- For a week, students from the International and Traditional Chilean Gastronomy program supported the community pot “Voluntades quemov” that has been operating in the sector since the fires in February.
As a way to give a break to the members of the solidarity kitchen that operates in Villa Independencia, students from the International and Traditional Chilean Gastronomy program at the Santo Tomás Viña del Mar Technical Training Center prepared the rations that are delivered for a week for families who need it.
The community pot “Voluntades quemov” has been operating uninterruptedly for more than three months with contributions made by individuals and some companies, which allows them to deliver hundreds of lunches to those who still do not have the implements or homes where they can cook.
“On the second day of the fire we left at Sporting, delivering breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the thousands of firefighters who came to fight the fire,” explains José Onetto, director of the Gastronomy and Tourism Area of the CFT Santo Tomás Viña del Mar. “That’s where the idea of creating a social kitchen was born, so that the students could learn that we could bring Chilean cuisine to a different table and also help the victims who still can’t cook.”
In addition to the students from Santo Tomás Viña del Mar, students from the DUOC International Gastronomy program joined, forming teams to prepare the different recipes.
In total, they prepared 500 portions daily for a week, including chicken in juice with rice, noodles with vegetable bolognese and other basic recipes that were planned based on donations from the solidarity pot.
Erna Pérez, victim of the fires on February 2 and 3, also collaborates in this solidarity kitchen. “For me it has been something wonderful to come and cooperate to help them. The children of Santo Tomás are very sweet, very attentive and cordial in their attention to the community and for us it is wonderful that they come to cooperate with us, I feel satisfied that they have welcomed me here and that with my hands I can deliver a grain of sand to people”.
It was a great experience for the students, who had to learn to cook large portions and plan with the available ingredients.
“We invented everything,” says Yélida Rosas, a second-year student of International and Traditional Chilean Gastronomy. “The truth is that it was pleasant to have that new experience of cooking for a large number of people in large funds, it was very gratifying personally and for my colleagues as well.”
Bastián Vásquez, a second-year student of the program, acknowledged that it was a challenge to prepare everything under the pressure of the kitchen. “I was nervous at first, but it was not a professional kitchen, it was another environment, a much more familiar, more welcoming kitchen, it was a very pleasant experience. There is a lot of pressure, a lot of speed, a lot is demanded and you have to be prepared physically and mentally.”
