Pans sizzling as the grease hits the hot metal, senior Jeremy Duran minces vegetables while preparing a culinary pop-up dish. Next year Duran plans on attending the Culinary Institute of America to further his knowledge of the kitchen and curating dishes.

The Culinary Institute of America often referred to as the ‘C.I.A.’, is the leading school for those wishing to study culinary arts, according to Hospitality management degrees. With four campuses located around the country, Duran chose to stay close to home for his collegiate education and will be attending the San Antonio campus of the C.I.A.

“I’m planning on going to the San Antonio location but if I decide to get my bachelor’s I will be going to the New York location, which would be my goal,” Duran said. “I would like to have as much knowledge as possible and continue to learn and improve.”

The C.I.A. provides several different unique programs like boot camps for immersive experiences in cooking and baking over multiple days and a class called ‘Ingredient Functionality’ that aims to teach the power of ingredients.

“One of the things I love about cooking is being able to use my hands to create something,” Duran said. “I am looking forward to the end of my second year where I will be placed in the school’s restaurant called Savor, which will let me participate in the creation of diverse dishes, along with working with professional chefs which is cool.”

Duran first developed his love during the 2020 lock-down, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I took an Intro to Culinary class in eighth grade during the pandemic and we just started learning basic skills, but because we were at home and we didn’t have direct supervision by the teacher, I could be creative with how I created what we were cooking that week,” Duran said. “It’s what inspired me to start cooking more. With all that free time, I found a new hobby.”

Duran is a member of Bowie’s culinary program and is double-blocked in the program, meaning he gets to cook at school almost every day, along with being able to participate in the pop-up lunches and bake sales.

“I’ve been in the culinary program since my junior year and the program has been a very inviting community,” Duran said. “Chef Howard has definitely helped me improve. He has taught me the basics of cooking and what it means to be a leader and work in the kitchen.”

While Duran will be attending the C.I.A. he doesn’t currently participate in any culinary programs outside of the Bowie’s but is striving to get more experience to strengthen his skills before heading off to San Antonio.

“I do not participate in any cooking classes outside of school, because I cook so often at school and home,” Duran said. “I’m currently looking for a back-of-house job to get some kitchen experience so I can be more prepared when I start school next year.”

His efforts to grow not only as a chef but also as a person are seen by friends and fellow culinary students, according to classmate senior Lucas Larson.

“This is my second year in culinary, and I’ve seen Jeremy grow to be much more of a leader throughout both years that I’ve been in class with him,” Larson said.

Not only is Culinary a hobby and a future career for Duran it’s also something that helps him connect to others. Duran spends time with friends and family cooking and sharing his talents according to friend Ava Loera.

“The class he took in middle school helped him get more hands-on with cooking,” Loera said. “Since then I’ve tried a lot of his dishes, my personal favorite is his fried chicken. It’s the way that he shows he cares.”

His ability to show care through food and flavors is something that Duran is aware of and uses as a form of expression as Loera has noticed.

“Cooking is the main thing I find joy in doing. I do it as much as I possibly can, I go home every day and cook. Through that I realized I don’t just love cooking, I love cooking for people,” Duran said. “Seeing the looks on people’s faces when they bite into good food, that’s just everything to me.”

Duran conveyed this passion during his application to the C.I.A., having to submit an essay as a part of the application process.

“I had to write an essay about my experience in the kitchen and what the experience has been like, and why I think I’m a good fit,” Duran said. “I’ve been to the campus twice and I just know that I love it and that being there will help me grow, and I think I conveyed that in the essay.”

Culinary schools are seeing a decrease in applicants and becoming a less popular career path, according to The Washington Post, yet in Duran’s choice to pursue culinary school, he has supporters surrounding him.

“I think my mom has supported me the most when it came to me wanting to apply to the C.I.A.” Duran said. “She’s the person I cook for the most, and she gives me critiques to help me improve,She’s my biggest supporter.”

While his adventure at the C.I.A. hasn’t started yet, Duran is already planning for what’s after his Associate Culinary Arts degree.

“I think the next step for me would be becoming a private chef,” Duran said. “My dream person to work for would probably be Bucks player Giannis Antetokounmpo. He’s my favorite basketball player and being able to cook for him would be super cool.”

While being a private chef for big names, Duran has also discussed creating a Fusion-style restaurant with Larson due to their success and joy of working together in Bowie’s Culinary program.

“I believe that Jeremy and I could find success purely based on how well we work together and have been able to design menus in the past that have been enjoyable,” Larson said. “We have talked about doing some sort of barbecue, Asian fusion, or Asian American fusion in general.”

Before heading off to the C.I.A. Duran will have his senior pop-up, which is a tradition in Bowie’s culinary program, where seniors curate a menu and recipes and sell the meals.

“We just did our senior pop-up presentation. We had to create a slide show consisting of our menu, price breakdowns, and explanations, which was kind of nerve-racking,” Duran said. “My favorite kind of food to cook is Asian food, so my menu will consist of hot and sour soup as an appetizer, sesame chicken with steamed rice as an entree, mango sago as a dessert and a honey lemon bubble tea.”

This final menu Duran will present as a part of Bowie’s culinary program in the spring semester will be a sneak peek into his future as a chef.

“I’m excited for the next two years after graduation,” Duran said. “Pursuing my passion as a career is just something amazing. Being able to bring joy to people by cooking for the rest of my life is unreal.”

This story was originally published on The Dispatch on December 13, 2024.