Highfield Hall Cooks!: Young Epicureans Off to a Great Start!

Last night I welcomed twelve new budding chefs (ages 10 to 16) into the Highfield kitchen. Some sauntered, some swaggered, a few chattered away right from the start, and the rest quietly found a spot around the large stainless steel prep table at the center of the kitchen. The boys outnumbered the girls two to one. As they lined up side by side in front of their cutting boards they were all suddenly quiet. Really, really quiet. Unnaturally quiet. So quiet that I asked whether they planned on always being that quiet, because that kind of silence is really kind of unnerving. Especially in my kitchen.

No doubt you already know this, but they really aren't that quiet.

We started with some basic knife skills—how best to hold the knife, how to use a guiding hand, and how to dice vegetables. The first vegetable? A culinary staple. The humble onion. And lo, they did cry. Tears streamed down their faces and the laughter and chatter began. The shared experience of crying over onions brought them out of themselves and got them all talking. We moved on to carrots, took a break and made some dough, then cut up some celery and the chicken I had cooked earlier in the day. They were well on their way to making a dozen unique chicken pot pies.

The first five jumped at the chance to take a turn at the stove. Butter sizzled in their hot sauté pans as I moved down the line filling them with the onions, carrots, and celery we'd cut earlier. All of them were eager to learn to toss the contents of their pans the way the chefs on TV do, so they took turns flipping and shaking their pans until the onions were translucent. Then came flour for the roux. A few minutes later stock and milk. Suddenly their pans of vegetables and gooey flour were beginning to look familiar. They began comparing the colors of their sauces. David E. and Henry chopped the fresh parsley and thyme, which were added right before everyone tasted their filling for seasoning. Salt and pepper were added and five ramekins were filled. Five more kids took their places at the stove and the process was repeated until all the ramekins were filled and it was time to roll out the pie crust. Between turns at the stove kids washed dishes and checked voicemail and text messages.("Does everyone have a cell phone?" I asked. Apparently they do.).

While we waited for the pies to come out of the oven we talked about the things they'd like to learn to cook. Not surprisingly, at first they clamored for anything with sugar, but then they thought about it and even surprised me with their requests. Many of them are interested in learning to cook fish—even the ones who don't particularly like it. Emily wants to learn to cook some vegetarian dishes, and Gabriella requested salads. Others asked for more specific dishes, like chicken quesadillas, cheesecake, and tiramisu. Looks like we've got some fun times ahead!

Just before parents arrived the pies, whose glorious aroma had filled the kitchen all evening, emerged from the oven, crusts golden, fillings bubbling.