A new culinary class has been proposed and approved for the 2013-2014 school year. The proposed class is called Gourmet, while the old Gourmet Foods Class will be renamed International Foods and will only be available to seniors. There are currently 2 culinary classes offered at New Trier, Creative Cuisine at the Northfield campus and Gourmet Foods at the Winnetka Campus.

Applied Arts Department Chair Jason Boumstein said, “In our culinary classes, Creative Cuisine and Gourmet Foods, we have huge waiting lists, and then we shifted Creative Cuisine over to the Northfield campus, that left the Gourmet Class for the juniors and the seniors at the Winnetka campus. The idea for this class was how can we maximize the class options and minimize the gaps.”

Gourmet will cover the gap and create more variety for students devoted to the mastery of culinary arts. Students who took Creative Cuisine freshmen year wouldn’t get an opportunity at another culinary course until their junior or senior year; the addition of this course is to give sophomores and juniors the opportunity to fill that space.

Currently Creative Cuisine’s general theme explores Quick Breads, Appetizers, Yeast Breads, Pies, soups, sauces, Poultry, and Red Meat.

The new class will explore Vegetarian, Fruit, Grain and Dairy choices. It also explores sweets, such as pastries and different food trends.

International Foods will contain the same curriculum as the current Gourmet Foods class, and the same goal to explore cuisines through an international lens. The class will focus on foods around the globe, starting from Scandinavia to Britain, from German to Greek and Middle Eastern to South American. Not only will the International Foods class introduce different foods, it will also study different cultures from which those foods were born.

Gourmet Foods teacher Mary Kate Olsen said, “Each unit in the International foods begins with a discussion day which explains and demonstrates each culture which correlates back to that country or that region.”

All culinary classes are different but linked by one cause: to prepare students for cooking not just in school, but also at home and for the rest of their lives. All classes cover safety and sanitation in cooking, proper use of equipment, the correct way to measure ingredients, knife skills, and nutritional information studies for a healthy diet.

With new classes being offered every year, classes depend on the student popularity to become a reality. Many classes in the past are introduced one year, but go into effect 2 years after they’re proposed. Assistant Principal Matthew J. Ottaviano said, “Every course that’s approved is technically available, but is only run when there are enough enrollments. It’s based on student interest.”

The maximum limit for each class is 24 students. Senior Kelsey Choi, who had tried to get into Gourmet Foods but was unable to due to scheduling and limited availability, said, “I like how they’re splitting up the classes to make more availability. Also, I like the idea of seniors getting their own class, and sophomores and juniors are paired together. It makes a lot more sense, because seniors are a little more mature, and there’s a level of understanding between seniors.”

The encouraging thing about these classes for students Boumstein mentions, “There are no perquisites for the culinary classes, so any student who wants to can join.”