Everyone needs to eat, but not everyone knows how to cook. The Kitchen Literacy Project, a new grassroots program launched last month, is on a mission to teach adults, teens, and children important kitchen skills.
“I like cooking in the kitchen,” said ninth-grader Khudadand Ahmaei.
“We're making roasted chicken quesadillas with a chipotle marinade, a little bit of yellow rice and fresh pico de gallo,” said guest chef Jeff Lewis.
Last month, the Kitchen Literacy Project began teaching students how to cook.
“In central New York, Rochester and downstate, everyone eats and everyone cooks,” Lewis said.
Classes will focus on basic skills such as preparing healthy meals and knife skills.
“I didn't know how to like cut onions and tomatoes. Today I learned how,” said 10th grade student Amir Muktari.
Lewis has been a professional chef for 30 years. He follows in his father's footsteps and teaches his students.
“Before my father passed away, he taught at the Southwest Community Center and was part of an after-school program that helped kids learn how to make items like this,” Lewis said.
Jess Miller, founder of the Kitchen Literacy Project, said she wanted to teach children kitchen skills for free. That mission is supported by tickets sold to adult cooking classes. The Kitchen Literacy Project holds community classes on Sundays and Tuesdays, and teens pay for the free classes they take. Ticket price includes rent, instructor, and food.
A guest chef teaches the recipe, and at the end, everyone in the class takes home a bag of ingredients to sample with their families. And of course, students try samples after studying hard.
“You know food is really expensive and getting more expensive by the day. If you're relying on fast food or takeout, you know that one, you're overspending, and two, you're spending too much.” You're not eating foods that you know have in them,” Miller said.
