In Cooking Club, there are some things you can always count on. Tell young chefs they’re going to make fish for a meal and someone will say “I don’t eat fish.” Or “Fish is smelly.” Or even “Eww … That’s nasty!”

Sure enough, when we announced we were going to make Glazed Salmon, Pablo Gomez declared “I don’t like fish.”

And he didn’t even think a sweet sauce made with butter, brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce would change his mind.

As it turned out, he was right. But others in the class were willing to give Glazed Salmon a shot, and found it was surprisingly good.

“The last meal was better, but I liked this one,” Alison Reyes said. “It would have been better with less sweetness, but I liked all of it.”

“It tastes kind of good, Genevieve Brush said with a big smile,“but not as good as Alfredo,” which she makes at home.

Fish is a great food for healthy living. It is high in protein, low in unhealthy fats and high in the“good fats” known as omega-3 fatty acids. These “good fats” are important for keeping our hearts and brains healthy.

To increase the healthiness of our fish meal, the salmon was baked instead of fried to reduce the amount of salt and oil.

The broccoli and carrots on the menu were also cooked in a healthy way. They were steamed until bright green and orange and served with a low-calorie dressing made from lime juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

“I mixed the vegetables,” Genevieve said. “It looked like a salad.”

To prepare this meal, the students broke into teams. Pablo and Isaiah Viera jumped right in to cut the broccoli into bite sized “florets” that looked like flowers. Austin Caballero peeled the carrots and learned to cut them lengthwise and then crosswise to form “half moons.” In his effort to cut quickly, Austin also nicked his finger with a tiny cut that drew blood before being covered with a Band-Aid.

Alison and Maya Ramos, meanwhile, were measuring the ingredients to make the “glaze” mixture that would “marinate” and coat the salmon in a mixing bowl.

When the fish was ready to bake after 15 minutes of marinating, everyone took turns laying pieces on the baking sheet and learning how to handle raw fish.

After baking the cooked salmon was transferred to our big white platter, and Austin and Isaiah paraded it into the cafeteria.

It looked beautiful, but how did it taste?

“It was good,” Isaiah said. “I liked eating the broccoli. I eat broccoli at home. My mom makes it with butter.”

“It was OK,” Maya added. “It was good, but I didn’t like the sweetness.”

And Pablo? Did the recipe change his mind about fish? In a word, No.

“It was the worst food I ate in 2025,” he said dramatically. “That’s for sure.”

Austin, who had missed the first class, had a more positive view.

“I’m going to take some vegetables home to my mom,” he said. “She is happy I am in cooking class, because I’m learning cooking.”