By Karen Goforth

Talon staff writer

A new instructor for the Culinary Arts classes at Clover High has added spice to the program.

The class now cooks, serves and sells their skills in the form of a complete breakfast menu once a week.

Chef Bou Baker’s second-year Culinary Arts students devote their time throughout the year to give high school students and staff a taste of what they’ve learned.

Items like scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and hash browns are sold for prices anywhere from 75 cents for drinks and

$1-$4 for various food items.

The new curriculum is catching the attention of students all over the school, and many, who would never have cast a second glance at the program, are now ready to join.

Culinary Arts is a class meant to help students looking to develop their talents and gain understanding of a career in the culinary arts.

“I took Culinary Arts to learn to cook better and to eat,” said sophomore Lisa Bolin, who is in her first year in the program.

Many students who took the class for an easy credit are learning valuable skills, whether they plan to be a five-star chef or just escape the drab life of fast food and TV dinners.

Those who hope to use their talents in their future careers gain a helpful head start.

“The food service industry is growing like a giant soufflé,” Baker said. “Students here at need to realize first how fortunate we are to have the Culinary Arts facility and then how positively it can shape their careers.”

Students also learn how to serve, cook and clean up after a meal.

First-year students have made cookies ranging in types from butterscotch to chocolate chip.

“We are just getting started,” Baker said.

Students taking these classes just for fun are getting more than they bargained for.

Culinary Arts involves a lot of work and commitment, something many students don’t realize until they have participated in the program.

“I’m see that a lot of students’ daydreams for just having fun are evaporating,” Baker said. “Most people don’t realize how much very hard work it can take to serve people their meals.

“Celebrity chefs have everyone thinking it’s literally a piece of cake,” Baker added. “If you want to eat all day and play around, become a millionaire or marry one. A cook is a true servant, on the highest levels, to their fellow human beings,” Baker said.

Culinary Arts is not all soufflé and chocolate chip cookies, however.

The course involves bookwork, to ensure you will know what you are doing, and safety rules. When it comes time to cook, students must know how to be safe.

Baker spends his time teaching his students with the simpler and more useful things to prepare, but when he isn’t teaching his favorite items to make are seafood and chicken dishes.

Baker first became interested in Culinary Arts when he was 22 and now has the chance to share it with all of his students.

Since moving from Charlotte and becoming a valuable teacher at Clover earlier this year, Baker has motivated some of his students to also become interested in pursuing a career in the field.

“Becoming a teacher simultaneously made more sense and seemed totally crazier than any other options,” Baker said.

But just like any other class, Culinary Arts does come with a certain amount of humiliation.

Students are likely to make cooking mistakes and not have things turn out the way they should have.

Faculty and students not participating in the program are definitely enjoying the breakfast benefits.

Cooks and students agree –– Culinary Arts is cooking up something fun!