A Recipe For Success- Student Pursues Cooking Interest at SUNY Delhi

Josh Tefft enjoys food preparation and cooking, helping to prepare the daily lunches offered to people located at The Arc of Delaware County’s facility in Hamden, NY.  He didn’t have to think twice when an opportunity to attend a culinary class offered by nationally recognized SUNY Delhi Culinary Arts program came along.  “I’ve always liked food and wanted to learn more about cooking.”  So this fall Josh enrolled in the Culinary Arts Basic Fundamentals Course taught by Judith Winters.  In class he has enjoyed learning in-depth cooking terminology and cooking principles, culinary history, proper storage/sanitation, nutrition, profitability, food science and cooking methods for a variety of food products.  Josh explained that a typical day in class consisted of students working together in teams to prepare food, operating all of the many pieces of kitchen equipment and experimenting with the new cooking skills they have learned. While there are some recipes that Josh would rather not repeat, he is open to tasting everything and has discovered several new dishes he plans to add to his cooking repertoire. One favorite recipe is a Belgium Waffle dish he recently prepared. “My favorite foods are breakfast dishes”, he added with a broad smile.  And his creativity was apparent as he reflected, “ I think the Hollandaise Sauce I learned will be something I can add to some of the dishes I (currently)  make.”

When asked what his favorite part of the class was, he said without hesitation, “I really like the people in the class!” Pam Walker, who works with Josh at The Arc cafeteria and attends the same class affirmed, “He really loves working with the other students, they are all very, very nice”. 

When Josh learned that his midterm grade was an A- he said that he was a little surprised.  “I thought I was doing pretty good in class, but not THAT good!... It’s pretty cool!”