Nothing on the back burner for Creston graduate

Daeton Abildtrup has a lot on her plate.

But she is learning how to make it look, and taste, great to add to the overall experience.

The 2021 Creston Community High graduate and daughter of Brad Abildtrup and Jennifer Cooper, has finished the Iowa Culinary Institute school through Des Moines Area Community College’s Ankeny campus. She is looking for a kitchen to put her skills of creating a high quality, fine-dining experience to work.

“It’s like a tweezer chef,” she said about the nickname for chefs who are so particular about the presentation, before the meal is consumed, tweezers are used to delicately move ingredients on whatever is being served. “That is what I want to do.”

She’s not kidding as she learned how to cut bell peppers smaller than what may be typical for an everyday, tossed salad.

“You cut it to like a 1 centimeter by 2 centimeter size,” she laughed.

Her degree in applied sciences of culinary was the result of the interest she had in high school taking all of Martha Bohelke’s independent living classes which included basic food preparation. Abildtrup’s family history has her great-grandparents owning a restaurant on Des Moines’ south side before the airport expansion.

“She figured out that is what I really wanted to know,” Abildtrup said about Bohelke. During some free time at school, more would be mixed, stirred and baked. Cupcakes were shared with staff, “whoever would take them.” she said.

Knowing culinary school would be her choice after high school, she applied the beginning of her senior year.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do before high school. In high school, I thought this is kind of fun.”

The classes at DMACC were at another level.

“High school was basic, how to fend for yourself,” she said. “But culinary school it’s all French cuisine and styles. I felt like some stuff I was relearning as Boehlke’s class helped.” Abildtrup said assignments were to make cream puffs, orange charlotte ( a dessert), mashed potatoes. “I knew how to do those things.”

Then like the temperature dial on the oven, the complexity was turned to high.

“We had to prep for a salmon filet that was folded into parchment paper with vegetables so the aromatics come out when the customer opens it,” she said. “It went from zero to 100.”

Then came a chicken plate with herbs, a classic French entree. Abildtrup learned how to prepare chicken for such meals. Instruction was also given how to clean and prepare fish, shuck oysters and dispatch lobsters.

“That’s the formal name, dispatch,” she emphasized on the process to prepare lobster. “You learn how to connect with your food before you eat it.”

The actual food is only one part of the lesson. She also reviewed how to serve a six-course meal.

“You learn how to open and serve champagne and wine and how to hold the bottle,” she said.

The 30 in her class were divided into three groups. Each group would be assigned to schedule and service a dinner to guests at the institute. The to-do list was given on a Tuesday for a Thursday event. She was instructed by Jake Kim who serves at the institute. He was born in Korea, taught in Australia and has worked in fine dining around the world.

“He has a lot of knowledge and he comes across like a father figure,” she said.

Learning how to cook and bake is not just what ends up on a plate. Each has its own nuances.

“It has been more than just being handed a recipe,” she explained. “Cooking has more wiggle room to mess up and trial-and-error. Baking, everything has to be to a T. There is very little room for error and it’s very scientific.” Some recipes have her measure ingredients to the ounce and additional flour has been noticed in the final product. And that is usually not a good thing.

Exposed to so much different categories of food, and how it can be prepared, Abildtrup said she also had to learn how to take criticism for food that didn’t meet all the standards.

“You also have to have a well rounded palette and be willing to try anything. You have to be willing to try and get feedback,” she said.

Abildtrup spent most of May touring portions of Europe as part of a scholarship. Time in France included touring vineyards with wine, cognac and champagne tastings. Because of the age rules in Europe, Abildtrup was able to have samples.

“I like white wines and some reds,” she said. The wine experiences also included what wines should be served with certain foods to enhance the m

eal.

Two weeks in France included observing how a fine-dining restaurant operated. She was with Alexandre Cipriani, owner/head chef of Le Pont Nantin in St. Chamond. Menu items included cold soups, leeks, marinated pork and sheep cheese. Abildtrup was able to contribute to some of the meals and was asked to create a dessert that “screamed American.” She created a brown butter, dark chocolate cookie with ice cream.

She noticed French beef does not taste the same as in Iowa.

“It’s grass fed in France which gives it a tendency to be tough,” she said.

Abildtrup, 20, is searching for a job in metro-Des Moines preferably at a fine-dining establishment to put her skills to work. There are places that are considered fine-dining. If things go well and gets good experience, she may venture farther.

But she’s not all about the right wine with the exquisite meal.

“When we got back from France, we all went for a Dominos pizza,” she smiled.