Culinary Arts (CULA)
CULA-111 Food Safety and Sanitation
3 Credits
Lecture: 3 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course provides a clear understanding of daily procedures required to ensure that food is handled safely, avoiding contaminants that cause serious food-borne illnesses. Students will prepare for the ServSafe Managers Examination, earning a certification with a score of 75% or higher. This course is the same as HOSP-111.
CULA-120 Professional Kitchen I
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course is an introduction to the professional kitchen. Students will explore the history of the professional kitchen and its organization. An overview of food safety and sanitation, nutrition, menu and recipes, kitchen staples and equipment identification, and kitchen equipment use will be presented. Skills development will include knife skills, basic cooking methods and techniques, and calculation of recipe conversions, total recipe cost, and cost per portion.
CULA-120L Professional Kitchen Lab I
4 Credits
Lab: 12 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course will apply the knowledge and skills taught in Professional Kitchen I theory while operating Emery's, the college restaurant. Emphasis is placed on practical experiences to enhance skills in food safety and sanitation; use of equipment; knife skills, basic cooking methods, and techniques; and recipe conversions, recipe costs, and costs per portion.
CULA-121 Professional Kitchen 2
4 Credits
Lecture: 4 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course integrates the fundamental culinary and baking principles learned in Professional Kitchen 1 with an emphasis on more advanced concepts, including poultry, seafood, and meat cookery; advanced garde manger; advanced custards; fruit desserts and garnishes; basic cake and icings; and churned/still frozen desserts.
CULA-121L Professional Kitchen Lab 2
4 Credits
Lab: 12 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course will provide students practical application of the skills learned from theory courses through the exploration of more advanced menu offerings while operating Emery's Restaurant.
Prerequisites: CULA-120L
CULA-123 Food Science
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course covers the chemical and physical changes in foods that occur with cooking, handling, and processing. Topics include heat transfer and its effect on color/flavor/texture, emulsification, protein coagulation, leavening agents, viscosity, and gel formation. Upon completion, students should be prepared to demonstrate an understanding of these principles as they apply to food preparation in a lab setting.
CULA-130 Menu Planning and Procurement
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of menu construction. Emphasis is placed on the importance of the menu in creating a successful business. Students will examine and analyze various menu models and learn how changes to the menu can drastically increase/decrease sales, create interest, satisfy individual tastes and nutritional needs, and be used as an important sales and marketing tool. Principles of purchasing and the effect on profitability of hospitality operations will be explored.
Prerequisites: CULA-165
CULA-165 Introduction to Customer Service
3 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course will focus on the basics of customer service. Quality customer service will be at the center of all discussions. Special attention will be placed on front-end restaurant and dining service procedures. Students will apply principles learned in class during the "on-the-job" lab in the college restaurant. A skills development log and completion of written assignments will be required.
CULA-165L Introduction to Customer Service Lab
0 Credits
Lab: 3 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course is an on-the-job training lab to be taken in conjunction with CULA-165. Principles taught in CULA-165 will be applied in this lab.
CULA-166 Restaurant Customer Service Operations
3 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course will explore advanced customer service relations, dining room procedures, and internal customer service. Students will learn and experience a variety of front-end positions including service supervisor. Special service situations will be addressed as well as standards for industry communications. Students will apply principles learned in class during the "on-the-job" lab in the College restaurant. A skills development log and completion of written assignments will be required.
Prerequisites: CULA-120, CULA-165
CULA-166L Restaurant Customer Service Operations Lab
0 Credits
Lab: 3 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course is an on-the-job training lab to be taken in conjunction with CULA 166. Principles taught in CULA 166 will be applied in this lab.
CULA-176 Culinary Arts Internship
2 Credits
Internship: 6 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course provides supervised training in culinary arts through "on-the-job" experience in a restaurant or related facility. It provides a practical application of culinary skills as part of the learning process.
CULA-211 Culinary Nutrition
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course is an introduction to the basic elements of nutrition. Nutritional menu planning, development of healthy recipes, and marketing nutrition in the food service industry will be discussed. The characteristics, functions, and food sources of the major nutrients and the procedures used to maximize nutrient retention in food preparation and storage will be examined. Students will learn the principles of nutrient needs throughout the life cycle as they apply to menu planning and food production.
CULA-222 Professional Kitchen 3
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course will continue to build upon the fundamental techniques of culinary and baking/pastry skills, recipe/menu planning, culinary nutrition, and international and American regional cuisines.
CULA-222L Professional Kitchen Lab 3
3 Credits
Lab: 9 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course will continue to build upon the fundamental techniques of culinary and baking/pastry learned throughout the first two rotations with an emphasis on advanced savory and baking pastry skills, recipe/menu planning, culinary nutrition, international and American regional cuisines. Students are required to synthesize information given during demonstration, lecture, and daily production to form classic and unique dishes involved in "a la carte" menu items.
CULA-223 Professional Kitchen 4
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course focuses on professional development with an emphasis on marketing, accounting and cost controls, and supervision/personnel management. Previous management strategies discussed will be compiled into a working philosophy that students can apply to managing/running a food service operation (preparing students for management roles within food service).
CULA-223L Professional Kitchen Lab 4
3 Credits
Lab: 9 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course is the capstone or culmination of all theory and skills learned throughout the previous three semesters of study. Students will apply managerial strategies as well as advanced culinary and baking/pastry techniques into daily production at Emery's Restaurant, the student-operated restaurant. Students will also serve as mentors, guiding first-year students through rotation in both front and back of the house operations.
CULA-265 Restaurant Supervision
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course features comprehensive, applications-based coverage of all aspects of developing, opening, and running a restaurant. This includes topics such as staffing, legal and regulatory concerns, cost control and general financing, marketing and promotion, equipment and design, the menu, sanitation and concept.
CULA-266 Restaurant Entrepreneurship
3 Credits
Lecture: 3 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course features comprehensive, applications-based coverage of all aspects of developing, opening, and running a food operation in the capacity of management and/or owner.
CULA-267 Purchasing/Cost Controls
3 Credits
Lecture: 3 hours per week
Offering: Fall Only, All Years
This course addresses the fundamentals of selection, procurement, storage, receiving, and cost controls used by food service establishments. Principles of purchasing and management cost controls will be examined for their effect on profitability of food service operations.
CULA-268 Introduction to Wine, Beer and Spirits
2 Credits
Lecture: 2 hours per week
Offering: Spring Only, All Years
This course provides an introduction to wine, beer and spirits. Along with a history of each type of beverage, this course also covers how these beverages are produced and manufactured, beverage varieties and styles, and food pairings. Cost, pricing, merchandising, marketing, storing, and table service are also reviewed.