An apple a day, keeps the doctor away. And, a visit from Executive Chef Mason, keeps you on track. When Executive Chef Mason was asked to talk to a class of sixth graders, he eagerly started preparing PowerPoints in the weeks prior to his visit.
“If you love math,” says Mason, “You need to be a Chef and especially one who bakes because it requires tons of math.” Mason spoke to the group of eleven and twelve year old students about how fractions and other math variables play a role in his everyday job, like food cost and production.
He kept tossing out jokes about being fired if you’re not able to do the math. These curious minds had plenty of questions and spent almost 30 minutes picking the Chef’s brain.
Q: “Have you ever burned something?”
A: “Oh yeah, I was responsible for burning down 3 grills and blowing up bread in an oven in culinary school.”
Q: “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve cooked?”
A: “Rattlesnake”
Q: “Do you have to go to culinary school?”
A: “No, you aren’t required to go to culinary school. You can progress without it, but it certainly helps the learning curve if you want to know even more about cooking.
Q: “How long have you been cooking?”
A: “If you ask my mother, since I was eight. But, professionally as a sous chef or executive chef, 15 years.”
Q: “What’s your favorite recipe?”
A: “It might be a childhood thing. I can always go for some porkchops and apple sauce, with a cup of juice.”
Q: “What are you bad at cooking?”
A: “Macaroni and cheese, mostly because I have a picky 13-year old daughter.”
Q: “Have you made fried pickles before?”
A: “Oh yeah, and fried green beans. Those are good too!”
Q: “What’s the largest meal you’ve EVER prepared?”
A: “At one time… dinner for a party of 1300, 700 and 300 all in different banquet rooms which was about 2,300 people.”
What questions do you have for Chef? Insert in the comment box below and we’ll try to answer them.
Tags: Belmont Ridge Middle School, CSR, Executive Chef Craig Mason, Loudoun, school business
