About 50 students enrolled in the Culinary Arts Institute at La Quinta High School gained hands-on experience — and camera time — during a food demonstration Oct. 21.

Executive Chef Hervé Glin of Cork Tree California Cuisine in Palm Desert showed the students how to make a salmon dish.

Chesapeake Fish Company donated the nearly 50 pounds of fish for the demonstration, which was a first for the program, said institute instructor Sheri Tucker.

Uana Coccoloni, director of marketing with POM Wonderful, makers of pomegranate-based products, was also present and shot video of the class that is expected to be posted on the company's Web site, pomwonderful.com.

POM Wonderful donated pomegranate products that were incorporated in the dish for the demonstration.

With the ingredients, students helped create roasted salmon tournedos with black pepper-pomegranate syrup, seared green asparagus and white bean salad crostini with micro arugula, Tucker said.

“They really appreciated the opportunity to work with a highly respected and talented professional such as Chef Glin,” Tucker said.

Coccoloni also gave each student a copy of a “POM Wonderful Chef Series Recipes” book.

The outreach is part of the company's effort to educate cooks or would-be cooks on how to use the fruit in daily meals, said Rob Six, vice president of Corporate Communications for POM Wonderful.

“Consumers are aware of pomegranates and know that they're good for them, but they may not know how to use them,” Six said. “One of our goals during pomegranate season is to educate consumers about ways they can incorporate fresh pomegranate juice and arils in seasonal dishes.”

Each student who participated in the demonstration is now expected to submit an original recipe using pomegranates, lead a class demonstration and prepare the item.