Search | Menu Madison College Introduced New Culinary Courses for Students, Public
Madison College, in its commitment to furthering job training skills and lifelong learning opportunities, announced three exciting culinary-centric courses for the 2023 fall semester. These new courses were open to current students and the general public and are in addition to a host of other noncredit culinary learning opportunities at Madison College.
The courses, focused on culinary history, institutional scratch cooking training, and the skills needed to plan, operate, and manage an independent food service business, seek to expand the already robust culinary training the community has come to expect from Madison College.
The culinary history course, The State of the Plate will be taught by Kyle Johnson Cherek, the Emmy-winning former host of Wisconsin Foodie. The course will explore how food has been the driving force behind much of history, giving insightful overviews of the people and the places that shaped European and American cuisine. Johnson Cherek's course will be offered on Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm virtually beginning November 1 for six weeks.
Becoming a Foodpreneur taught by industry veterans Kay-Tee Olds and Christine Ameigh is for entrepreneurs planning a food business such as a food truck, café, catering service, coffee shop, popup restaurant, on-site culinary services, or festival vending. Becoming a Foodpreneur is a hands-on course and students will get in the kitchen to develop products, work through logistics, and dig deep into food safety. Students will conduct a market analysis and create financial projections as they create a business plan for a small business. The first section of the course starts on October 10 and goes through October 31. The second section runs November 2 – November 30.
Institutional Cooking: Global Local is a course geared toward the home cook and chefs of larger institutions who are currently cooking as careers. It is taught by Irene Pawlisch, an instructor at Madison College's Culinary program. There is a demand from K12 school nutrition programs and other institutions like hospitals to increase scratch cooking with limited culinary training opportunities. There is an emphasis on large-batch cooking, ethnic cuisine inclusivity, and creating flavor under the strict nutrition guidelines required by some institutions. Having worked in a wide variety of professional kitchens. Irene offers advice on best practices in the kitchen to make scratch cooking a success in institutional kitchens with limited resources. This is a one-day course meeting on October 28 from 9 am – 1 pm.
“Madison College’s culinary program has a wealth of programs designed for both casual food enthusiasts as well as for those who are interested in pursuing a career in commercial kitchens,” said Linda Nellen, professional and continuing education manager at Madison College. “Madison College, and our culinary program specifically, have a long history of meeting the workforce needs of area businesses including our restaurants and foodservice establishments.”
