SGTC Culinary Arts’ students are cooking up more than just food

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Students learn more than cooking Becky Holland

August 15, 2008

Becky Holland The Times-Recorder Fri Aug 15, 2008, 01:23 AM EDT

AMERICUS — David Finley, Culinary Arts’ instructor at South Georgia Technical College, had a hard choice when deciding his future-landscaping or cooking.

So, he went to find help in getting the answers. “My mom said something to the effect of, trees are easy to find, but everyone needs food.”

“I became interested in cooking when I was 15. My best friend’s family owned a diner in Lubbock, Texas. I remember one Spring break they took me to Lake Tahoe with them, and paid for everything, and I thought I wanted to go into the (food) business because of the money.”

Finley smiled as if to say the rest was history, and then he added, “My favorite to cook would be Italian. I love the different regions of Italy.”

The Texas native did add, “I like chicken fried steak-the different between it and country fried steak is we use white gravy.”

Finley’s parents were in Atlanta, and when he got out of the Army Reserves’ training school, he came to Georgia.

At SGTC, Finley has charge of around 50 to 70 students a quarter. At the time of this article, he had three classes going-one which dealt with principles of cooking(knife skills, basic cooking skills), and another which dealt with learning American Regional Cuisine.

Pulling out the textbook, he pointed to a chart, “There are 11 different culinary regions in the U.S. Right now, we are on the southwest, Rocky Mountain area.”

The students, under Finley’s guidance with the assistance of adjunct instructor, Jennifer Slenker(who happens to be a former student of Finley’s), prepared three basic recipes-one of which was Finley’s creation(Chicken Florentine), and the others from the students’ textbook-Moros Y Cristianos(Cuba)(Black Beans and Rice) and Ropa Vieja(Cuba and Puerto Rico)(Shredded Beef), and lastly, Sopaipillas.

Jennifer Slenker said while watching two of her students practicing cutting techniques, “I have always cooked. Both of my parents cooked.”

“I have always loved cooking and it makes me happy,” she said, explaining why she chose to cook.

“I graduated through this program and went on to work at Aramark before this opportunity opened up,” Slenker said.

Edgar Lee, of Cordele, is a brand new student in the program, “I was in the military and cooked for eight years. I like the idea of learning how to cook a variety of ways so that I can feed everyone-Hispanics, Caucasians, Chinese, African Americans.”

Michael Triplett, of Atlanta, grinned, “I love to eat and will try anything.” Triplett is a 4th quarter student and will begin an internship soon. “I want to be able to open my own restaurant one day-where I can eat everything.”

One thing that Finley and Slenker stress to the students is that attitude is everything in the kitchen. “We go by recipes because of cost control,” said Finley.

“Presentation is important too, especially in commercial cooking. The presentation of your meal can make the difference in a $10 item and a $20 item,” Finley commented, and added, “And I try to stress you can’t be impatient in the kitchen. I am impatient.”

“Which is why I bake and decorate cakes and he doesn’t,” laughed Slenker.

According to Finley, Auguste Gusteau in the movie “Ratatouille,” a requirement for all beginning students to watch, was right when he proclaimed, “Anyone can cook.”

Anthony Spencer, another new student in the program, explained his reasoning for choosing cooking as a career, “I do it because I want too.”

Holly Walker said, “I like the taste of food, so I felt like I needed to know how to cook.”

“It is something I like to do, and I like learning how to cook different foods,” said Rasheena Henry. Henry, according to Finley, is very observant and willing to learn.

Curtis Moore is one of the night students in the program and he works with Aramark Dining Services in catering and safety. “I have learned how to better manage the kitchen.”

Finley believes that is what it takes to successful cooking. “Her new nickname is Hawk. She was following me around so closely today, watching everything and I asked her what she was doing. She said she was trying to see how I did things, so I told her to do it.”

Jimmy McMurray said that he enjoyed cooking and being a part of the program because, “I have gained a better understanding of the preparation of food.”

The only thing that Michael Triplett said he has to watch when he cooks is “not eating everything up as I make it.”

If the old adage is true, after tasting the Chicken Florentine, Moros Y Cristianos, Ropa Vieja, and Sopaipillas, and you are what you eat(or cook), then David Finley, Jennifer Slenker and the Culinary Arts’ students have nothing to worry about.

Bon appétit, ya’ll! (That’s French for Happy Eating!)

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