At Passion For Spices™ this year, our 15th annual Summer Around the World Cooking Camp was a great success again. We are thrilled to provide a platform for our young generation to learn about food and culture, and provide a true culinary experience. Our team at Passion for Spices™ were so happy to see the eagerness of our young chefs and their enthusiasm in learning new skill sets. We had a great group of happy campers. Please see the details below.
American Road Trip
Cajun: Where the campers prepared gumbo, red beans, and dirty rice, and Roux and Beignets during the workshop
Southern BBQ: Where the campers prepared Pulled Chicken, Cornbread, and Cole Slaw and BBQ Sauce From Scratch with Chicken during the workshop
New York: Where the campers prepared New York Style Pizza and Chili Dogs, and Pretzels with Mustard during the workshop
New England: Where the campers prepared Johnny Cake and Baked Beans, and Pumpkin Whoopie Pie during the workshop
Midwest: Where the campers prepared Juicy Lucy and Runza, and Michigan Pasty during the workshop
Around the World
Italy: Where the campers prepared Homemade Ravioli, tomato sauce, and Garlic bread, and Biscotti during the workshop
China: Where the campers prepared General Tso’s Chicken, fried rice, and Dumplings during the workshop
Mediterranean: Where the campers prepared Muhamara, Hummus, Pita Bread, and Shakshuka during the workshop
France: Where the campers prepared Split Pea Soup, Croque Monsieur and French Apple Tart during the workshop
India: Where the campers prepared Butter Chicken, Raita, Naan Bread, and Sweet and Savory Parathas during the workshop
Arts and Science
Breads: Where the campers prepared Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Savory Cheese Puffs and scones during the workshop
Pickles and Canning: Where the campers prepared Quick Pickles, Jams and Canned Peaches during the workshop
Dumpling Day: Where the campers prepared Gyoza, Samosa, and Dumpling Soup during the workshop
All About Cheese: Where the campers prepared Cheese Fondue, Fresh Homemade Ricotta, and Ricotta Pancake during the workshop
Art of Pies: Where the campers prepared Chicken Pot Pie, Seasonal Fruit Cobbler, and Seasonal Fruit Galatte during the workshop
Farm to Table
Corn: Where the campers prepared Corn Chowder, Corn Muffins, and Popcorns with Various Toppings during the workshop
Squash: Where the campers prepared Butternut Squash & Lentil Curry with Rice, Seasonal Squash Muffin, and Pumpkin Bread during the workshop
Eggs: Where the campers prepared Curried Deviled Eggs, Classic Quiche, and Madelines during the workshop
Tomatoes: Where the campers prepared Tomato Soup, Baked Fries, Ketchup from Scratch, and Tomato Tart during the workshop
Stone Fruits: Where the campers prepared Peach Chutney and Chicken Kebab, Strawberry Ice Cream, and Seasonal Fruit Cobbler during the workshop
Culinary Teen Competition
One of our students, Miles LoPrete, wrote an account of his experiences during our Week 5 cooking camp:
This is my second year at Passion For Spices Culinary Teen Competition Summer Camp. Passion For Spices is an amazing highest-rated cooking school in the Summit area that helps you learn a bunch of new skills and techniques in cooking. The chefs and all the staff at Passion for Spices are more than happy to help you if you need help with learning something. Below I wrote my day-to-day experience and everything we learned!
On the first day of the camp, we learned how to make rice, soups, and knife skills. First, we made a soup, which was a super flavorful corn chowder that used the corn cobs in the broth to make the soup extra delicious. Next, we made traditional fried rice with eggs, vegetables, and spices. For our knife skills, we learned how to cut things that are a little trickier to learn such as ginger, and herbs.
On the second day, we learned how to make a super flavorful and simple grilled zucchini with fresh herbs, shallots, garlic, and topped with fresh tomato sauce. This day we also learned how to spatchcock a chicken and cut a chicken into 8 pieces. Spatchcocking is hard but it’s super important to learn ways of cooking a chicken. Most people don't know how to do this skill but it is super important to learn for a cheaper option for chicken. With this, we made two types of chicken, Super delicious and flavorful tandoori chicken, and a simple yet super good herb-grilled chicken. We also made an amazing garlic confit mashed potato. In the end, we all enjoyed this delicious meal.
On the third day, we learned how to make pasta two ways. First was an egg pasta dough used for the ravioli we were making, which we filled with a ricotta spinach filling that turned out great. We then used a cutting tool to get the pasta into a square shape. This was served with a homemade basil pesto sauce. Next, we learned how to make Semolina Pasta for the Orecchiette, which is a pasta with a similar size of gnocchi rolled over a fork or a tool with lines to get its iconic look. We served this pasta with an amazing homemade tomato sauce.
On the fourth day, we learned how to make 4 different types of desserts. The first one was a Peach Crisp which had a bunch of delicious fresh peaches, lots of warm spices, brown sugar, and topped with a homemade biscuit for the top. The second dessert we made was a Plum Cobbler Tart which was filled with fresh plums, an apple, and a bunch of warm spices along with a crisp crumbly top! Next, we made a Vanilla and Chocolate Pudding. It was super good and not overly sweet which I thought made it better than any other pudding I have had before. Last we made meringues which was for the next day because they had to sit for hours out to set. These where made with egg whites and sugar. At the end of ghe day we topped everything with ice cream!
On the last day, it was time for the cooking competition which was where we made a big meal for all of our families. We arrived 3 hours early to start our big meal. We started with prepping everything for a buffet-style meal. We also had to prep the dining room with tablecloths, silverware, plates, and napkins. We got assigned what to do in the kitchen and we tried our hardest to make the food super good in big batches. We also were assigned roles when the parents started coming in working as hosts and greeting people, as well as helping people to their seats. Once the parents started rolling in at 6 pm we started to bring out our food we worked super hard on. For this meal we had, garlic bread, fruit plates, smashed potatoes, Grilled zucchini with fresh tomatoes, Spinach Tahiri Rice, We also made Grilled chicken, and tandoori chicken as well as some ricotta-filled ravioli with a choice of tomato or pesto sauce. For dessert, we made peach cobbler topped with a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream and meringues we prepped yesterday! It was really fun to feed the parents and our siblings and see them enjoying the food we worked hard on.
Overall the Passion-for-spices teen culinary camp was an incredible experience where I learned so much with making food from different cultures. I'm happy I did this camp a second year and overall truly enjoyed this class.
Soups, Salads, Broths: Our campers made a very well liked soups and starters, Corn Chowder and Spinach Tahiri for this event, as well as Grilled Zuchini. The Teens also built their skills like knife skills and basic stock making.
Starters, Homemade Pastas, and Sauces: in the spirit of the name, campers prepared a full complement of starters, with a Dumpling Assortment, Chicken Satay, and Semolina Pasta.
Sides and Desserts: Campers produced French Style Potatoes and Mediterranean Couscous with Rice to accompany any main course
Main Course: Our campers prepared the savory Roasted Spatchcocked Chicken with Classic Style Ratatouille, fit for a king. The final day, we had our annual cook off, where the camper’s parents came to sample everything that the campers had made.
Mystery Market Basket Competition: The Campers cooked a three course meal to present to friends and family.
