The University of Virginia is a state school, but it can be expensive. Out-of-state students, for example, pay $60,000 a year or more in tuition and fees, and students find the cost of living in Charlottesville is high, so many of them turn to the Cavalier Food Pantry.
“We find that actually around 30% of our students do screen positive for food insecurity," says Melanie Brede, director of UVA’s teaching kitchen.
“Tonight’s theme is Pick of the Pantry. Our goal with this class is to feature shelf-stable and long-lasting ingredients that can quickly be made into a meal.”
On the menu -- shepherd’s pie made with lentils, mashed potatoes, frozen peas and carrots.
“I highly recommend frozen vegetables for their convenience. They retain all their nutrients until you actually heat them up and eat them," she explains.
And lentils are a good, cheap source of protein with a long shelf life. The problem, Brede says, is that students may have no idea how to cook them.
“We see more and more that students are coming to school without a lot of cooking experience.”
But tonight there are more than a dozen students willing to learn. Among them, Destiny Winter, Kendric Curry, Elizabeth Halup, Evan Sage, Sarah Zube, Julio Buelna, Emel Benli and his friend Mickey.
“I have my few staple dishes that I always do. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone when it came to cooking."
"If someone tells me what to do, I can do it, but improvising that’s a big mystery."
"I’m really making an effort to get outside of the law school bubble and try different things."
"Honestly, I wanted to just shift away from the regular college life. It’s really refreshing to be doing cooking.”
They learn new techniques:
“I know how to dice, how to mince, how to hold a knife.”
New terms:
“Mis en place is French. It basically means getting all your ingredients ready, so that once you start cooking you can just go, go, go," Brede says.
And tricks of the trade.
“I’m going to leave the root intact – to not cut through that, I’m going to stop about a quarter inch short," she says, demonstrating her technique. "When I make my perpendicular cut, I don’t have to work so hard to hold the onion together.”
Brede helps vegan and gluten free students to adapt recipes and offers ingredients you can substitute if it turns out you’re missing something. She stresses safety to help kids avoid kitchen catastrophe.
“A potato peeler took a good chunk of my finger off," one recalls.
"One time I made a cake – a red velvet cake.Me and my friend took 13 hours. We stayed up all night just to make it, and it wasn’t that good," says another.
"Over COVID I tried to make chicken and rice without boiling the rice," a third confesses.
And there is guidance on how to tell when something is done or when oil in the frying pan is hot enough to cook those chopped onions.
“Just take one little piece of onion – pop it in there. If it starts sizzling, then it’s hot,” says Brede,
Three floors above in the student health and wellness center, participants will find the ingredients they used to make tonight’s dish at the Cavalier Food Pantry. Coordinator Nicole Pierce says they have easy access and pay nothing.
“All they have to bring is their student ID, so they can scan into the door and they can take whatever they need.”
And the number one pick?Pasta!
“We had elbow noodles for the longest time, and once we started buying spaghetti noodles – gone, within hours!”
Back in the teaching kitchen, the moment of truth has arrived, and shepherd’s pie with lentils is getting good reviews.
“It’s a very warm, homey meal – better than dining hall food."
"I like it. Sublime."
"Surprising. I’ve never had lentils, but I’m not disappointed."
"I think it’s great"
"Yeah, I think it’s super tasty."
"Also, with a great group of people it makes it even better.”
Tonight’s meal is free, but should they choose to go shopping in town and make the dish at home, Brede says, it’ll cost just $1.89 per serving.
In addition to offering cooking classes and a food pantry, UVA packs up dining hall and catered event leftovers that cost-conscious students can take home at no charge.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
