Cooking Camp a Great Introduction to Healthy Eating

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Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Sandy Meindersma, GoLocalWorcester Features Team

Still looking for an idea for summer camp for your kids? Culinary Underground School for Home Cooks, is sponsoring cooking camps for children and teens that will teach them cooking skills and gives them a taste of food around the world.

“It all started when I was teaching adult classes,” Chef Lori Leinbach said. "I was asked if I would do kids' classes, and since I did some Girl Scout troops to help them earn their merit badges, I decided to go for it."

The four day camps, which are also run during school vacation weeks, allow students to delve more deeply into cooking than during an after school program.

Leinbach, a former elementary school teacher and graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, founded Culinary Underground in 2004 after operating a personal chef service for ten years. Leinbach and her staff of four chefs moved to their Southborough location two years ago.

“Kids are more likely to eat it, if they're involved in making it, “ Leinbach said. "We're so far removed from where our food comes from that sometimes I have to take an onion and show how it grows in the ground."

Leinbach said that her classes stress using food in its original state, so that kids can understand what it is supposed to taste like.

On the day the class was cooking shrimp, one camper, who was a very fussy eater, came in saying that she didn't like shrimp, but agreed to to try it. Leinbach said the girl loved it, and that her mother was practically in tears. "It just opened up a whole new world of possibilities for her," Leinbach said.

Culinary Underground offers a variety of classes for adults and children, from the Very Basic Series, to baking, international cuisine and workshops. There are also after school classes, parent/child classes and vacation program.

Starting next week, Culinary Underground will be offering vacation summer camps for teens and children. Teen camps include Tour of Italy 1 and 2, and Cake Commandos. Kids’ camps, designed for children 8 to 11, include Bakers’ Boot Camp, Around the World in Four Days and Cooking in Color.