Skyline High School culinary students prepare Mardi Gras feast

There was a party atmosphere Tuesday as Skyline High School culinary arts students decorated and cooked for Fat Tuesday

Senior culinary students at Dallas ISD's Skyline High School make plenty of meals for faculty and staff, but this Tuesday was unlike most Tuesdays. It was Mardi Gras, 'Fat Tuesday', and the lunch menu sold out.

"All right, we have less than 40-minutes," Skyline Lead Chef Jason Blackwell called out to students as they worked over a hot range, chopped vegetables, and prepared desserts. "All right, let's make it happen!"

"No stress at all," senior culinary student Tania Franklin said, cool as a cucumber.

The students had a Mardi Gras menu that included fried catfish, gumbo, po'boy sandwiches, crawfish and shrimp boils, and more. The exercise is about more than just learning a Cajun or creole recipe.

"So this allows them to learn about the culture, learn about the people, learn about the history, learn about where it came from," Blackwell said. "So basically learning the history of the food so they can understand it."

"Once you start getting into different countries dishes, they use a lot of the same ingredients, they just cook different ways," senior culinary student Francisco Lira said. "So I think culture-wise, it's easier to understand people through food. Food connects."

Mardi Gras is the festival and feast before the fast. Students prepared more than twice as many lunches as they would on a regular day.

"So food is the one common denominator in the world that I believe really brings people together," Blackwell said.

Food is the way to open doors and 'laissez les bons temps rouler', let the good times roll!

"Realize they're more similar than they thought," Lira said. "We want people to enjoy our food that we make. That's why we make it."

"I want them to experience joy," Franklin said about the teachers and staff that eat the class-prepared Mardi Gras meals. "I know they're gonna love it because we put in a lot of love and effort into it!"