SUN VALLEY : Home Economics Turns to French

Home economics students at Sun Valley and Sylmar high schools will soon be shucking the usual recipes for chocolate chip cookies and pancakes for a more gourmet palette.

Careers through Culinary Arts Program, a nationwide project to orient home economics courses more toward professional cooking and other food services occupations, was kicked off Friday with a series of French cooking demonstrations for teachers by New York chef and educator Richard Grausman.

Home economics teachers from 17 area schools, including Sylmar High in Sylmar and Polytechnic in Sun Valley, watched Grausman prepare three French meals at workshops sponsored by the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Trade Technical College and Les Dames d’Escoffier, an organization for professional women in the culinary arts.

Among Grausman’s creations was a three-course meal of French onion soup, fresh strawberry omelets and a chocolate souffle.

Adding French cooking to the culinary curriculum is intended to make the home economics classes more exciting, said Ernest Green, director of the culinary arts program at the technical college.

After participants in the program graduate from high school, they can qualify for scholarships to the Los Angeles Trade Technical College, California Culinary Academy and the Culinary Institute of America.