The 5-day fine
cooking I in Institute of Culinary Education was a great experience! We tried
different forms of cooking and got hands-on experiences. The class started from
10am to 3pm, the 5 hours cooking class was awesome! Chef Anita was our
instructor. There’re eight students in my class. People from Thailand, Russia,
London and Chicago come to join the class, offering much diversity. We worked
in groups of 3 and randomly rotated team members each day.
The
first day was knife skills. We cut vegetables with different ways. Everything
was new to me. We learnt how to cook vegetable soup and lamp chops in the first
lesson. The lamp chops were cooked by a technique “sautéing”. By using a small
amount of oil or butter and a very hot pan so the food browns and cooks quickly. The lamp was served with herb butter.
The second lesson we learnt how to cook chicken stock. The taste is so different compared to the chicken stock we bought from supermarket. The cooking technique was roasting. We first trussed the chicken then basted the chicken with butter and roasted it in oven.
After that we learnt rice cooking, we prepared rice pilafs. We boiled rice in pan instead of using rice cooker. We made baked tomatoes provencal as an appetizer by stuffing the ingredients into the tomatoes and baked until brown. It’s simple and delicious! The dessert was clafouti, a tart with pears/apples/cherries. It’s a typical dessert from the Limousin region in France.
The third lesson was a challenging one. We cooked lamps shanks with juniper berries and rosemary in wet braising. It required almost 2 hours cooking time. Mussel is one of my favourite dishes. We steamed mussels in white wine. Other groups cooked in tomato paste and Thai curry. For dessert, we cooked chocolate mousses in sabayon style. It was rewarding when you enjoyed the yummy food.
Mussels |
Lamp shanks |
souffles |
Times flies and it’s the final lesson of the course! The final technique we learnt was grilling technique for protein and vegetables. The steak will catch fire if your grill is not clean enough. We had a great experience for learning the grilling technique.
Each
class ends with a group meal. We discuss the cooking methods and theory. We
enjoyed the wine and food. The class was great and let me know the real taste
of American cuisine. Not only do I have fun during the class, but I also gained
important fundamental techniques and cooked American-style cuisine with
confident. Chef Anita was excellent! Her instructions were easy to follow and
everything was clear. I love the cooking class!
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