“Are you an idiot sandwich?”—a well-known quote by the most influential chef of our time: Gordon Ramsey. Ramsey has charted an awe-striking path in the culinary universe, now holding the most accolades a chef can have. Notably, many have attributed this remarkable success to the support Ramsey received from his community in his formative years as a child—when he began his extraordinary career. In a similar way, Dublin High School provides a nurturing culinary environment that cultivates passion and inspiration in student chefs, offering a variety of cooking classes to this end: Baking and Pastry, Culinary Arts, International Cuisine, Catering, and Honors Catering.

Dublin High’s culinary department makes this learning accessible, meaningful, and valuable for all kinds of students. Indeed, skills that are learned in the culinary academy either genuinely prepare students for a future career in culinary arts or aid those who simply want to learn culinary skills by supplying a base. Additionally, the teachers are known to be experienced and use their skills to help students realize their full potential.

One class furthering these aims is Baking and Pastry, a common class to take when one is interested in the culinary arts that also provides a fun environment for any beginner to learn. Anushka Gupta, a sophomore who took Baking and Pastry, shared, “Baking and Pastry provides a very fun and hands-on experience. It helped me learn many different techniques such as chopping and baking. The teachers and students were also insanely helpful and interactive.” 

However, CJ Galang, a student who took Baking and Pastry in her previous year and is currently in Catering, provides a more ambivalent perspective on the department: “Catering has been like a double-edged sword—the class can often be a fast-paced, stressful, and frustrating environment, but I thoroughly cherish the bonds I’ve developed and what I’ve learned from both chefs and friends within the class.” That being said, although the DHS Culinary Academy can be stressful at times, it helps students understand how to work under pressure and achieve excellence in their given environment. 

The Dublin High School Culinary Academy offers a supportive environment that fully allows students to hone important skills such as time management, resilience, and teamwork—pillars of the culinary academy and skills imperative to success in life. Similar to Ramsey’s journey, the students in Dublin High are given a chance to shine in almost all they do, given many opportunities to work hard and improve. 

To go back, then, to Gordan Ramsey’s question, “Are you an idiot sandwich?”—the answer from the culinary academy is a resounding “no” as our future chefs will continue to thrive and excel in the instrumental environment provided.