Culinary Foundations I

This course begins with food safety and sanitation in the professional kitchen, including proper hygiene, food handling, food storage, cleaning, pest control, in a food service operation. Students become acquainted with tools, utensils, and equipment in professional food service and discuss kitchen layout. Fundamental knife skills, cutting techniques, and the concept of mise en place are covered. Production of stocks, soups are included along with an introduction to grain and legume cookery. An introduction to the role of heat in various cooking techniques rounds out a foundational knowledge in culinary arts.

Culinary Foundations II

This course offers a deeper level continuation of understanding of foundational culinary skills. Students will be introduced to various dry-heat, moist-heat and combination-heat cooking technqiues, as well as understand the role of the five Mother Sauces in cuisine. A greater emphasis on knife cuts and accuracy is focused upon, and plating and presentation are introduced to give students the basic skills necessary to advance in a culinary arts education.

Doughs and Leaveners

This course covers ingredient function, leavening agents and mixing methods related to doughs with an emphasis on understanding bakeshop techniques to produce savory results. Production of quick-doughs and batters, flatbreads, yeast-raised-doughs, various formations and related accompaniments.

Culinary Garde Manger

The Garde Manger is responsible for cold foods, including salads, sandwiches, dressings, pâtés, cold hors d’oeuvres, and various buffet items. Students will prepare items to be served cold in a sanitary and appealing way, and learn about various cold kitchen production techniques, including methods of preserving meat and produce.

American Regional Cuisine

Students have the opportunity to gain an understanding of American Regional cuisine by exploring history, traditional and indigenous ingredients, flavor components and cooking techniques. Application of classical and contemporary cooking techniques, plate design, and application of proper sanitation techniques.

Western European Cuisines

Students have the opportunity to gain an understanding of Western European cuisines by exploring history, traditional and indigenous ingredients, flavor components and cooking techniques. Application of classical and contemporary cooking techniques, plate design, and application of proper sanitation techniques.

Farm to Table Experience^®

This course provides the students with a hands-on experience on a working farm/ranch or vineyard/orchard. The Instructor conducts the lecture and lab activities to coincide with the harvested item(s) for a catered event executed by the students. Students in the residential delivery of the course, under the direction of a Farmer/Rancher collect or harvest foods and/or proteins for the students’ lab activities.

This class also focuses on the ever-growing relationship between the chef and the farm/factory/ranch. This course will result in a daily lab menu production of selected sustainable and/or organic foods. Also presented will be concepts of traditional and nontraditional farming and sourcing for vegetables, as well as the impact of land and sea animal-based food sourcing as practiced globally.

Restaurant Operations

Three out of five restaurants fail within five years of opening, often due to money mismanagement; this residential program course gives students the skills to not only keep their restaurant in business but also turn a profit. In this course, students study the hierarchy of management in food service, and the skills needed to succeed as a manager: training employees, motivating them, disciplining them, and creating a safe and positive work environment. This course explores different types of menus (including both food menus and beverage menus) and their applications. Aspects of menu planning and design, ranging from visual design to price analysis to making use of available resources are covered. The menu is both a financial tool and a communication tool, and students learn about its uses as both. Students are introduced to accounting and managing budgets, especially as it relates to the hospitality industry. Students learn how to minimize costs and maintain a full range of customer services. This course covers such topics as business planning, pricing, credit management, government regulation, and legal concerns. Business ethics and the crucial role and importance of management and leadership are also covered. For the final project for this course, the student will complete and present a business plan for a foodservice operation.

Student Success Essentials

This course equips students with essential tools and skills to thrive in their culinary studies and prepare for future success in the culinary industry. Students will develop effective time management strategies, refine professional communication skills, and gain valuable insights into available Student and Career Services. The course is designed to set learners on a path toward achieving their academic and professional goals.

Business and Professional Communications

The Business & Professional Communications course emphasizes the principles and practical application of effective professional communication behaviors within professional, business, and organizational contexts.

In addition to identifying the importance of effective communication skills to the hospitality industry, communication styles and effective listening methods are addressed. Listening skills, verbal and nonverbal communication, conflict resolution, cultural differences in communication, and debate techniques are also covered.

World History & Culture from the Culinary Perspective

Throughout history, food has done more than just provide nourishment. From prehistoric times to the present day, food and the pursuit of it has had a transformative role in human history. Food has impacted societal organization, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion. As epicure and gastronome, Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin stated, “Gastronomy governs the whole of human man.” In addition, food also serves a role in the cultural development of religion, economics, and politics. This course examines the role of food and its contribution and influence over history, culture, religion, economics, and politics. Food customs and attitudes are also explored, as well as, the social awareness selected food patterns and customs.

Foodservice Math & Accounting

Foodservice Math & Accounting introduces students to managerial accounting concepts and explains their applications to specific operations within the hospitality industry. Emphasis is placed on how to administer accounting procedures to minimize costs and maintain a full range of customer services.

After summary of the fundamentals of culinary math, an overview of basic business accounting transactions is covered including asset/liability accounts such as accounts receivable and payable, ledgers, balance sheets, payroll and financial statements.

Technical Writing for the Hospitality Industry

Technical Writing for the Hospitality Industry, prepares students to write in the hospitality and foodservice professions. In a professional setting, writing provides readers information they need in a format they can understand. Unlike most academic writing, in which students demonstrate their learning to a professor who already knows the subject, in technical communication the writer is the expert, and the readers are the learners. In the hospitality and foodservice industries, students and professionals write a variety of documents for supervisors, colleagues, and customers such as explaining a problem or product, preparing a proposal, or illustrating a project. This course teaches students to adapt their writing to different audiences and purposes. This course outlines strategies for making subjects clear to readers who need to understand them. To communicate effectively with an audience, writing must meet rigorous editing standards, in addition to writing in a clear, concise style and presenting information logically.

The Science of Nutrition

In the Science of Nutrition course, the basic principles of nutrition are investigated. Emphasis is placed on the nutrients, food sources, and their utilization in the body for growth and health throughout life. Contemporary and global nutritional issues are also discussed.

Culinary Entrepreneurship

This course is a culmination course in entrepreneurship. This course covers such topics as business planning, pricing, credit management, government regulation, legal concerns. Business ethics and the crucial role and importance of management and leadership are also covered. For the final project for this course, the student will complete and present a business plan for a food service operation.

Culinary Industry Externship I

This course provides opportunities for real life experiences in an operational restaurant or related business and builds on the skills and techniques covered in previous courses. Externship courses are specific to the area of program concentration and must be completed for each concentration in which a student is enrolled. Externship must be completed for each new program enrollment.

Culinary Industry Externship II

This course provides additional opportunities for real life experiences in an operational restaurant or related business and builds on the skills and techniques covered in previous courses Externship courses are specific to the area of program concentration and must be completed for each concentration in which a student is enrolled. Externship must be completed for each new program enrollment.