Hawaii’s Kitchen is on the road at Kapiolani Community College today. We are checking out their culinary program to see how culinary education has evolved and the exciting opportunities they provide. We talked with the famous Chef Mark Noguchi, a graduate of KCC’s culinary program, who has returned to teach some classes at the school! He walked us through a paiai demonstration along with a current student, and discussed the importance of education.
The food scene has evolved rapidly and KCC’s culinary program has as well. Chef Professor Alan Tsuchiyama and Grant Itomitus, the Department Chairperson, shared about the new programs, including Travel Abroad. The program is always looking to find ways to engage students in the learning process. How they do that is to create immersive experiential learning, in order to develop critical thinkers and eventual thought leaders that will shape the future of the culinary industry.
Grant shared, “One area we are focused in on is Innovation Culinary Courses. Part of our responsibility is to create a passion for the industry.
We have really expanded our offering of these innovated type courses that touch upon other areas of today’s modern culinary arts. Sensory evaluation, food photography, explorative product development, social media/marketing, vegetarian temple cuisine with Jeong Kwan Sunim, and intensive education in areas of, chocolate, butchery, fermentation, and travel abroad experiences.”
While we were there, Kelly got to eat some of the delicious Hawaiian food that the KCC students and students from Fukuoka Japan cooked up.
For more information or to enroll, visit kapiolani.hawaii.edu/programs/culinary.
