A “Foodie’s” Nirvana

 — by Madie Murray —

Food and teaching are his passions, so Kyle Freeman, our public school Middle School and High School Principal, was experiencing nirvana when Paula Towne asked him to take over her Culinary Arts class last week.

Culinary arts students Kellen Maier, Sirie O’Toole and Garret Ballanger get instruction on the proper texture for tortilla dough

“Don’t be afraid of seasonings!” he shouts to the 15 students in the midst of making tacos from scratch when one asks him to get a whiff of her concoction of herbs and spices.  Some are chopping lettuces and cilantro, grating cheeses, and preparing chicken, beef and veggies for fillings.  Kyle wanders as he talks, checking the consistency of the masa the kids are blending for the tortillas.  “Be creative and experiment with tastes,” he urges while also imparting the value of mise en place (meaning everything in its place, or setting in place) to prevent time-wasting trips for items far away that should have been nearby.

The budding chefs would check their recipe measures with Kyle who would encourage the practice of checking it twice, which was a good thing in many cases.  He pointed out areas that were getting messy and constantly reminded them of being mindful of contamination and healthy food handling practices.  I’m sure about 10 different disciplines of study were touched upon by just making tacos.

It wasn’t long before the room began to smell deliciously aromatic, and it was approaching lunch time.  Soon, all they were making would be spread out on the big table so each could create their own taco, share the joy of what they all had created, and talk about how they would do it differently next time.

It was so fun to see all those kids really happy creating a meal together, sharing it and learning from it.  It’s very easy to see why Kyle loves what he does.