04/04/2014 – The Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts hosted a Texas-wide high school open house today at it’s campus here in Austin, TX. Hundreds of students from across the great state of Texas including Austin, its surrounding areas and schools near Dallas, Houston and San Antonio were in attendance to learn more about the school’s Farm To Table® Experience, the first registered Farm To Table educational curriculum in the nation. Visiting students were able to tour the school’s onsite 9,000 square foot Urban Agricultural Learning Center, participate in a Mystery Basket Challenge, view chef demonstrations of cake decorating and experience a whole pig roast led by Escoffier Chef Instructor and BBQ Pit Master, Chef Paul Petersen.
“When we broke ground on our Agricultural Learning Center, we had a vision to share the center with students to illustrate how food is grown and the importance fresh whole foods play in our daily lives. We are proud of the progress we have made which is attributed to the hard work and efforts of our current instructors and student volunteers,” said Marcus McMellon, Campus Director of the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.
Ingredients from local farms were used in the Mystery Basket Challenge as students learned more about the school’s Farm To Table® Experience where Escoffier students spend valuable time working alongside Austin-area farmers and ranchers such as RRR Farm, Coyote Creek Farm and Dewberry Hills Farm. In addition to working with local farmers, the Farm To Table® Experience educational portion of the open house included a whole pig roast and demonstration of whole fish butchery which illustrated the challenges and advantages of whole animal cooking as well as identifying various techniques for utilizing all parts of the animal.
Jack Larson, Chairman of Triumph of Higher Education, Selena Walsh Wheeler, Exec. Director of the Texas Farm-to-Table Caucus and Marcus McMellon, Campus Director of the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Austin, Texas with more than 300 high school students from across Texas at the school’s Farm To Table® Open House.
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts Chef Instructor and BBQ Pit Master Paul Petersen with Selena Walsh Wheeler, Exec. Director of the Texas Farm-to-Table Caucus in the school’s outdoor Agricultural Learning Center – featuring Whole Pig Roast.
Marcus McMellon, Campus Director of the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Austin, Texas with students from El Campo High School who won first place in the Mystery Basket Challenge during the school’s Farm To Table® Open House.