At this 'summer camp,' kids learn to make gourmet dishes from scratch

Making hamburgers and quiche from scratch might seem too complicated for a kids' cooking class, but that's exactly what the non-profit Cook-Up has cooked up.

Once a week until the end of August, Cook-Up is running a summer camp for kids aged seven to 14 to learn the basics of cooking by making dishes that are slightly more gourmet than your average scrambled eggs on toast. 

Trishauna Linton, the founder and director of programs at Cook-Up, and Saffron Mastellotto-Lesny, the events and partnerships lead, spoke with CBC News about why they developed this program.

"We're looking to inspire the youth of today and spark that initial interest in cooking," said Mastellotto-Lesny. 

She says not all kids may want to participate in traditional summer camp or summer sports teams. 

"We've been hearing and getting a lot of feedback from the community," she said. "A lot of parents are really interested in getting their kids into the kitchen and not really knowing how. So I think this is a fun way of doing that."

'It made me feel proud'

Kaydence Dent is one of the kids in this week's hamburger and french fries making class.

"It seems complicated at first, but it's not that complicated. I cook sometimes but it's not hamburgers. I put rosemary and pepper [on it]."

She said making a dish by herself made her feel really proud and that when she's hungry and home alone, she'll probably make hamburgers.

Sloan Gregoire loves to cook and joined the class to have an activity for the summer. Sloan's goal is to learn proper meat handling practices and how to make "actual food."

Learning life skills

Linton says she and Mastellotto-Lesny put quite a bit of thought into the cooking classes. They didn't want kids to learn only one dish, but to be able to create a whole menu. 

One example they give is the gnocchi and bruschetta that the kids will be learning to make next week.

"Providing the cooking classes that focus on things like a full pasta meal with their homemade sauce provides a little bit of extra experience in terms of learning new skills," said Linton.

Cheryl Abela is a restaurateur in Windsor and the instructor for these classes. She says cooking is an essential skill that everyone needs to know.

"I truly believe it's something that should be taught in school," she said. "I've taught cooking classes to adults and to seniors and you'd be surprised how many people do not know how to boil pasta."

A gnocchi meal may sound complicated, but Linton says it's all about learning to put simple skills together in practice. She says half of the process of cooking a quiche is making scrambled eggs. 

"We've structured the class itself in a way where we break it down into pieces. The skills that you learn from making a quiche are ones you can apply to other things in the kitchen, so it was intentional to go with something that was more than scrambled eggs and toast," she says.

'So far removed from food'

While the main goal for these classes is to teach kids to cook and to also consider a career in hospitality and food, Linton and Mastellotto-Lesny also want to foster a conversation around our connection with food.

They want to educate the younger generation on where their food comes from and what it takes to make a dish.

"We're so far removed from our food. We just know that it's there and we eat it, but what does it take to make it? How does it get here? All of those pieces are part of what we're doing to educate on that."