Food! Who doesn’t love food? As you bite down, you feel flavors burst into your mouth. Taste-wise, following the same recipe, it is all the same, but look-wise, some people are more sophisticated than others.
Hidden among the countless clubs at Bronx Science, there lies a club, one that combines preparing food and the artistry behind making it, called Edible Arts.
What is Edible Arts?
Bi-weekly, President Allison Huang ’24, Vice President Nahiyan Islam ’24, and Secretary Ivan Cheng ’24 come together to host a lively and entertaining meeting in Room 331.
Edible Arts club is exactly what it sounds like, combining the foods and sometimes the arts. Club members attempt to make comforting and delicious foods, succeeding the majority of the time. However, once in a blue moon, something goes wrong, usually with the school ovens. Take the Focaccia breads for instance. After the club chefs spent half an hour on decorating, it was time to place the yeasty dough in the oven, which was, disappointingly, not turned on ahead of time, wasting their hard efforts.
Leadership takes on these hardships with grace, ensuring that their club members remain passionate and motivated. This 2023-2024 academic year, a new council stepped up to embrace the responsibility of keeping the club on track.
Edible Arts is run by a senior council who are often busy in the fall completing their college applications. This is one of the reasons that they made the club a fun way to relax after rigorous classes; students have a fun way to make food that participants can consume during the meetings. Ingredients are provided by the club, with members bringing extra garnishes if they are feeling inspired, so all members have to do is cook and arrange the food. With the simplicity of the foods that the club makes, the dishes are generally a hit, with the slots for club attendees filling up within hours, leaving members with extra time to relax.
Why did you join the Edible Arts club?
With a plethora of school activities and responsibilities, many members join and attend Edible Arts club meetings as a way to forget about their current stressors, and fto ill their minds (and stomachs!) with something else.
Take member Noelle Delosreyes ’27 for example, who said, “I look forward to cooking food when I’m hungry at the end of the day. It’s also a nice way for me to relax.”
Kathryn Wu ’26 said, “I like how you’re able to cook and make food alongside your friends.”
“I have an incredible time at the Edible Arts Club! The creativity and talent on display is truly inspiring. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and the opportunity to connect with friends makes it even more enjoyable. Free food after a long day of school is also a nice bonus,” said Rachel Li ’24. “My experience in the club last year was very fun, and I decided to re-apply this year because some of my closest friends are now board members of the Edible Arts Club. Their passion and dedication to the club’s mission was contagious, and I couldn’t resist being a part of it again,” Li said.
Others are experimenting with their hobbies in order to establish what they enjoy doing before they focus on other extracurriculars that are complementary to their future majors. “The reason that I signed up for Edible Arts was because even though Speech and Debate was my main [extracurricular], I thought that because this is my first year at Bronx Science, I might as well explore different options, because first of all, this is a specialized high school, with a wealth of opportunities that I probably will not get to experience again, and secondly, because this is the first time that I get to actually pick which clubs I want to attend,” Ares Li ’27 said. “My philosophy is to make it count while it lasts and have fun. I’m also trying to figure out what I like and don’t like before applying to universities in my senior year,” Li said. Students join the Edible Arts club for a variety of reasons, but ultimately, they attend for the delicious food and warm, inviting environment.
Why did you (the board) decide to continue the club during the 2023-2024 academic year?
During the 2022-2023 academic year, the Edible Arts club was a lot less consistent with their meetings, making it more difficult for leadership to maintain interest in the club. This poses the question, why did the board decide to continue the club during the current 2023-2024 academci year? “I wanted something to do,” Allison Huang said, with a smile on her face. “On a serious note, howeverm I enjoyed attending Edible Arts last year, so I wanted to pass it forward this year. This is one of the clubs at Bronx Science where I really have fun attending it, whether it is from the joy of making the actual food, or just being able to enjoy eating good food with my friends. I did not have many academic classes with my friends last year, so Edible Arts club became our hangout.”
“ Although I only attended a couple of meetings last year, some of which were failures in terms of food preparation, it was still fun. The one meeting I remembered – the one where we “made” bread – we completely failed. The bread did not cook, but it was enjoyable decorating the bread, and trying to cook it. I just hope that does not happen again this year,” said Ivan Cheng ’24.
“One of my personal hobbies is cooking. I wanted to bring this hobby into a school environment, so I decided to run for Vice President of the Edible Arts club. The first time that I walked into the club, my nostrils were immediately filled with the spicy aroma of Buldak noodles. Every week, I kept coming to Edible Arts club meetings, and each time, I discovered something new. When I heard about the club’s elections, I knew that this would be the best way to express my passion for the club, while also making an impact on both the members and the club’s culture. Something interesting about the Bronx Science student body is that not everyone has the same resources available to them in order to learn how to cook. I wanted to let each student find a new way to nourish themselves every week,” said Nahiyan Islam ’24.
What do you look forward to seeing or doing in the club?
“I’m excited to see how the club will evolve during the Spring 2024 semester and what new techniques or trends we’ll explore together. Additionally, with my friends in leadership positions this year, I anticipate a strong sense of teamwork and innovative ideas in the months ahead,” said Li.
“I look forward to having fun and meeting new people. I also look forward to learning how to cook certain foods and taste them!” Olivia Lin ’27 said.
With high expectations from club members, the Edible Arts board will be sure to not disappoint!
“I have an incredible time at the Edible Arts Club! The creativity and talent on display is truly inspiring. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and the opportunity to connect with friends makes it even more enjoyable. Free food after a long day of school is also a nice bonus,” said Rachel Li ’24.