Culinary Arts Students Have an 'Ice' Day

After spending three years frying, chopping, mixing and everything else in-between, the future master chefs enrolled in Bucks County Community College's Culinary Arts program took a break from the kitchen knives and broke out the chainsaws last week.

The upgrade to power tools is necessary in order to complete the traditional ice-carving capstone project each student needs to finish the school's apprenticeship program. It may seem unusual at first to take the cooks away from the ovens, but culinary arts professor and program coordinator John Arrowhead says ice-sculpting is an important skill for gourmet chefs to have in their repertoire.

"We just want them to know the basics," said Arrowhead. "It adds an extra level of professionalism for people looking to cater a wedding or banquet. They see it on TV, and they want a chef who can do an ice dolphin for them."

The capstone course is given during the last two weeks of the three-year apprenticeship program. The first week is dedicated to sculpting inanimate objects, such as a beer mug or ice luge, and the second focuses on animate objects like swans and fish. 

Arrowhead purchases the 300-pound blocks from a company in Malvern at approximately $55 per block. Arrowhead and other local master chefs, namely Pete Dierkes, a 1989 graduate from the program and former pastry chef at Rat's in Hamilton, N.J., and retired chefs Fred Robinson and John Schussler, assist the students with the designs and techniques.

Once the 20 pieces are complete, Arrowhead will choose the best and have them displayed during the graduation ceremony on May 23.