15 May A World of Tastes
Now that I have been Executive Chef of the Gilded Fork for a few months, I’ve had some time to arrange the kitchen the way I like it, and have started to put my culinary imprint on the site. As you may know, I love international cuisine – in fact, it’s the premise behind these Remarkable Palate articles. In the coming months, you’ll start to see even more international flavors represented both in this column and in our recipes.
To that end, I have developed a series of classes introducing people to the international cuisines that have inspired me most in my own cooking, and we’ve begun to present these classes live and in person throughout the country. I recently had the opportunity to give four of them at the Williams-Sonoma store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and it gave me a nice chance to hone the curriculum, as well as to see how people would receive the dishes. The classes included A Taste of Vietnam, A Taste of Umbria, A Taste of Persia and Small Plates Around the World.
Developing these classes as “A Taste of…” has enabled me to give a short introduction to the flavors and techniques of each of the cultures while keeping the class to a short two hours, and of course, giving the students a chance to make and taste up to four dishes (the best part!). I believe firmly that any cooking class should have an interactive element, since there’s no better way to learn than by doing (plus it allows me to get away with not doing all the work!). It’s also very gratifying to taste the fruits of one’s own labor, so students become part of the entire culinary journey.
“A Taste of…” stems from the premise that we Americans have tended to be rather isolated from world cuisines in the past, eating mostly our own American foods at home and French haute cuisine at fine dining establishments. True, in the past twenty years, it has become much easier to find food from other countries, and unusual tastes are no longer derided as “weird.” However, when it comes to cooking ethnic foods for ourselves at home, we have not ventured beyond the usual suspects: Red sauce-based Italian foods, Mexican night, and perhaps the occasional stir fry. As more ethnic haunts pop up in just about every corner of the U.S., we find ourselves eating sushi, pad thai, arepas, tagines, and gyros, but we’re not crafting these same dishes at home.
When I put together the list of dishes for each of the classes, I wanted to delve deeper, moving beyond the typical and better known dishes of world cuisines, and focusing on micro-regional dishes from the cultures I love. So instead of teaching an “Italian” cooking class, I took it as my opportunity to introduce students to the foods and ingredients of Umbria, the landlocked region of central Italy and neighbor to both Tuscany and Lazio. Most Americans know and love the food of Tuscany, and rightly so: Florentine cooking, the wines of Chianti and the lavender fields of Tuscany deserve their place in the hearts of anyone who has had the good fortune to travel there. But I have always been a fan of the underdog, and love to promote the lesser- known-yet-fabulous. This is why I am a champion of the cuisine of Umbria, the “Green Heart of Italy,” which is known for its truffles, wild boar, wood pigeon and lake eel, and is the production center of as much as 40% of all pasta made in Italy. A Taste of Umbria has students learning to make Wild Mushroom Bruschetta with Polenta, Tegamaccio (a fish stew from Lake Trasimeno in central Umbria) and Poached Pears in Sagrantino wine.
A Taste of Persia was an opportunity for students to take a culinary voyage through the foods of Iran. Ancient Persia was at the crossroads of history and culture; once the center of the known world, Persia influenced most other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures. Using more subtle herbs and flavorings than many other Middle Eastern foods, Persian cuisine is based on ancient principles of “hot” and “cold” foods, and strives to balance body and soul through diet; saffron, sumac, fenugreek, pomegranates and rose water figure prominently. In this class, we explored the basics of Persian rice, Polow; Kuku Sabzi, an herbed fritatta; Khoresh, a method of stewing almost anything; and we finished with a Honeyed Almond Brittle made with saffron and rose water (a couple of these recipes have already appeared here at the Gilded Fork).
I had a similar approach with A Taste of Vietnam, introducing students to the building blocks of this fun and easy Southeast Asian cuisine. We began with a brief introduction of Vietnamese cuisine, influenced by its geography and history, as well as European influences. Then we launched into the basics of Rice Paper and how to handle it, which forms the base skill for making an assortment of Vietnamese summer rolls. Students made their own rolls using a variety of Asian fillings, as well as nuoc cham nem dipping sauce, redolent with lime juice and fish sauce. The class concluded with a demonstration of how to make Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken.
My final class was called Small Plates Around the World, and in it we explored the concept of tapas, dim sum, and mezes, small plates and hand snacks found in many different cultures (a great impetus for hosting an hors d’oeuvres party). I led the class on an exploration of Albondigas, stuffed grape leaves, kataifi, bruschetta and potstickers.
What struck me most about teaching this series was how eager students were to learn about the tastes and techniques of different countries. I was surprised to find that several of the students had signed up for multiple classes – one gentleman actually came to all four! It was clear to me that there is a culinary renaissance going on in the U.S.: We are eager to learn not just how to eat, but also how to make foods from many different cultures. It really encouraged me to see this, and you will start to see more and more ethnic delights appearing here at The Gilded Fork in the coming months.
As I stated earlier, we are now offering these and other classes in locations around the country – including your very own kitchen. If you are interested in having one of our Gilded Fork at Home™ classes where you live, let us know, and we’ll bring these sumptuous flavors to your doorstep. In the meantime, you can hear audio coverage of my Small Plates class on ReMARKable Palate podcast Episode #37. I’ll be featuring A Taste of Umbria on an upcoming show.
We are very eager to share these culinary voyages with you, as we see food as a conversation that brings vastly different cultures together for a sumptuous feast.