McQuaid Jesuit’s new cooking club aims to become a melting pot where students can share recipes and techniques in the culinary arts.

This new club is headed by junior Hansel Guo and cafeteria Chef Floyd Avery. With McQuaid’s expansive kitchen and the knowledge of the Parkhurst cooking staff, it seems like a match made in heaven.

Given the resources at hand, Hansel is very excited about the future of the club. 

“I believe that McQuaid has a great kitchen and cafeteria, including Mr. Avery who is a very experienced chef, so we should use these resources to better our cooking skills,” Hansel said.

During the first few months of the club, there will be contests on who  can bring in the best dish, and the winner receives a free lunch. After a little while, the club will move on to using the actual kitchen, and learning how to use a professional kitchen. Towards the end of the year, Hansel has planned a “cook-off” among the club members, with teachers being the judges.

The only downside to the club is the size. Due to the capacity limitations of the McQuaid kitchen, the club is limited to only ten members. This smaller size does have upsides though, with each member being able to participate in the activities, and more attention being given to each member.

Hansel hopes to add more members in the future. “I am definitely excited with the people who joined,” he said. “Although we do want to bring in a couple more people who would surely be great additions to the club.” 

With the size issues seemingly soon to be resolved, and the excitement of using the tools and expertise McQuaid has to offer, the cooking club is on track to become a mainstay afterschool activity in the McQuaid community.