The newest class offered at Diamond Bar High School covers making, decorating and preparing food, but there’s more to Culinary Science than what meets the eye. The course’s advisor, Marcy Hail seeks to teach her students about the field behind culinary science: the chemistry, the biology and why it all happens.
The class is much more than a standard science class. While students also have experiments, lectures, and classwork, the class leans into a side of science that biology or chemistry courses don’t cover.
“I teach all sorts of things!” Hail said via email. “Everything from culinary careers to the chemistry behind what we are cooking in class, to cake decorating competitions, how to roll the perfect sushi and science experiments about rock candy! Learning the methods behind exactly what is occurring when that bag of popcorn is popping is a cool way for all of us to better understand the world around us and stimulate our passion for cooking all at the same time!”
Students in this class also experience a different type of class than the ones they’re used to while expanding their taste palettes to new foods. This past week students were invited to taste caviar– a rare and expensive fish roe.
“I appreciate the opportunity to cultivate a skill that will likely be used on a day-to-day basis in the future,” senior student Gracielle Oliveros said. “I was hoping to develop more knowledge about cooking and explore the possibilities of a career related to culinary. I think being well versed in cooking and the science around it is a good life skill.”
The course offers students to take part in experiments, field trips and competitions such as cake decorating contests. Hail plans to transform the “old school” method of teaching culinary into a modern and exciting version kids will look forward to every day.
“All cooking is chemistry,” Hail said. “There is so much you can dive into with this subject it’s always really fun for me to come up with new and exciting lessons that not only teach the students something new, but me as well!”
