Flowing Wells High School

Freshman Aaron Harris knows his way around the kitchen.

Flowing Wells culinary arts teacher Yvonne Bernino explained that a rocking motion should be used to chop an onion, one ingredient in the beef tacos her students fixed last Thursday.

Harris, 14, was the first to demonstrate his knife skills in the after-school class held at the high school, 3725 N. Flowing Wells Road, for students from all across Tucson.

Bernino doesn't usually teach the course but she stepped in for Canyon del Oro's Kerri Haeflinger, who was absent.

Harris also takes a cooking class at the Young Chefs Academy.

"I just love the fact that I can make something and serve it to people," he said. "I get a good feeling when people are impressed with my meals."

Chicken cordon bleu is one of Harris' favorite dishes to cook up.

"It's one of the easiest dishes to make," he said. "People think it's hard but it's just chicken, ham and cheese all rolled together."

Another student, Flowing Wells junior Sandy Rodriguez, wasn't as steady with the knife as she diced an onion, but she's not new to the kitchen.

She made pancakes as a child after watching her mom do it and has added tamales to her food repertoire.

Sabino High School junior Elizabeth Kemper is more of a dessert person.

"I like the fancier desserts, like crème puffs and eclairs," she said. "I'm kind of snooty" when it comes to food.

Mountain View High School

Ryan Cockrell is so passionate about food he planted an herb garden in his backyard.

Equally enthusiastic about food are his friends Tyler Hart and Kevin Ellison.

Last Friday, the three Mountain View High School students made the sauce for spaghetti served to the Mountain View varsity football team.

During football season, the culinary arts team feeds the squad on Fridays at the school, 3901 W. Linda Vista Blvd.

If 17-year-old Cockrell had his way, he'd probably serve the team pork.

"Pork is an amazing cut of meat," he said. "You can shred pork. You can fry pork. You can stuff pork. Pork fat rules."

Cockrell and Ellison, who are both seniors, and Hart, a junior, all say culinary arts has given them a direction in life.

"This is why I come to school," Ellison said.

They've talked about opening up a restaurant someday and said food dominates most of their conversations.

"I grew up on my kitchen counter," Cockrell said. "I had to cook and then I started to like doing it. I like to express things through food. I love to cook. It's my passion."

Instructors Laurel Krinke and John Mertz give their students as much freedom as possible in the kitchen.

"It's all about the kids," Krinke said. "It's not about me.

Cockrell wants to attend a culinary arts school after college but realizes it's expensive: An associate of applied science degree in culinary arts at the Art Institute of Phoenix will cost a student almost $50,000. However, Krinke said, students can be trained on the job.

Canyon del Oro High School

Fridays at Canyon del Oro High School, 25 W. Calle Concordia, are busy for students in Patti Schmalzel's culinary arts classes.

On those days while some of her students prepare staff lunches, which they sell for $5, other students are assigned other cooking tasks.

Last week, students prepared ciabatta sandwiches and small green salads to serve Canyon del Oro staff, and other groups of students prepared chili for a classroom cook-off.

The staff lunch included potato salad and brownies the students had made the day before.

Reed Talbot and his classmate Lauren Yanez made their chili with ground beef and ground pork.

Certain ingredients, such as chili powder and oregano, were added to taste, but everything else was measured out.

Juniors Talbot and Yanez are both third-year culinary arts students and both cook at home.

Talbot, 16, cooks because he says there are few boundaries in the kitchen.

"I like it because I can do what I want and I don't have anyone telling me what to do," he said. "Even if it is a recipe, I can do any variant I want. I like the freedom of cooking."

At home, Yanez is trying to perfect a strawberry pie.

So far, her attempts to bake a pie with a solid inside have been unsuccessful.

"I decided to put Jell-O in it because I thought maybe the Jell-O would harden up the consistency but I put too much water in the Jell-O so it didn't work out," she said.

Q&A

Five questions with Canyon del Oro High School senior Alison Maxwell.

Question: Why do you cook?

Answer: Cooking is one of the things I'm best at. There's not many people my age who are better than me. There's a self- satisfaction when people try your food and think it's delicious.

Q: Do you have a signature dish?

A: I really don't have a speciality. I just like cooking. I just like to do it all.

Q: Have you had any kitchen disasters?

A: Yes. I'd have to say it was the first time I tried to make cookies. I was probably six or seven. I was trying to make cookies and the recipe said a tablespoon of milk or something like that and I put in a cup of milk so it turned out like a batter. I tried to add more and more flour and it just didn't work out, and it made me sad.

Q: What's one ingredient people should always have in their kitchen?

A: Extra-virgin olive oil. I love cooking with that.

Q: What are your goals after high school?

A: Right now, my goal is to get enough scholarship money to go to culinary school. It's really expensive. After I'm done with culinary school, I want to go to a business school so I can eventually run my own restaurant.