In this fully immersive culinary camp, students step into the professional kitchen mindset and take on the challenge of recreating iconic fast food and takeout favorites entirely from scratch. Rather than ordering in, students deconstruct the dishes they love, understand what makes them great, and rebuild them using fresh ingredients, proper technique, and a chef's attention to flavor and presentation.
Each day features a hands-on savory main dish prepared and eaten together for lunch, followed by an afternoon focused on desserts and specialty treats to package and take home. Throughout the week, students build a genuine kitchen skill set: frying technique, sauce development, dough preparation, seasoning balance, and thoughtful plating. Equally important, they develop confidence, independence, and the team instincts that define professional kitchen culture.
This camp runs daily from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and is ideal for young food lovers who want to understand the food they eat and take their cooking skills seriously.
Day 1: Crispy Chicken Snack Wraps
Students recreate a beloved fast-food classic by learning to properly season, bread, and fry chicken for maximum crispiness, then assemble their wraps with house-made sauces and fresh toppings. An afternoon dessert project follows.
Day 2: Doritos-Style Tacos
Bold, spiced flavors take center stage as students create crunchy taco shells inspired by Doritos seasoning, prepare all fillings and toppings from scratch, and practice spice blending, pan cooking, and balanced assembly. Dessert project in the afternoon.
Day 3: Korean BBQ Chicken
Students explore the sweet, savory, and umami layering of Korean-style barbecue. They build the sauce from scratch, learn marinating and cooking methods, and develop an understanding of how to achieve depth of flavor. A specialty dessert focused on finishing and presentation follows lunch.
Day 4: Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
This session focuses on dough and structure. Students prepare deep dish pizza from scratch, learning to make the dough, press it into the pan, layer the sauce and cheese in the distinctive deep dish style, and manage the long bake time unique to this iconic format. Baking fundamentals are reinforced in the afternoon dessert project.
Day 5: Orange Chicken and Noodle Dishes
The week ends on a high note. Students prepare crispy orange chicken glazed with a bright, balanced sauce and pair it with noodle dishes that complete the meal. The day wraps up with a final take-home treat and a celebration of everything accomplished during the week.
