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The Culinary Arts—a great endeavor for troubled youths

By Domenic Marinelli

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 01: A culinary student rushes through the kitchen with greens during a class for aspiring professional chefs at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City February 1, 2007 in New York City. A boom in all things food, including the popularity of television chefs and cooking shows, is increasing demand for cooking classes for amateurs and aspiring professionals alike. Brian Aronowitz, who works at ICE, says that enrollment for all classes is up, and that the famous cooking school is 24 hour a day facility, with classes, cooking shows, and clean up going on around the clock. "Cooking is the new post-grad type of career," Aronowitz says. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 01: A culinary student rushes through the kitchen with greens during a class for aspiring professional chefs at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City February 1, 2007 in New York City. A boom in all things food, including the popularity of television chefs and cooking shows, is increasing demand for cooking classes for amateurs and aspiring professionals alike. Brian Aronowitz, who works at ICE, says that enrollment for all classes is up, and that the famous cooking school is 24 hour a day facility, with classes, cooking shows, and clean up going on around the clock. "Cooking is the new post-grad type of career," Aronowitz says. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images) /
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A culinary arts training program in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is showing that the pro kitchen may just be the right place for troubled youths.

As CTV reports, The Youth Culinary Arts Program Market (the YCAP) is a place where those between the ages of 15 to 29 years old, and are homeless or are at risk of falling to a bad lifestyle, can go and be trained in the culinary arts.

A Red Seal chef by the name of Steve Glavicich is training the students and is preparing them for life in the pro kitchen. The alternative would be a life of crime or worse.

The Culinary Arts—a great endeavor for troubled youths

A ‘Red Seal’ in Canada means that an individual in any trade has achieved the national standard of that particular trade, as per Canada.ca.

Glavicich said of the program:

"“A lot of times, it’s less than zero. A lot of kids show up in rough shape and (the first thing) we try to do is get them happy, healthy and centered…It all comes together by the end of their time with us. They’re not chefs when they leave us but they can definitely enter a professional kitchen without being a burden to anybody.”via CTV (link above)"

A young student who has been part of the program by the name of Otto Avalos, had nothing but positive things to say:

"“I came here with pretty much no experience at all. I just wanted to learn how to cook and be a chef…It’s kind of like, get your fundamentals down 100 per cent and then go from there, versus if I just started only working at one restaurant. Eventually, I would have (learned the skills) but I can really nail it down here.”via CTV (link above)"

In the end, the professional kitchen can serve as a sort of boot camp and is the perfect environment for any individual to learn discipline, enduring difficult working conditions, and of course patience as well…something that these kids perhaps wouldn’t have otherwise learned on the streets.

Kitchen work means long hours and the development of the type of physical traits that can build confidence, but moreover, the passion that can be ignited in each of them for the preparation of food and the complex dishes they might not have otherwise known about is huge as well.

A great example of this is Gordon Ramsay’s Gordon Behind Bars, which aired in 2012 in the UK on Channel 4. (It sadly never had a US run despite Ramsay having pitched it to US networks.)

The premise of the show was for Ramsay to enter Brixton Prison in the London Borough of Lambeth, and teach inmates how to cook, essentially giving them a second chance at life, helping them find a passion for food, and giving them that opportunity at a much-needed change.

The show was only ever given a single season and a mere four episodes aired, but a great four episodes they were, and they are most definitely an example of how well this can work out in the end—at least for most involved is such a program—despite a few incidents.

Ramsey said there was a particular scary moment during the filming of the show:

"“I was standing close by one bloke with another opposite me, and then this guy lunged over and went to head butt him. I had to sort it out.”As per Wikipedia"

The aforementioned YCAP’s goal is simple enough:

"“To create opportunities for youth in the culinary world, developing lifelong talents to guide aspiring young chefs on their journey toward endless possibility. The Market is an opportunity to invest in the future of the multi-barriered youth we support, those who turn to Wood’s Homes for help and to share the strength of community.”via CTV (link above)"

A positive step in the right direction in helping kids off the street indeed.

Next. When it’s okay to cut the mold off food and when it isn’t. dark

I sure would love to see a revival of Ramsay’s show, however—a US version as well. What do you think, dear readers? It could definitely help a lot of kids in the process. After all, Ramsay plays the part of drill sergeant extremely well.

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