Eryck Perez is ready to explore the world of the culinary arts.

Perez, the salutatorian for Bob Hope High School, has always liked cooking but baking and pastries are his main interest.

The top student is a member of the National Honor Society, the Interact Club, which is a youth branch of Rotary and is taking dual college credit classes. With graduation just around the corner in June, Perez must now decide which college he wants to attend.

“It’s really, really a struggle. Either Johnson and Wells University in Rhode Island or the University of Houston,” Perez said.

Later, after he earns a degree in culinary arts he would like to work as a baker or pastry chef in a large city.

“I’ve always liked baking and cooking but I didn’t get it from watching my parents,” he said. “I experimented in the kitchen and really like it.”

Besides his classes at the high school Perez also works as a lab assistant in the culinary arts class helping teacher Andria Linden.

“I make sure things are ready to cook and see if anyone needs help,” he said. “If there’s a cooking project I’ll go ahead and make some food for the teachers to try.”

Perez makes many different desserts but it’s his brownies that get the most raves.

Linden, who also teaches two other courses, can attest to this and his growth through the years as she has taught him.

“He used to be really quiet but over the last five years has become more verbal and knows a lot about his cooking,” Linden said. “His brownies are perfect.”

Besides the perfect brownies, Perez also likes to push the envelope and work on more difficult eats such as French macaroons.

The sweet, meringue-based cookie like dessert requires a certain skill.

“It’s tedious,” he said. “You have to make sure there is no grease when you add the egg whites, you can only use a certain kind of food coloring and the almond flour (powder) has to be a certain texture or it won’t work. There are a lot of details.”