January Chef Studio – France plans, classes & dinners
[1] Class Act dinners
[2] SPECIAL: 5-day cooking series
[3] Session in France May 2012
[4] Indian Cooking series
[5] Butchery and Charcuterie
[1] Class Act dinners
6.30 Saturday January the 21st & 28th
4-course menu. Cost is $45 (not including service)
Wine additional @ 7/glass – RSVP: troufood@me.com
Robert Reynolds will continue the Chef Studio class/dinners through February, bringing together the talented teachers who cook here. The table has only room for a dozen people. The menu will change nightly.
[2] SPECIAL: 5-day cooking series
There is room for 1 or 2 participants to join us for 5 days in the current 8-week Apprenticeship course. Sessions run from 9 AM to 3 PM Monday through Friday. Contact Robert for details.
Americans have an image of food that mostly comes from restaurant experience. However, food is meant to nourish body and spirit, in variety, style, technique and presentation. It forms that part of the fabric of life centered around the table. Restaurants come second. There is a lot for students to learn and to un-learn. So we start with techniques.
For example, Madeleine Kamman explained: “Sear your meats, then season them. That way you build up layers of flavor.”
I will forever hear Josephine Araldo saying: “This dish is constructed this way, first you do this…. Or, “Cooking is only about texture and taste.”
“Look always in the saucepan.”
” Judgment is called for at every step along the way.”
Students are shaped first by the flavor of the ensemble, then by the magic. Over time they learn to appreciate particular things. When they do, I take my cue from Josephine of simply preparing dishes from good ingredients. “A gourmet dish,” she said, “is a well prepared dish. Period.”
[3] Session in France May 2012
The Chef Studio is offering a one-week cooking course in the Bordeaux region May 10-16, 2012. It will be conducted by Courtney Sproule and Blake Van Roekel, who co-taught the Spring 2011 session in the region. With the assistance of other Chef Studio staff and former students, the participants will be offered two hands-on cooking classes per day and a window into the local food culture in an authentic way not normally accessible on other tours.
Each morning we will visit a market to buy local ingredients for the day’s. We will return to our kitchen prepare a quick, improvisational lunch. Each afternoon we will then venture out into the region to visit the winemakers, and food producers whose efforts lend distinction to the region’s cooking. Finally, we’ll take a pause before returning to the kitchen for a second, more formal instruction and compose the meal, set a French table, and linger over dinner and conversation about our. Instructors will work very closely with participants to make this an extraordinary learning experience.
This is why Robert created this course, in his own words:
I have always felt that the goal and vision we pursue is really best served by having a segment of training at the source in France. I want students who come to the Studio to understand that the ideas we advocate about cooking are supported in France by a philosophical commitment. The pursuit of excellence is not a marketing device; it is a way of life. We in Oregon, with our incomparable agricultural richness, are particularly aligned to understand and appreciate the authenticity of place.”
Read Robert’s essay on our last trip to the Southwest of France this spring:
View photos of the trip here.
Tuition & Enrollment:
$3,200 includes lodging, lunch and dinner, and local transport for classes and tours. Students are expected to get to Bordeaux on their own (we are happy offer travel suggestions). It has been our experience that we eat in as often as possible what we have prepared with ingredients we find at the market. Contact Courtney Sproule at 971-544-1350 or courtney@dindinportland.com if you’re interested or for more information. Enrollment will close on March 1st.
[4] Indian Cooking series - 4 Wednesday evenings beginning January 11th - 6 to 9 PM.
Kaaren Bedi is returning to teach a new session on Indian cooking. She plans to examine the basic components: Rice, dal, bread and & spices and condiments that will allow intensive explorations going across a variety of Indian cultures to open up new horizons and deepen understanding of the elements that make up Indian food.
[5] Butchery and Charcuterie
Camas Davis will teach a four-part basic butchery and charcuterie class series in February. This will be an excellent series for those of you who have taken one or two classes from the PMC already but want to gain more practice. It’s also a perfect combination of classes for anyone wanting to learn the art of home butchery and charcuterie. Students will have the opportunity to break down their own ducks, chickens, rabbits, and pig, and they’ll learn how to make rillette, bacon, hams, sausage, and pâté. In addition, they’ll find out how to prepare, cook, and cure cuts of meat that they may not have experienced otherwise. Register quickly, as the class size is limited to eight.
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