TASTE
Friends and professional chefs Chris Lombardi ( from left ) and Ricky Yap ’ s Homeskool ’ d has a feature unique to online cooking classes : a virtual homeroom where students can connect with one another before instruction begins .
from friends and technical assistance from her husband , she launched online Sacramento Spice classes in July 2020 . Her expectation that online classes would be tougher than in-person proved to be wrong .
“ What I thought was a disadvantage proved to be very positive ,” she says . “ If I ’ m giving a class in person , we do everything for them . … Now , they ’ re cooking for their family .”
The online model better equips students to make the recipes again and again , because they have the ingredients on hand and learn to cook in their own kitchens . She encourages students to experiment with her recipes for dishes like chicken tikka masala , wonton soup and veggie burgers . Each course is $ 20 , unless otherwise noted , and Shankari sends students a grocery list a week in advance .
Rescue resident Sarina Bronson says her family ’ s spice collection has grown since her son , Luke , started taking the courses . Luke , 13 , quickly advanced from children ’ s to adult classes and says pad thai and fried rice are among his favorite dishes . Aside from giving Luke something to look forward to during isolation , the courses have equipped him to help his parents as they prepare for the birth of their seventh child .
“ When the new baby comes , I ’ ll be able to pull out a recipe and make it ,” he says , adding that his younger sister , Lucy , takes the children ’ s classes . “ We ’ ll be able to make them together for the whole family .”
Arcot gets the most joy from igniting a passion for cooking in the next generation . She offers children ’ s classes and homeschool courses for kids from third through 12th grades . The global cooking homeschool series introduces students to a new country each week . In addition to culinary and culture lessons , students learn to budget and shop , manage their time and problem-solve .
“ These children are our future , and we teach them these life skills ,” she says . “ It makes my day just watching these children light up .”
The future of virtual cooking school
Each of the cooking courses has seen a dip in the number of enrollees since early in the pandemic , and the chefs cite a few reasons : restaurants reopening , Zoom fatigue and an increase in travel . When the chefs at Homeskool ’ d saw a decline , they ramped up corporate team-building for clients like Intel and Sacramento State . Bills plans to create an online school with a library of videos and recipes that members can revisit anytime . After a break in her adult classes in the fall , Arcot has resumed the homeschool courses and weekend family sessions . Despite the changes in demand , they see value in keeping the virtual classes going — for themselves and their students .
“ It ’ s been a wonderful silver lining ,” Arcot says . “ Everything that happened — it ’ s not the best situation , but we all made the best of it .”
Kate Gonzales is a Sacramento-based journalist who writes about class , culture and gender . She is currently the associate editor at The Imprint , a daily , nonprofit news outlet . She has worked in Northern California media for 15 years and earned her sociology degree from Sacramento State .
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30 comstocksmag . com | December 2021