The Collins College welcomed students to expand their culinary skills Friday morning.
Gourmet Friday, hosted by Associated Students Inc. in partnership with the United Culinarians club, provided breakfast, fresh produce, and a cooking demonstration in a nearby classroom.
“It’s good to see people who aren’t from Collins College come to do something new,” United Culinarians member and second-year marketing major Adrianna Peña said. “I met someone here who’d never made a pancake before.”
Parfaits, cookies, muffins and coffee were served at 10 a.m.
The farm store donated oranges for the event and produce from the farm store was provided for students to take home.
“We provided reusable bags and we wanted to make it feel like a grocery store experience,” event coordinator and third-year English education major Ingrid Mata said.
“It was inspired by the food pantry,” Mata said.
“It wasn’t a food pantry, but we want to give to students because there’s a lot of food insecurity on campus and we wanted students to enjoy a good meal.”
With plates of food in hand, students moved to a classroom where a crepe making demonstration took place.
Large mounted televisions displayed close ups of the crepe making process.
On the right, the recipe was written on a whiteboard.
Toward the end of the crepe making demonstration, chefs taught students how to decorate a crepe by cutting a strawberry into a rose.
Throughout the demonstration, students were encouraged to ask chefs questions about the recipe.
Once the demonstration was over, more was in store, as ASI raffled a hydroflask, magic bullet, Amazon gift card, and glass meal prepping containers.
“We wanted to give away items for students to continue the culinary adventure they started today,” Mata said.
After the demonstration, the first 25 students to show up received aprons and made their way to Collins College’s kitchens to make crepes.
The chefs split students into groups to cook together.
The honored pack made their way past the white walls and into the stainless-steel kitchen.
Everyone was required to put on hair nets before starting.
“I don’t think anyone other than hospitality students get to come into the kitchen,” fifth-year liberal studies student Veon Lee said. “It’s cool to see what the school has to offer to other majors.”
Lee and a group of friends slept in her car since 9 AM waiting an hour for the event to begin.
She and her friends were among the first 25 to show up and she got to cook crepes in Collin’s College’s kitchens.
With the recipe attached to kitchen counters, students began cooking together in their stations.
Students smiled and laughed as they learned how to make crepes.
After cooking, students drizzled Nutella and cut strawberry roses to top off the desserts they made.
“Some were just excited to put on an apron and cook something,” Mata said.
Mata was pleasantly surprised by her turnout as she feared not many students would show up due to the day and location.
“I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst,” Mata said.
She believed the limited parking at Collins College as well as the fact that it’s on a hill would result in a low attendance, though this wasn’t the case.
“Some students even had to stand in the back because there were no seats,” Mata said.
While Peña isn’t a hospitality major, she pursues her passion for cooking through the United Culinarians club on campus.
“A lot of people are surprised you don’t have to be a part of the Collins College to be a part of the United Culinarians,” Peña said.
If you’d like to build your culinary skills, the United Culinarians club would happily receive new members and ASI hopes to expand beyond the BSC and partner with more colleges on campus.
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