Nacogdoches native turned French chef to teach cooking workshops at SFA

NACOGDOCHES, Texas –– In Nacogdoches, locals and visitors can find award-winning barbecue, unforgettable tacos and chicken-fried steak the size of your head. However, for a limited time, Stephen F. Austin State University will offer the opportunity to cook and enjoy French cuisine, as well.  

SFA’s Center for Professional and Continuing Education and the James I. Perkins College of Education’s School of Human Sciences will collaborate to offer Justin Ward’s Moveable Feast Traveling Culinary School workshops from June 28 to July 11 in the Human Sciences Building North, Room 204.

The Moveable Feast Traveling Culinary School will offer several workshops for adults and a baking class for children ages 8 and up. Workshops include lessons on choux pastry, croissants, French breads, knife skills, French and Italian meringue method macarons, French sauces, puff pastry, soufflé, and tarts. Additionally, there will be opportunities to prepare and enjoy four-course French dining experiences.

Participants get to enjoy their own creations following the workshop and can take multiple classes while the workshops are available.

“French cuisine is the first place to start when desiring to become a better cook,” Ward said. “This is because the French were the first to organize and name the processes of cooking such as, sauté, sear, blanche, roast, and baste. The first culinary dictionary was written by the French and even the culinary words we use in English come directly from French. Their approach to cuisine is very logical, structured and methodical. You learn ‘base recipes’ which creates tried-and-true structure for subsequent creativity.”

Ward, a native of Nacogdoches and graduate of Nacogdoches High School, is returning to his hometown after working as a chef in Paris for over 10 years and living in Europe since 2004.

“It's great to return to Nacogdoches to teach because I can ‘have my cake and eat it too,’ meaning that I can both work and spend quality time with my parents,” Ward said. “Since the pandemic, I routinely leave my home in France to do these culinary tours across the United States, but I usually don't have the opportunity to spend a lot of time in Nacogdoches.”

Ward’s love for cooking was passed down from his grandmother, Elsie Ward, who cooked southern specialties like buttered biscuits, fried pies and tea cakes and sold them in local businesses. She passed this passion for cooking down to her sons, including Ward’s father.

After finishing high school, Ward graduated with a music degree from Jackson College of Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi, and then moved to Bucharest, Romania to work for a church organization.

Ward never imagined becoming a professional Parisian chef when he was a child, but the passion for cooking was always present.

“My father and most of his five brothers enjoyed cooking, so I grew up in a family culture of men in the kitchen. As a teenager, anytime my mother would leave me home alone, she would return to a house with a kitchen in complete disarray and to a proud son displaying his experiments,” Ward said. “When graduating from Nacogdoches High School, I did research culinary schools, but chose to get a degree in music instead. In my life's experience, I have found that curiosity and courage can lead you to places, experiences and opportunities that you never even dreamed of before.”

However, before leaving Romania, Ward applied to the prestigious Parisian culinary school, L’école Ferrandi and began his culinary studies where he worked in a variety of restaurants and bakeries, such as Conseil des Prud’hommes de Paris and Le Boulanger de la Tour — the bakery of the world-famous restaurant Tour d’Argent, which the Disney movie “Ratatouille” was based on.

Ward began teaching public and private classes in France and abroad.

“One of my strengths throughout these past 10-plus years of teaching has been to present information, teach new skills, new flavors, new textures and experiences in a way that people do not feel judged or silly for not already possessing this knowledge,” Ward said. “I think that as we get older and wiser, we understand the joy and privilege of learning, and bettering ourselves, our behavior, our gifts and service to others.”

For more information, visit gosfa.com/PACEmoveablefeast.