Sayif Brooks has been at the range stirring up meals since he was eight. At 16, he spends most of his day in the kitchen and not on the streets.
He is in the food management class at Career and Technical Education Center and cooks at home. He said his mom, Elsa Williams, even expects dinner on the table when she gets home from work. He is one of six children so it seems like the prefect fit for helping out at home.
He says he thinks young people today need to keep busy to stay out of trouble. He stays busy doing what he enjoys, preparing food.
This is his second year at CTEC, where he is part of the Good To Chew catering team. The students cater all types of events. They prepared a meal for 300 recently at Project Homeless Connect. They prepared gallons of different types of soup for the Soup du Cure last weekend, where the team took the award for best in seafood. Brooks competed in Skills U.S.A. in Kansas City, where the CTEC team took first place. Locally the team took a first in U.V.I. World Food Day competition.
“Competition is fun, seeing how skilled you are,” said Brooks.
The first time his mother allowed Brooks to cook he made a ground beef and macaroni dish. He prefers stovetop cooking to baking. Brooks says he likes to experiment. Recently he made an interesting chicken curry stew. Everybody at home liked it even though it was a bit spicy. Brooks says his favorite thing to eat is steak grilled outdoors and his favorite thing to cook with is green peppers.
He spends part of his day in academics at the St. Croix Education Complex, where he is an above average student. He applies in the kitchen what he learns in science and math classes.
He has been thinking about applying at Johnson and Wales University in Florida to study culinary arts. He would eventually like to come back to St. Croix and open a restaurant and serve local foods in an upscale setting.
Chef Anton Doos, instructor at CTEC, says Brooks can make a good name for himself in the business.
“He is a very dedicated young man with clear set goals,” Doos said. “But he needs to get established elsewhere first. He needs to go and make a name for himself in the states and then he can demand a good salary. To make good money as a chef in St. Croix is difficult.”
But now, at 16, Brooks is looking forward to helping prepare Thanksgiving dinner for 12 with his mom and grilling some mahi for a change.
