Behind the Scenes in the CAH Kitchens

Brie Samaniego

When telling people what my conservatory is, I can usually anticipate getting one of three responses: “So, do you guys just eat all day?”, “I love food”, or, my personal favorite, “I had no idea there was a culinary conservatory.” One reality I had to face since coming to OCSA in freshman year is that the Culinary Arts and Hospitality conservatory is severely under-appreciated. 

I've come to realize that not everyone understands the complexities of the conservatory. While not all of the work we do can be interpreted and admired like the more obvious arts such as dancing, painting or playing an instrument, there is still a level of artistry you must have to achieve any level of success in the culinary arts. 

Not only is Culinary one of the most under-appreciated conservatories at OCSA, but it is one of the most overworked. When I hear people talking about their conservatories, I’m surprised by how little work many students receive. I am not saying that there are any conservatories that don’t require work; however, the amount of work culinary students receive seems disproportionate to that of other conservatories. I am not the only one in my conservatory who has observed this. One student said “culinary is a lot of work” and when they hear people talk about the work from their conservatories, “it just doesn’t match up.” 

Usually, when I tell people my feelings about the disparity between CAH and other conservatories, many are quick to ask “What about P and D?”. I empathize with the struggles of the production and design students, especially since we are in very similar situations, but generally most people know about them. Many of the problems PD students have are also experienced by the CAH students, like the long work hours and limited funding, but PD is typically more appreciated and acknowledged. 

42 percent of students said they have worked events that have lasted more than 10-12 hours, according to an online survey completed by 25 percent of CAH . One student recalled a “very upsetting” event where they were “held in the kitchen” until past midnight after already working more than eight hours. When asked what they would like to tell the conservatory staff and director, one student said, “please give us more breaks.” However, the conservatory director, Chef Daniel Mattos, does not have the same perception of the student workload. When told that the student felt overworked, he said to “compare what we ask of our students to the other conservatories.” Yet there are not many conservatories that are quite like CAH. 

In this conservatory, events are mandatory and most of the time unrelated to what you are learning in the classroom. In other conservatories, the learning is built surrounding and leading up to events. In CAH, students are often held in class after school is let out. In the previously mentioned survey, 95 percent of students reported that they were held back in class after school let out, and more than 50 percent of those students said staying late was a regular occurrence. One student talked about an instance where the class was locked in the kitchen at 4:45 and they could not leave until everything was cleaned. This caused many of the students to miss their transportation from school. 

While this conservatory has faults, I can not say my time here has been wasted. I am still in CAH for a reason. The things we learn from it can be carried with us through life even if we do not choose to enter the business. We learn about how to build an effective resume and how to secure a job, we learn about different cultures around the world, we learn advanced cooking skills and so much more. The students and staff in the CAH conservatory put in an incredible amount of work and deserve appreciation for it.