At the end of a long corridor on the second floor of the Anteater Recreation Center (ARC), a group of students stood in pairs, peering over workstations in a professional-grade kitchen on April 10. Cooking supplies sat with exact portions of fingerling potatoes, half-sticks of butter, whole carrots and herbs.
The Culinary Basics Series students, some of which were first-time chefs, had hopes of stepping into the kitchen to practice the finer skills of cooking. They aimed to achieve the correct consistency of curry, perfect barbecuing techniques and learn how to laminate croissant dough.
According to UCI Campus Recreation, the Culinary Basics Series is a “hands-on, beginner-friendly series where you’ll learn essential cooking skills through simple, delicious recipes.” Classes start at $20 for students, $30 for ARC members and $40 for community members.
On April 10, the students learned how to make garlic butter chicken, roasted vegetables and chocolate chip cookies.
After a detailed safety instruction and demonstration on knife techniques, the students — with the assistance of five ARC staff members — split off in pairs to cut carrots into asymmetrical shapes and whip up compound butter to a fluffy consistency. Some pairs shared cooking tips they’ve learned from past experiences, while others silently massaged cooking oil into raw chicken.
As students began to tenderize the chicken breasts, it became clear why the evening yoga class a few rooms over is occasionally interrupted by the slamming of pots.
Walking around tables and occasionally stepping in to assist students is Chef Daniel Baquerizo, creator and instructor of the Culinary Basics Series and ARC culinary operations manager.
Baquerizo describes his teaching style as “straightforward and informative,” structuring the class as a mix of cooking skill demonstrations and preparation time where students apply their newly learned abilities.
“I try to be disarming as well, like not make it overly too hard where anybody’s gonna kind of feel like they’re left out or you know, vice versa if it’s too easy,” Baquerizo told New University.
Baquerizo also regularly hosts culinary experiences for other campus programs, such as the UCI Basic Needs Center and the ARC’s team-building obstacle course Team Up. In a college environment, part of Baquerizo’s work focuses on making cooking accessible. At the Basic Needs Center, Baquerizo provides free Budget Bites cooking workshops for budget-friendly meals and culinary techniques.
“I think it’s just like the biggest way to control what’s going in your body is being able to learn how to cook and enjoy what you’re eating,” Baquerizo said.
Baquerizo began the Culinary Basics Series in August 2024, two years after the last culinary operations manager left the ARC.
“[The series has] kind of gone through some evolutions a little bit to see what the students’ needs are. I think we’re kind of fine-tuning it a little bit more this quarter,” Baquerizo said.
Baquerizo began his culinary career organizing classes in the California State University, Fullerton culinary program after he graduated from their culinary school in 2015 and from CulinaryLab Cooking School in 2018. Baquerizo then pivoted to various restaurant and catering work, but the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an unexpected transition.
During a time of rocky job security and layoffs, Baquerizo began working for his family’s business, ProPath, Inc., centered around workforce development.
“I just felt the need to help my family out,” Baquerizo said. “Help people out who also lost their jobs like I did just get back on their feet.”
In 2024, Baquerizo felt the culinary field calling him back — but, this time, he chose culinary education. Working for restaurants can be physically demanding, often requiring a hard work schedule and the possibility of burnout, but Baquerizo saw the teaching job as a combination of what he loves most.
“I see it’s like a really good blend of having control of my time and still kind of like interacting with food,” Baquerizo said. “And also teach people how to like take control of their own kind of health and wellness and stuff too.”
The class is open to students of all experience levels. Fourth-year anthropology student Julisa Liang saw the class as an opportunity to learn new skills in a unique environment.
“I was a transfer here, so I felt like I didn’t have a lot of time on campus and even now as I’m about to graduate, I wish I did a lot of things,” Liang told New University. “So when I saw the signs, I figured, you know, I haven’t done that yet, let’s give it a try.”
While students spent the last 30 minutes of the class carefully plating their creations, an alluring scent of chocolate and brown sugar enveloped the air. By the end of the class, 21 plates of the “Weeknight Essentials” meal were made and packed into to-go containers.
Students interested in taking a cooking class with Baquerizo can register at the Culinary Basics Series page on UCI Campus Recreation.
Emma Richman is a Features Intern for the spring 2025 quarter. She can be reached at richmane@uci.edu.
Edited by Annia Pallares zur Nieden and Alyssa Villagonzalo.
Editor’s Note: A clarification about Baquerizo’s culinary training was added.