Cooking up confidence: How junior chefs in Moncton are learning more than just recipes

Big Mac salads and peanut butter and jelly french toast were on the menu at a recent class of the junior chef academy at Moncton's Peter McKee Community Centre.

“I just love cooking,” junior chef Andi Chavarie said. “Today I just wanted to come just to have some fun.”

Although it was Andi’s first time participating in the cooking class, she says she’s no stranger to the kitchen as she often bakes with her father.

LISTEN | 'I just love cooking':

The cooking class runs on Saturday mornings, inside Moncton’s largest food bank, and is open to youth aged eight to 12.

For Emily Asafo-Adjei, the cooking classes are just one way she’s pursuing her dream of becoming a chef.

She says she came to the program to learn new recipes that she can continue to make in the future.

“I was very happy that I got to register for it,” she said.

For program co-ordinator Julianna Mutch, her favourite part of the class is not the cooking itself. It's the “self-confidence” students gain from being proud of what they have cooked, she said.

Mutch also enjoys seeing students come out of their shells by the end of their first class.

The program also teaches the junior chefs about nutrition — “What different types of nutrients go into their bodies, what it does to their bodies,” Mutch said.

She often hears from parents that their children don’t want to go to school, but they do want to attend cooking classes.

That rings true for 11-year-old junior chef Jet Forbes who says the cooking classes are teaching him skills that are overlooked in the classroom. However, his favourite part of the classes is still eating afterward.