Culinary arts is hot at Johnson County Community College (Kansas), reports the Wichita Eagle. With 700 students, JCCC has the largest culinary apprenticeship program in the country. A new Hospitality & Culinary Academy is so modern “it’s almost like walking on the deck of the Starship Enterprise,” says Mark Webster, president of the Greater Kansas City Chefs’ Association.
Students can earn an associate degree of applied science and sous chef certification in three years, with lots of on-the-job training. Or they can go for an associate degree and culinarian certification in food and beverage management.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts growing demand for chefs and head cooks. “The food service industry has really rebounded, and more people are eating out than ever before,” says Lindy Robinson, dean of the college’s business division.
Enter the main doors of the lobby, and to the left there’s a glass-walled innovation kitchen where JCCC’s student culinary team already has started practicing for its upcoming competition in South Korea. To the right, doors slide open to reveal a 75-seat demonstration kitchen in a theater with a video production room so classes with master chefs can be taped and broadcast on the college’s cable channel.
In the “garde manger,” or cold foods culinary lab, a hook-and-chain pulley system is suspended from a reinforced ceiling. The support beams are strong enough to hang a 350-pound side of beef – Exhibit A in a newly offered butchering class that will emphasize utilization from nose to tail.
Indoor smokers and a 4-foot grill plus patio space to accommodate outdoor cooking give students a better understanding of the techniques behind grilling, smoking and barbecuing.
. . . The cooking labs are set up so 32 students at a time can “work the line,” a simulation of a real-life restaurant environment. The addition of a blast freezer allows pastry students to quickly cool their petit fours and ice them with fondant in a single class period, a time-saving technique typically used in the industry. The new commercial wok gives students the opportunity to explore Asian cuisine in greater depth.
Private culinary schools may charge $40,000 or more for an associate degree. Community colleges typically charge one-tenth that, says Michael McGreal of the American Culinary Federation, who heads the culinary department at Joliet Junior College in Illinois.
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