationwide, federally funded program in which students aged 16 to 24 learn new skills. The students who participate have not succeeded in a traditional high-school environment, and seek training to prepare them for the workforce.

Culinary arts is just one of the several training programs offered at the South Philadelphia branch. Although it is not the largest area of study at the Job Corps – health and medical science train a larger number – the culinary program attracts many students seeking a new beginning.

Under the direction of career chef Charles Lotka, the students go through a vigorous 16-month course, which Lotka admits is “not easy.” They must complete 350 line items to complete the program. One line item involves perfecting all the “mother” sauces (for example: tomato, velouté and Hollandaise).

Lotka says that about 75 percent of those who enter the program finish it. Students who complete the program also earn a high-school diploma or a GED. They become sophisticated cooks, too.

“My philosophy,” Lotka explained, “is to take ordinary food and make it extraordinary.” And students do that by creating dishes like mushroom-stuffed chicken and sea bass with a champagne-reduction sauce.

Lotka requires that students taste everything that they prepare. “If they don’t taste it, I’m not tasting it,” Lotka said, laughing.

A highlight of the school year is the Job Corps Culinary Arts Expo. For 21 years, this exposition has brought teams from 15 Job Corps academies in the eastern United States to one place to compete for bragging rights and scholarships to culinary institutes.

To be chosen for the team, the South Philadelphia students competed in a cook-off. Each student prepped and cooked the same dish, and the best cooks of the group made the team, although Lotka said that attendance, motivation and trainability count, too.

Each team has four members: an iron chef, a sous chef, a garde manger and a team assistant. The iron chef acts as the head of the team, keeping the team on task and making sure that they finish on time. This year, Angelic Flowers, 21, was the iron chef.

The second in command is the sous chef, who helps plan the menu for the three-course competition and is a backup if anything should happen to the iron chef. This year’s sous chef was Maraiangelis Maisonet, 24.

The garde manger has the task of preparing and presenting cold foods, like desserts and salads. The garde manger also prepares the artistic showpiece for the Expo. The garde manger this year was culinary student Maria Xavier, 23, whose showpiece was a giant cookie featuring a silhouette of President Obama and the word “Hope.”

The final member is the team assistant, who runs errands for the rest of the team, helps with the food prep, keeps everything in order and scrubs the pots. Ronnell Tabb, 19, was team assistant.

During the first round of competition at Atlantic Cape Community College, in Mays Landing, N.J., each team had 90 minutes the night before to prep the food and three hours to cook the dishes the day of the competition. Each team had to create six servings of three courses of their choice, and only four teams would continue to the second and final round of competition.

The first round was tough for the Philadelphia team. Problems arose because team members were using unfamiliar equipment – “It wasn’t our kitchen,” Flowers said – and when they used a food processor after another team, they discovered that it was broken. “We turned out late,” said Flowers. Their food was 15 minutes late to the judges, including Food Network cook Robert Irvine of “Dinner: Impossible.”

Since time is a crucial component in the competition, being even a single minute late deducts points from the final score.

Because of their lateness, the Philadelphia team did not make it to the finals. But Flowers said the judges called the team’s food “delicious” And, although members of some teams were yelling at each other, she said her group displayed real teamwork.

Although disappointed by the outcome, the team stayed to watch the final round, won by the Wilmington Job Corps.

The four local competitors didn’t waste time obsessing about their failure. For Flowers, at least, her sights are set on graduating this summer and landing a job in the culinary arts.