ROCKLAND — On the day before St. Patrick’s Day, a group of 16 teenagers from Mid-Coast School of Technology were finishing up the prep work to serve Corned Beef and Cabbage, Shepherd’s Pie, Dublin Coddle, and Fresh Poached Salmon, done up Irish style.
In white chef coats, the students were doing the grunt work behind the scenes — all the prosaic duties of chefs in training — prepping vegetables, cleaning the stainless steel workbenches, doing dishes and resetting the dining tables.
Approximately 40 students, ranging from mostly juniors and seniors, come from schools all over the Midcoast, including from the islands, to participate in the Mid-Coast School of Technology’s Hospitality Program. Classes are split up into morning and afternoon shifts, and between culinary arts and baking/pastry arts.
The result of all of their training is the student-run World Café, held on site in a designated dining room where the public can enjoy full breakfasts and lunches for an average of $5, Tuesday through Friday.
Chef Joshua Gamage is the culinary arts instructor. Chef Carol Pelletier teaches front of the house skills, as well as baking/pastry and nutrition.
“For the first half of the year we get their skills up to speed,” said Gamage. “Then, starting in February, we put it into action with World Café, which teaches kids line cook skills, pasty skills, as well as front of the house skills like waitressing and hostessing. We introduce a new menu each week, which keeps them on their toes. We’ll take anyone who has the passion for it.”
The World Café opened in February and will continue for the next eight weeks. Having finished American and Mexican cuisine week, this is the week the students have been learning what constitutes Irish cuisine.
Under Gamage’s instruction, they’ve learned to make their own corned beef brine.
“What we’re making this week is a lot like new traditional England cooking, which I love,” he said. “A lot of boiled ingredients, a lot of meat and potatoes.”
Every week offers breakfast and lunch items from a different culture.
“I was researching some authentic Irish recipes and we’ll have some Sweet Potato Boxby Pancakes, which is a sweet Irish pancake topped with candied walnuts, whipped cream and maple syrup.” he said.
For lunch, he skewed it more toward traditional Irish pub fare.
“We’ll also introduce a Dublin Coddle, which is sausage and potato soup with carrots and onion, a real hearty soup,” he said.
It’s getting near the end of the afternoon class. Chloe Winchenbach, a student, is busy draining and scrubbing out a massive stainless bin that has been simmering stew the last couple of days.
“My favorite part of this class is making food from scratch,” she said. “I love Shepherd’s Pie, but I’m also excited for Asian week coming up.”
In another part of the kitchen, student Viviana Ramirez had also finished cleaning up her section.
“I like making the sweet potatoes and beets,” she said. “My least favorite? The clean up.”
Originally, she thought she might want to go into hospitality, but the class has shown her it’s not enough of a passion to make it a career.
“I want to go college,” she said. “And in the culinary world, it takes a long time after that to work your way up, and long hours in the kitchen. I actually want to be a dental hygienist.”
Jacob Witham was over at the dish station, finishing the last of the pots and pans. He said he had never been exposed to Irish food before, but he planned on trying some of the dishes they make this week. For him, the best thing about working in culinary arts is the different types of food he gets to make, such as a braised chicken he recently made for the first time.
The worst thing?
“The people,” he said, with a laugh.
Over in the baking room, three more students were wrapping up for the afternoon. They were holding bags of warm pumpkin and chocolate chip cookies they had just made and were happy to share.
Tyler Wedge, Olivia Wheeler and Gina MacDonald showed off the dining room, which looked a lot like a traditional school classroom with elaborately set tables. Each table had a glass vase of fresh flowers and donated olive oil and vinegar bottles from Fiore Artisan Olive Oil and Vinegar, with one of its stores in Rockland.
The kids said they know Irish week is going to be packed. It’s not just that the meals are very affordable (and popular) for a lot of seniors in the area, but that the cooking reminds them of what they used to have growing up, and they’re looking forward to sampling the flavors that remind them of earlier times.
“This class is a choice,” Pelletier said. “The kids coming from these sending schools have to make the decision to be here by their freshman or sophomore year—it’s not mandatory, but it’s a great opportunity to find out if this is something they do or don’t want to do for the rest of their lives.”
The curriculum is run through the American Culinary Federation and runs for two years. If a student successfully completes the program, he or she will already have the equivalent of a year’s education from a culinary college.
“We have so much invested in our hotels and restaurants in the Midcoast, we’re training the next generation,” said Gamage. “I’ve trained so many kids through this program who are now working for local chefs.”
To view the full menu for The World Cafe’s Irish Week and for subsequent weeks after visit Breakfast and Lunch
Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com
