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Keller, KCHS and Culinaria |
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Teaching
the Culinary Arts at Kent County High School  The Culinary Arts III class clusters around a colander of crawfish and a bag of fresh okra. Today’s lesson:
Gumbo. It’s U.S. geography, food prep, history and agriculture all in one, with a reward at the end. A quick review
of roux and mirepoix, an explanation of Cajun and Creole influences. A discussion of the traditional local foods of New Orleans
and Louisiana, and the cooking begins.  The kids know what to do. They head for the sink, get the rice going, fry up the sausages. The new stuff —
crawfish and okra — get some explanation and discussion at the prep table. And lunch prep starts. John Keller, who’s now into his fourth year of teaching Culinary Arts at Kent County High School,
heads up this “critical pathway” for students. They should be able to know their way around a professional kitchen,
and begin their climb up the culinary ladder after graduating.
 For Keller, the focus is on skills, service, safety and self-confidence. The students will also learn
regional American cooking, world cooking, and how a restaurant works. Keller likes to find hands-on ways for the kids to learn:
building a diorama of their own restaurant, or designing a game based around food safety skills.How did he come to Kent County High School? It's a long story, he says. Keller cooked his way through
college, worked at Restaurant Nora and the Inn at Perry Cabin. He’s been a personal chef for a family in Italy, and
has taught culinary classes at Chesapeake College (and still does).
Today, some of his students are working in restaurants around the area. They have useful skills, says
Keller, especially for this economy and this area. Culinary classes end up benefitting the community as much as the students.
 There’s a real enthusiasm among some of the students at Kent County High School for the program and among
the faculty as well. At the Oktoberfest lunch, Keller’s students served up bratwurst and red cabbage, potatoes and pretzels,
with apple strudel for dessert. Dr. Keith Wharton got an oompah band together to entertain. Students warbled out Edelweiss
and “She’s Too Fat for Me.”  “This isn’t high school like I remember it…although that’s
not saying much,” joked one of the teachers who came to the lunch. Although five minutes later, when the fire alarm
went off and we all trooped out to the parking lot, it seemed a lot like school as we remembered it.
For the Taste of Chestertown, held each year in April, Keller and his students volunteer and enter as well.
In 2009, they picked up Best Dessert, and are already thinking about this upcoming entry. Make sure you check it out. They’ve
already earned our vote.
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