Last week I took a one day class on Spanish Tapas at the Culinary Institute of America (aka the CIA). This institution is a very serious cooking school that offers both two and four year college degree programs for professional chefs. They also offer short courses for food “enthusiasts” like myself. I was concerned that I might be getting over my head but jumped in anyway. My friend Don Lesser has taken a course there and encouraged me to join him on this one. Don is a much better cook that me and is also a food writer. However, he has seen me cook many times so I took his word that I would not be overmatched. While there were many people with greater experience than me I was still comfortable thanks to the way it was set up. You can find Don’s summary of his experience at his blog, Russell Nod. Our instructor brought a bunch of books but said the best tapas book was Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America by Jose Andres.
After a good lecture, complete with tastings, we divided up into teams to make dishes such Garlic Prawns, Tortilla Espanola (Potato Omelet), Shrimp Empanadas, and Fried calamari. I did the Moorish Kabobs, Garlic Prawns and helped with the grilled vegetables with Romesco Sauce and the Patatas Bravas. Our team also did Potatoes Rioja Style with Chorizo, Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce, and Fried Fish in a Saffron Beer Batter. Another team repeated our dishes. The other teams did Spinach with Raisins and Pine Nuts, Spanish Tortilla, Fried Calamari, Shrimp Empanadas, and Chicken Brochettes.
After production, all of the Boot Camps classes gather to display their culinary creations buffet-style for everyone to see and sample. There were a lot of tough choices so I simply had too much to eat. The other teams were:.
Speciality Desserts Boot Camp (Crepes featuring a variety of fillings, Galettes, Crème Brûlée, Bananas Fosters, Soufflés, Cream Puffs)
Taste of Hudson Valley Boot Camp (Warm Hudson Valley Salad with Baby Green and Apples, Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup, Wild Mushroom Soup, Pork Cutlets with Wild Mushroom Ragout, Pan-Fried Brook Trout with Bacon, Grilled Rib-Eye, and Sautéed Foie Gras)
Asian Vegetarian Boot Camp – I skipped over most of these for the high octane stuff above but there was a very good vegetables in coconut milk that I took second son.
After a team debrief we had a discussion of Plating Techniques – “From flow to focal point, learn the rules of plating and an assortment of eye-catching techniques for enhancing your food presentations.” It actually exceeded expectations and I now have a conceptual framework for thinking about creating food plates. Many of the concepts are also relevant to my current on painting of food related still life themes.
The night before I was planning to met Don at the Escoffier Restaurant on the CIA site. It is student staffed offering, “French recipes prepared true to the principles of legendary chef Auguste Escoffier, but with a lighter, contemporary touch.” I got held up in traffic and arrived only in time for desert. Here is Don’s account of the meal I missed, Dinner at the Escoffier Restaurant, Culinary Institute of America.
I shall return. Below are photos of the production including one of the specialty deserts from another class. .
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