by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Leslie Sassaman has some pretty sweet gigs.

For most of the year, she wears a chef’s coat, teaching classes at Claremont Chefs Academy, her business in the Packing House. And for a few months leading up to and through the yearly run of the Los Angeles County Fair, she expands her culinary horizons as its culinary coordinator, a role she’s held since 2009.

Sassaman, 52, and others can be found conducting cooking demonstrations in Exposition Hall five’s Culinary Kitchen at 4 and 5:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and Memorial Day through May 26 at the Fair, where she also oversees baking competitions and coordinates live cooking contests.

Leslie Sassaman, owner of Claremont Chefs Academy and culinary coordinator for the Los Angeles County Fair. Courier photos/Andrew Alonzo

Among her favorite parts of the Fair job are the competitions, which always feature a mix of first time amateurs and chefs who have been in the game for decades. Near the top of that list is the best cookie contest, where judges get to sample more than 200 entries. Another favorite is a kids “favorite memory” contest, which explores the sentimental value of food.

“With that one, the kids can make whatever they want, but they write up a little card of what that recipe means to them,” Sassaman said. “So, maybe they made it with grandma when they were little. Maybe this is their favorite recipe because they went on vacation to Hawaii or something fun like that. I love the stories that go along with it.”

She landed the Fair gig after Fairplex representatives took a class on making creme brulee, “and they said they had an open kitchen and wanted to know if I wanted that kitchen to do some cooking demonstrations.”

That was 16 years ago, and by now she’s noticed some overlap between both her work at Claremont Chefs Academyand the Fair.

“A lot of what I do is creating an experience,” Sassaman said. “I always tell the chefs [at Chefs Academy] it doesn’t really matter what you make here — everything is going to be good, you’re professionals, you know what you’re doing — but you also want these people to want to come back, and that’s very similar to what we do at the Fair.”

Indeed: May’s Chefs Academy classes include some of the most iconic Fair foods. “We’re doing corndogs and chili cheese fries and funnel cakes and things like that,” she said.

The LA County Fair is open Thursday through Sunday and Memorial Day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. through May 26. Tickets and info are at lacountyfair.com.