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ENLARGE
Chef Jonny Cavaner puts glaze on hame for a lunch at the Canyonville Christian Academy on Thursday.
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ENLARGE
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Head chef Jonny Cavaner sprinkles chopped green onions over mashed potatoes in the kitchen at the Canyonville Christian Academy.
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ENLARGE
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Jonny Cavaner, left, is a 2002 graduate of Umpqua Valley Christian School and is the head chef for the Canyonville Christian Academy. Helping Cavaner serve are students Micah Jocoy of Myrtle Creek, Nuri Jeong of Korea.
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CANYONVILLE — Jonny Cavaner had never made borscht before, but he wanted to make something special for a small group of Russian students enrolled at Canyonville Christian Academy.
The school's chef consulted culinary textbooks he has at home, searched the Internet and spoke to people to learn about the traditional beet soup that has roots in the Ukraine and is popular throughout eastern and central Europe.
He found out that every region offers a different version, with some varieties served hot and others served cold. Some add tomatoes and others include beef or bacon. Cavaner's version came without meat and included a rich vegetable stock.
“That was interesting. It went over well,” Cavaner said. “Next time, I'll make it with beef.”
With most of the boarding school's 128 students coming from abroad — a majority hail from Asia — Cavaner has had to accommodate a wide range of tastes and backgrounds.
Cavaner, a Myrtle Creek native who graduated from Umpqua Valley Christian School in 2002, came to CCA over the summer following a stint at the Tualatin Country Club outside Portland. He went to school at Southern Oregon University in Ashland and played baseball at Simpson University in Redding, Calif., where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in history.
He broke into professional cooking by attending a 10-month course at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. He worked for the school's fine dining restaurant for two months before gaining further experience at the country club.
At Canyonville Christian Academy, Cavaner works with sous chefs Terry Cunningham and Chris Haro and kitchen assistant Tessa Cunningham, Terry's sister. Several work-study students come in at mealtimes to serve students and faculty members who line up at two serving stations inside the school's cafeteria.
Burgers and fries and deep-fried chicken strips, staples in many other schools, are the exception here. Last week, CCA students dined on tri tip beef sandwiches, garlic chicken and noodles, Schezwan chicken and calzone.
“We don't just slop things out there. We want to make it good for them,” Cavaner said. “I won't put anything on the table that I couldn't serve at a fine dining restaurant.”
Dan Godzich, the school's executive vice president and CEO, praised Cavaner.
“I grew up in New York, and those were calzones,” he said of Cavaner's creations.
One day last week, while students were attending morning classes, Cavaner created a sauce combining cranberries, apples and leeks. He reduced the sauce by letting it simmer in a large stockpot on a burner on the gas stove, concentrating the flavors.
Later, he cut up 60 pounds of chicken breasts and baked them in a convection oven. Right before serving, he divided the chicken breasts among several pans and he and Haro ladled sauce over them.
“What other high school could serve this?” he asked, smiling.
Right at noon, students and teachers came through the two doors on opposite sides of the cafeteria leading to the serving area. The student helpers scooped up portions of the chicken, couscous and peas. Diners also had access to a salad bar and a station where they could make themselves peanut butter sandwiches.
“This is the first time we've tried couscous,” Cavaner said of the tiny wheat granules that are a staple in Morocco, Algeria and other nations in north Africa.
He poured a 25-pound bag of couscous into a stock pot that held boiling water. The wheat granules quickly absorbed the water and swelled up. After placing the couscous into serving pans, Cavaner mixed honey into it.
“The honey gives it a cornmealy kind of flavor,” he said.
Cavaner said he likes to experiment with new foods and see how the kids react to them. Items that don't get a positive reaction are shelved, while those that prove popular will show up again. The couscous went over well, with only a small amount left over that Cavaner planned to refrigerate and use as a salad accompaniment.
Cavaner and his crew serve 20 meals a week. Besides the regular breakfasts, lunches and dinners, there's a Saturday brunch and a Sunday continental breakfast.
Besides the borscht, Cavaner has made Thai-style curries, German bratwurst sausage and Chinese Schezwan chicken. He also adds traditional ingredients — such as hoisin sauce, a Chinese mixture of dried sweet potato, fermented soybean paste, chile peppers and sesame seed paste — to spice up stir fries.
“We like to give them meals that are as authentic as possible,” he said.
Most of the offerings have proven popular, evidenced by the number of students who came back for seconds on the chicken lunch with the cranberry, apple and leek relish. They liked it, even though some of the diners weren't quite sure what the sauce contained.
“Is that strawberry jam?” an Asian boy asked while pointing to a pan containing the chicken. He wasn't familiar with cranberries, a plant found in cooler areas in the Northern Hemisphere, including the Oregon coast around Bandon.
Nuri Jeong, 17, a Canyonville Christian Academy senior from South Korea, said Cavaner and his staff have done a good job of appealing to the tastes of people who have come from such a wide geographic area.
“Every day, the food is different. This was very good,” she said, talking about the chicken in the cranberry relish.
That doesn't mean things always go according to plan. Twenty-five minutes before lunch was to be served, a delivery truck carrying lettuce for the salad bar hadn't arrived yet. It was supposed to have been there an hour earlier.
Cavaner sent Haro over to the nearby Ray's Food Place for substitute lettuce. Haro came back 10 minutes later, rough chopped the lettuce, washed it and dried it in an oversized salad spinner and put it out at the salad bar before the first student arrived.
Haro said he admires his boss for his low-key demeanor and the way he juggles his cooking duties with ordering supplies, planning menus and doing prep work ahead of time. He also keeps a keen eye on what the students are eating or not eating.
“He handles the kids real well,” Haro said. “He understands what the Asian kids like, what the Russian kids like.”
Cavaner comes in before 6 and prepares breakfast for serving at 7:30 a.m. Some of last week's offerings included sausage and eggs, pancakes and ham and cheese crepes.
He works breakfast and lunch and generally leaves at 2 p.m., but does some of his ordering at home and usually comes in on Sunday to see what is needed. Cunningham and Haro handle dinner duties.
The crew also handles special school requests. They made 10 peach and cherry pies, along with 200 chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies for a junior class auction on Friday. On Monday, they'll bake 300 of those same cookies and make hot chocolate as an after-school treat for students.
Cavaner said he appreciates the flexibility the school gives him to be creative in his menu choices. He said he tries not to repeat the lunch and dinner entrees more than once every two months.
The formula must be working.
“They'll eat everything on their plate. Then they'll go to the salad bar and then they'll grab a peanut butter sandwich on their way out,” Haro said.
By having such a multicultural student body, Cavaner said he has been forced to expand his knowledge and that he enjoys the challenge. While it's made him a better chef, he said his priority is making sure that all of the school's students feel welcome and enjoy their time in Canyonville. Food, he said, plays a big role in making sure they are happy.
“They're here nine months out of the year,” he said. “This is where it starts. Food is comfort.”
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
The school's chef consulted culinary textbooks he has at home, searched the Internet and spoke to people to learn about the traditional beet soup that has roots in the Ukraine and is popular throughout eastern and central Europe.
He found out that every region offers a different version, with some varieties served hot and others served cold. Some add tomatoes and others include beef or bacon. Cavaner's version came without meat and included a rich vegetable stock.
“That was interesting. It went over well,” Cavaner said. “Next time, I'll make it with beef.”
With most of the boarding school's 128 students coming from abroad — a majority hail from Asia — Cavaner has had to accommodate a wide range of tastes and backgrounds.
Cavaner, a Myrtle Creek native who graduated from Umpqua Valley Christian School in 2002, came to CCA over the summer following a stint at the Tualatin Country Club outside Portland. He went to school at Southern Oregon University in Ashland and played baseball at Simpson University in Redding, Calif., where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in history.
He broke into professional cooking by attending a 10-month course at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. He worked for the school's fine dining restaurant for two months before gaining further experience at the country club.
At Canyonville Christian Academy, Cavaner works with sous chefs Terry Cunningham and Chris Haro and kitchen assistant Tessa Cunningham, Terry's sister. Several work-study students come in at mealtimes to serve students and faculty members who line up at two serving stations inside the school's cafeteria.
Burgers and fries and deep-fried chicken strips, staples in many other schools, are the exception here. Last week, CCA students dined on tri tip beef sandwiches, garlic chicken and noodles, Schezwan chicken and calzone.
“We don't just slop things out there. We want to make it good for them,” Cavaner said. “I won't put anything on the table that I couldn't serve at a fine dining restaurant.”
Dan Godzich, the school's executive vice president and CEO, praised Cavaner.
“I grew up in New York, and those were calzones,” he said of Cavaner's creations.
One day last week, while students were attending morning classes, Cavaner created a sauce combining cranberries, apples and leeks. He reduced the sauce by letting it simmer in a large stockpot on a burner on the gas stove, concentrating the flavors.
Later, he cut up 60 pounds of chicken breasts and baked them in a convection oven. Right before serving, he divided the chicken breasts among several pans and he and Haro ladled sauce over them.
“What other high school could serve this?” he asked, smiling.
Right at noon, students and teachers came through the two doors on opposite sides of the cafeteria leading to the serving area. The student helpers scooped up portions of the chicken, couscous and peas. Diners also had access to a salad bar and a station where they could make themselves peanut butter sandwiches.
“This is the first time we've tried couscous,” Cavaner said of the tiny wheat granules that are a staple in Morocco, Algeria and other nations in north Africa.
He poured a 25-pound bag of couscous into a stock pot that held boiling water. The wheat granules quickly absorbed the water and swelled up. After placing the couscous into serving pans, Cavaner mixed honey into it.
“The honey gives it a cornmealy kind of flavor,” he said.
Cavaner said he likes to experiment with new foods and see how the kids react to them. Items that don't get a positive reaction are shelved, while those that prove popular will show up again. The couscous went over well, with only a small amount left over that Cavaner planned to refrigerate and use as a salad accompaniment.
Cavaner and his crew serve 20 meals a week. Besides the regular breakfasts, lunches and dinners, there's a Saturday brunch and a Sunday continental breakfast.
Besides the borscht, Cavaner has made Thai-style curries, German bratwurst sausage and Chinese Schezwan chicken. He also adds traditional ingredients — such as hoisin sauce, a Chinese mixture of dried sweet potato, fermented soybean paste, chile peppers and sesame seed paste — to spice up stir fries.
“We like to give them meals that are as authentic as possible,” he said.
Most of the offerings have proven popular, evidenced by the number of students who came back for seconds on the chicken lunch with the cranberry, apple and leek relish. They liked it, even though some of the diners weren't quite sure what the sauce contained.
“Is that strawberry jam?” an Asian boy asked while pointing to a pan containing the chicken. He wasn't familiar with cranberries, a plant found in cooler areas in the Northern Hemisphere, including the Oregon coast around Bandon.
Nuri Jeong, 17, a Canyonville Christian Academy senior from South Korea, said Cavaner and his staff have done a good job of appealing to the tastes of people who have come from such a wide geographic area.
“Every day, the food is different. This was very good,” she said, talking about the chicken in the cranberry relish.
That doesn't mean things always go according to plan. Twenty-five minutes before lunch was to be served, a delivery truck carrying lettuce for the salad bar hadn't arrived yet. It was supposed to have been there an hour earlier.
Cavaner sent Haro over to the nearby Ray's Food Place for substitute lettuce. Haro came back 10 minutes later, rough chopped the lettuce, washed it and dried it in an oversized salad spinner and put it out at the salad bar before the first student arrived.
Haro said he admires his boss for his low-key demeanor and the way he juggles his cooking duties with ordering supplies, planning menus and doing prep work ahead of time. He also keeps a keen eye on what the students are eating or not eating.
“He handles the kids real well,” Haro said. “He understands what the Asian kids like, what the Russian kids like.”
Cavaner comes in before 6 and prepares breakfast for serving at 7:30 a.m. Some of last week's offerings included sausage and eggs, pancakes and ham and cheese crepes.
He works breakfast and lunch and generally leaves at 2 p.m., but does some of his ordering at home and usually comes in on Sunday to see what is needed. Cunningham and Haro handle dinner duties.
The crew also handles special school requests. They made 10 peach and cherry pies, along with 200 chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies for a junior class auction on Friday. On Monday, they'll bake 300 of those same cookies and make hot chocolate as an after-school treat for students.
Cavaner said he appreciates the flexibility the school gives him to be creative in his menu choices. He said he tries not to repeat the lunch and dinner entrees more than once every two months.
The formula must be working.
“They'll eat everything on their plate. Then they'll go to the salad bar and then they'll grab a peanut butter sandwich on their way out,” Haro said.
By having such a multicultural student body, Cavaner said he has been forced to expand his knowledge and that he enjoys the challenge. While it's made him a better chef, he said his priority is making sure that all of the school's students feel welcome and enjoy their time in Canyonville. Food, he said, plays a big role in making sure they are happy.
“They're here nine months out of the year,” he said. “This is where it starts. Food is comfort.”
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
