The freshman culinary arts curriculum is designed to give each student a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of cooking:

Essentials for Success: Learn the recipes for success as you transition into your new role of student culinarian and prepare for your career in the foodservice industry.

• Introduction to the foodservice industry: History and present environment of the foodservice industry; components of taste and flavor.
• Student success: Time management, study and research skills, technology utilization, and teamwork.
• Professional development: Goal setting, self branding, portfolio and resume writing.

Culinary Skills: Welcome to the kitchen! This course serves as an introduction to the basic principles of cooking and kitchen organization.

• Knife skills.
• Mise en place; kitchen safety and sanitation.
• Stocks: Vegetable, brown and white stocks.
• Thickening and binding agents.

Kitchen Essentials: Safety comes first in the kitchen. This course will address the operation of a safe, effective, and profitable professional kitchen.

• Sanitation and Food Safety: Industry standard sanitary facility requirements; food safety regulations.
• Culinary Mathematics: Weights and measures; unit and volume conversions.
• Introduction to food costing: Recipe scaling; yield percent applications.

Culinary Techniques: Great soups and sauces are essential on any menu! In this class, you will spend time learning the fundamentals of moist heat cooking methods.

• Soups: Purees, cream, broth, chowder and consomm�.
• Classic sauces and their derivatives.
• Contemporary sauces.

Culinary Fundamentals: In this course, you can build upon the skills already learned and are introduced to cooking techniques that can be applied across any type of cuisine.

• Introduction to dry heat and combination cooking methods.
• Braising, stewing, deep and shallow frying, and steaming.
• Vegetable and starch cookery.

Pantry Kitchen: Delicious food can be healthy too! Explore how you can adjust recipes and menus to meet dietary guidelines, while keeping the flavor.

• Healthy cooking and recipe modification.
• Breakfast and lunch cookery.
• Food science: Emulsification, heat transfer, and protein coagulation.
• Roasting, grilling and poaching.
• Pasta and grain cookery.
• Contemporary sauces and dressings.

Culinary Nutrition: Learn the basic principles of nutrition and how to accommodate specialty diets, lifestyles, and healthy food items.

• Focus on the USDA Food Guide Pyramid and nutrients: fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water.
• Recipe modification with regard to certain diets and allergies.
• Nutritionally sound lifestyles, weight management, exercise and current issues in nutrition.

Introduction to A la Carte: While focusing on the proper preparation of various seafood products, you can learn the importance of teamwork in an A la Carte kitchen.

• A la Minute cooking methods.
• Fish and seafood identification and fabrication.
• Preparation of fish, shellfish, and bivalves.
• Development of flavors.
• Plate presentation.

Baking and Pastry Fundamentals: The science of baking is introduced as you prepare breads, pastries, and desserts utilizing fundamental production methods.

• Understanding ingredients and use of bakeshop equipment.
• Weights and measures.
• Quick breads, muffins, scones, biscuits, and cookies.
• Basic yeasted breads: soft rolls, Campagne and Ortiz.
• Pies, cobblers, and crisps.
• Laminated doughs and classic French pastries.

Meat Selection and Fabrication: In this hands-on course, you can learn the fundamentals of meat and poultry butchery, allowing you to understand how the anatomy of a species has an impact on cooking techniques, taste, and flavor.

• Butchering of primal and sub primal cuts of meat.
• Poultry butchery.
• Basic charcuterie.
• Sausage making and meat preservation.
• Product specification, receiving and storing.

Purchasing and Storeroom Management: Food is often the biggest cost in a food service operation, and you must learn how to control it! Selecting vendors, placing orders, receiving orders, handling inventory, and reducing waste are all discussed in depth.

• Overview of the storeroom manager's responsibility: common market forms, receiving and storing product
• Formulas and calculations used in food service facilities for recipe costing and conversions
• Study of products used in commercial kitchens