The Berks Career and Technology Center teamed up with Kutztown University Students and the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) to broadcast a live cooking demonstration from the BCTC Leesport campus on Nov. 18.
As 1 p.m. approached, the students prepared for cameras to roll, reading over their cue cards and adjusting their cameras for just the right angles.
The first half of the demonstration lasted about 25 minutes and was headed by Chef David Ivey-Soto, a graduate, former teacher and ambassador for the CIA. Chef Bruce Squibb of BCTC facilitated as well.
As Chef Ivey-Soto prepared a cream of mushroom soup, BCTC Communication Media Technology students recorded the broadcast with the help of Kutztown University’s Electronic Media Department.
The demonstration was streamed live via the Internet to schools in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey.
For the first year, KU students helped produce the broadcast from their brand new TV production truck.
“This is the third year we’ve done this production,” said Jim Del Conte, a teacher at BCTC. “In the previous two years, we did it out of the production studio here. This year is the first year we’ve had the KU students helping with the truck, so we are able to broadcast from the kitchen.”
Chef-Ivey Soto’s demonstration included a step-by-step lesson on preparing the soup. He also shared his experiences as a chef, prompted with questions from the audience.
Questions included “What is the biggest challenge of working in the food industry?” and “What is your favorite thing to cook?”
“Reality is, I’m on vacation every day,” he said. “The biggest challenge would be if I had something to do every day that was the same.”
Chef Ivey-Soto shared that he does not serve anything without first asking himself if he would feed it to his grandmother, who was a cook and butcher.
“Really, my favorite thing to cook is what I know the person I’m cooking for will most enjoy,” he said.
The Chef also invited Culinary Arts students from BCTC to taste the soup and help him figure out how to improve the flavor.
Once the demonstration wrapped up, samples of the soup were passed around, and the cameras shifted to the second half of the broadcast, an informative presentation about admissions at the CIA.
All the while, KU students worked from out back in the truck with their professor, Cara Cotellese, and a few of the BCTC students.
“Cara is on our program advisory committee,” said Del Conte. “She brought this up as an opportunity for students to experience this kind of production. These are mostly upper level students who have worked in the truck before.”
Chef Ivey-Soto called those involved a “truly professional crew” and was honored to take part in the demonstration.
“It’s humbling to be here with two other CIA graduates,” he said. “There’s really four winners in this thing: other schools, BCTC students, the CIA and the KU students.”
Chef Ivey-Soto has worked internationally in 14 countries spanning five continents and brings a wide range of cooking experiences to the BCTC students.
“We hope that this will get some of the students interested in moving forward with culinary arts,” he said. “CIA is a great place to do that.”
The Culinary Institute of America is the oldest culinary college in the country. The original campus is located in Hyde Park, NY. Other campuses are located in California, Texas and Singapore.
For more information on the CIA, visit www.ciachef.edu.
The BCTC students invite to the public to come enjoy lunch at their campus restaurant from 12:30 to 1 p.m. on Wed., Thurs. and Fri. The food served is prepared by the Culinary Arts students.
