Carmel’s culinary community helps students prepare for national competition
Amy Adams
news
Recently, when Carmel High School (CHS) needed a specialized space for its culinary arts students to hone their skills in preparation for the Family Career and Community Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in Seattle, chefs from Woodland Terrace, the Ritz Charles and the Market District were happy to open their kitchen doors.
“We’ve been fortunate to have the support of the incredible culinary community here in Carmel,” said Chaya Reich, president and founder of Carmel Culinary Boosters.
Chef John Williams, whose grandmother ran a catering company in Muncie, is director of culinary services at Woodland Terrace of Carmel, a senior living facility at 689 Pro-Med Lane. He oversees four kitchens at Woodland Terrace: the main dining room, the ballroom, the bistro and the fine dining restaurant.
(From left) CHS Culinary Arts students Julia Honghe, Elizabeth Siders and Rylin Garner compete at the American Family Career and Community Leaders National Leadership Conference in Seattle. (Press photo by Amy Adams)
“We don’t have a commercial kitchen at the high school yet, but we needed a place for the students to practice,” CHS culinary instructor Nick Carter said.
When Carter reached out to Williams and asked if he would allow a few students to practice their recipes in one of Woodland Terrace’s kitchens, Williams didn’t hesitate to offer up his space.
“For us, being able to provide them with a kitchen is a big thing,” said Nick Halstead, executive director of Woodland Terrace. “A lot of people have the stereotype that senior living facilities don’t have very good food, but Woodland Terrace really takes pride in the food we serve.”
CHS third-graders Rylin Garner and Elizabeth Siders and fourth-grader Julia Horne gathered in Woodland Terrace’s main kitchen on Wednesday, June 19. Garner and Siders, competing in the culinary arts category, prepared medallion pork with quinoa, mushroom sauce, sautéed vegetables and salad, while Horne, competing in the baking and pastry category, baked blueberry muffins, chocolate chip cookies and cream puffs.
Williams is no stranger to working with CHS students, having participated in Cheftacular, an event Carter helped launch six years ago. Cheftacular pairs CHS culinary students with local professional chefs for a charity tasting event and cooking competition to raise funds for culinary arts at CHS, Cheftacular scholarships and the Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank.
CHS third-graders Elizabeth Siders, left, and Rylin Garner practice cooking pork medallions at Woodland Terrace in Carmel. (Photo by Chef John Williams)
In May, Williams and his student partner, Korede Ibalaye, Class of 2024, won first place out of 18 student chef teams. Not only did Woodland Terrace residents taste and help select Ibalaye’s smoked duck crostini with peach goat cheese mousse, whiskey cherries and thyme as his cheftacular entry, Williams said, but some residents even came out to cheer Ibalaye on in the competition. Williams also said Ibalaye still shadows Williams in the kitchen about once a week.
Williams loves having students in her kitchen.
“It creates a new atmosphere,” he says, “and you’ll know who’s coming up and maybe you’ll even be able to hire one of them.”
Medallion pork with quinoa, mushroom sauce and sautéed vegetables is a recipe from the Culinary Arts competition at this year’s FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Seattle. (Photo by Chaya Reich)
Emily Daly placed second at the FCCLA national competition before graduating from CHS a few years ago. A graduate of Sullivan University, Daly currently works at Le Petit Gateau in Carmel and returned to Cheftacular this year as a teaching chef.
“Watching her grow into a confident, professional chef has been a tremendous gift for me,” Carter said.
Carter taught biology and chemistry at the high school and at Ivy Tech before attending culinary school. He helped open a culinary kitchen at Pike High School and plans to do the same at CHS in the near future.
“One of the fun things about teaching cooking is that it really is a life skill,” Carter says. “You help kids learn to cook for themselves, even if they don’t go to a restaurant. No one is ever going to have to go without food for the rest of their life. Not only is cooking a rewarding experience, but I think it gives students the opportunity to explore career options without investing in a formal education.”
CHS senior Julia Honhe practices filling cream puffs for the baking and pastry portion of the competition. (Photo by Chaya Reich)
Garner, Honhe, Siders and 2024 CHS graduate Scout Phillips are scheduled to compete in Seattle from June 29-July 3.
“Everyone wants to see these kids do great at nationals, but it’s not just about the competition,” Reich said. “The Carmel culinary community believes that with support and guidance, these kids can achieve great things and actively supports culinary education at Carmel.”
