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The French Pastry School
 

After years of sampling international cuisine, Americans have become quite sophisticated in what they eat—and, as a result, they are beginning to seek exotic flavors with almost frantic zeal. To satisfy this new American palate, recreational cooking programs are popping up everywhere.

Mesmerized by the promise of becoming top chefs, students eager to learn from the pros are grabbing their aprons and racing off to cooking classes in record numbers. And food enthusiasts wanting to take their dishes to the next level are using travel getaways as a chance to learn from the very best.

It’s important to note that much of what is available in culinary schools is of no real value to home cooks. And what is hot and popular today is often déclassé tomorrow. Although certain international cuisines like Italian and French are always in vogue, the way these foods are prepared is constantly changing. those heavy French sauces, for example, long adored by gourmands, have been washed down the drain.

The new rage is eating healthy, lightening classic dishes by using techniques like making reduction sauces (usually from meat juices) that intensify the primary flavor. And those exotic ingredients from around the world, which everyone has come to love, are being delicately introduced into almost everything—from salads to entrées—with the kind of imagination and skill you can take home with you.

Since food fads come and go, you might want to consider focusing your training on mastering universal skills and techniques, which, regardless of the trends, will always have value in the kitchen.

At the French Pastry School in Chicago, for example, students are taught to approach cooking as professionals, giving them skills that can be applied to serious cooking. The staff of talented pastry chefs—including two international stars, Jacquy Pfeiffer and Sébastien Canonne—believe one way to do this is through repetitious exposure to the best techniques. Pfeiffer encourages his students to “strive continuously to refine their skill by trying over and over again to outdo what they’ve already done, until they have reached their highest level of excellence.” the end result will be a pastry cook who can design something with taste and beauty, suitable for a gala dinner.

Canonne, a recipient of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France award, France’s highest honor for artisans, believes such success is quite possible, “if a student shows respect for his creation…by always using the best ingredients and his most polished skills to turn his confection into something lofty.”

RESTAURATEUR AND CHEF

Frank Brigtsen, who teaches regularly at the New Orleans Cooking Experience, says that building meals one ingredient at a time is fundamental to creating a rich taste that makes good food so special.

This former student and longtime friend of the famous New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme believes the real test of a meal is how it tastes—and creating good taste means building deep flavors through careful attention to each step of the preparation.

“One of the tricks is to maximize the special flavor of each ingredient through separate preparation (like sautéing onions first) before introducing it to the other ingredients,” he says.

The key to good cooking is keeping food flavorful and exciting without the addition of the chemicals and additives so many home cooks have come to rely upon. Achieving this requires using fresh ingredients—ideally in-season and organic—acquired directly from the producers. Nowhere is this ethos as prevalent as it is in California, especially at the Relish Culinary Adventure in Sonoma County, an hour and a half north of San Francisco.

As many foodies already know, the Sonoma-Napa area isn’t just famous for its magnificent wines, but also for its excellent cuisine—of the healthy, organic, seasonal, right-from-the-garden variety. At Relish, food enthusiasts will learn all about healthy cooking from top local chefs like John Ash, Charlie Palmer and Mark Stark in a heavenly countryside setting.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup pine nuts

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic (peeled and left whole)

10 large green grapes (peeled)

11/2 tbsp French butter 2 sprigs rosemary

Salt & white pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• Warm olive oil and garlic in a sauté pan until garlic becomes golden brown. Add olives and fry until they begin to wrinkle and color. Add pine nuts and stir until golden brown, then add chopped herbs. Spread mixture on paper towels to cool.

• Bring fish to room temperature and season with salt and pepper. Let fish rest on a plate. When it begins to “sweat,” wrap each piece with a slice of bread.

• Melt butter on medium high heat in an iron skillet or nonstick pan. When it starts looking foamy, add wrapped fish and rosemary sprigs. Sauté for about 3 minutes or until toasty brown. Flip only once as it will become soggy if rolled around too much.

• Drain fish on a paper towels and keep warm (the longer it rests, the less crispy the final dish).

OLIVE VINAIGRETTE

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of black olive brine 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp of sugar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp minced olives

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients together and keep cold in a sealed container.

TO ASSEMBLE

Warm olive mixture and add grapes. Spoon onto middle of the plate and place fish on top. Spoon vinaigrette around dish and serve. Serves two.

— Recipe and photo are courtesy of Woodlands Resort & Inn

Photos courtesy Relish Culinary Adventure, LLC and The Institute of Culinary Education. The French Pastry School: Paul Strabbing. All rights reserved.

This article was published in Go magazine (AirTran Airline’s in-flight magazine) July 2008. It is from Joe David’s book Gourmet Getaways (Globe Pequot Press, April 2009).