MPTC Tweaking Culinary Arts Program

Moraine Park Technical College is changing its recipe a little with its Culinary Arts program. MPTC President Bonnie Baerwald says they are trying to reflect some of the changes they are seeing in the culinary world. The program now includes instruction on sustainable food production, farm-to-table food preparations, preparation of smoked and cured meats, artisan baking, street foods and a lot more. Culinary arts instructor James Simmers says they will be getting a little more detailed in the first year of the program. Rather than have individual classes for things like meats and vegetables they have put them together. That will allow instructors to show students how to build a meal, how to build an entrée, and how to do that for a mass production setting. Simmers says they will also be getting a little more advanced as they move students into their second, third, and fourth semesters.