After meeting him, you wouldn't guess that Simon Stilwell, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, is majoring in chemistry.
"All my friends asked me, 'Aren't you going to culinary school?'" Stilwell said.
Stilwell is the host and executive chef of "College Cooks," an ATV big-kitchen show produced, directed, written, filmed and edited at AU. Uniquely qualified for the job from his experience working as a sous chef, or prep chef, Stilwell uses the show to carry out his mission: To show students the easiest way to cook quality - and healthy - meals using the resources available in a dorm room.
When Stilwell came to AU, he was troubled by the eating behavior of the students.
"They didn't know how to cook or how to eat," Stilwell said. "Coming from working in restaurants several years before coming to American, I thought I had some information that I could share with students."
The format he chose to share his expertise was a cooking show.
"I started cooking with my floormates and it blossomed into 'College Cooks,' as well as an affiliated newsletter, Web site and club," Stilwell said.
The basic ingredients for "College Cooks" come from various TV cooking show hosts, particularly Alton Brown of the Food Network. Alton Brown's fast-paced style was a rough model for the show, according to Jason Cunningham, a sophomore in the School of Communication and executive producer of the show.
"The goal is to watch one episode and be able to do everything that was in that episode on your own," Cunningham said. "Everything is explained as we go, so that it's clear where we go [and] when, with no background knowledge."
The subject of each show focuses as much on techniques as meals, while catering specifically to the needs of a student.
"We gave [the show] sort of a unique twist by aiming it towards college students and working on a much more restricted budget," Cunningham said.
One show, for example, focuses on how to cut efficiently without inflicting unintentional self-harm. Another introduces the method of "cooking in a bag," or the various ways one can make a meal in a disposable bag. The meals on the show are simple and "take a base idea, that we know that students like, and try to make it healthier and easier to prepare," according to Stilwell.
"We try to limit it to four or five ingredients at maximum, and something that can be prepared in 10 to 15 minutes," Stilwell said.
As the head chef, Stilwell said he chooses ingredients that make meals healthier.
"I know we're not here to major in cooking," he said. "But healthy eating habits are an important part of life."
Filming the show can be a challenge. Resources are limited, and there's no professional set or lighting and no sound equipment. The "College Cooks" team also has to film around their class schedules.
Unlike most other ATV productions, "College Cooks" is filmed in blocks, which means that three to five episodes at a time are filmed and edited later. Time is the biggest obstacle for the crew and has prevented the team from filming as many shows as they had wanted to film.
"None of us have filmed a culinary show before, none of us have filmed a TV show before, none of us have done any of this before," Stilwell said.
Still, Cunningham is proud of the show.
"We're trying to keep things lively, and entertaining and educational, so that you're learning to cook but you're also enjoying the learning process," he said.
"College Cooks" airs on ATV following each episode's completion.
