Get to Know Chef Julie Cortese!

While the effects of Covid-19 have brought an immense amount of uncertainty for the 2020-2021 school year, KHS has equipped a group of eager teachers who are fit for the job. One of the new teachers is Chef Julie Cortese.
This is not Chef Cortese’s first teaching job; she was a preschool teacher for many years and worked as a substitute teacher. She also works at Mercer County Community College as a teaching assistant. Chef Cortese says she has always enjoyed teaching and enjoyed educating little kids when her children were youn. She enjoys “having a lasting impact on older students in the kitchen.”
Her family owned a restaurant while she was growing up, so she has always had experience in the kitchen. She claims that desserts are her favorite thing to create, but she hates decorating cakes. Chef Cortese is of Sicilian descent and visits her family over the summers. She enjoys making comfort food from “home and Polenta, seafood risottos, arancini and handmade lemon ricotta gnocchi…as for desserts,” and cheesecakes! Watch out Cheesecake Factory!
Chef Julie Cortese is teaching Cooking Basics and Baking 1 this semester and will be teaching Global Cuisine next semester.
Here is a picture of her and a dessert she designed that won first place! It is called “Autumn Tart” and is basically 4 layers of her favorite flavors of the season.