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Event
Home Ec: Understanding Oil, Butter, and Fat
I'm thrilled to introduce a series of classes at the beautiful Soul Food Farm on what I consider to be the four most important elements of cooking.
I learned how to cook by watching the cooks in the Chez Panisse kitchen, by carefully tasting and training my palate, and eventually by apprenticing and working in that kitchen. That experience blew my mind open, and after several months in the kitchen I started to recognize patterns and rules common to every dish, no matter what the ingredients or particular methods of preparation.
I eventually came to realize that with a careful understanding of how to apply four basic elements, I could make anything taste delicious. Over the past eleven years, everything I've continued to learn in the kitchen has essentially been a refinement of my understanding of the application of salt, acid, fat and heat.
As a teacher of both professional and home cooks, it's my ultimate goal to give people the tools to become intuitive cooks and free them from the reigns of cookbooks, recipes, and measuring implements by helping them refine their palates, sensitivity in the kitchen, and understanding of basic kitchen science. The most important lessons I share with my students are those that impart a fundamental understanding of universal tenets.
I'd like to invite you into the kitchen with me for this unique, empowering series of classes. You're welcome to take as many or few as you like, but the series is designed as an immersion and elements of each class will interplay with the other three to help give students a comprehensive understanding of cooking.
In each class, I will describe and demonstrate for each element its roles and functions, basic science, and effects on taste in a dish. We'll taste and discuss thoughtfully in an effort to give our palates a bit of contextual understanding. And of course, because I believe so strongly in the power of experience (and muscle memory) you'll get a chance to put your new skills to use as we all cook a lovely lunch together with the concepts of the day in mind.
In the afternoon, we'll retire to a table set in the shade of the farm, eat our lunch, drink some wine, and I'll answer any further questions that may have arisen while we cooked.
You'll leave empowered and inspired to return to the kitchen, ready to practice your skills, refine your knowledge, and looking at food with a whole new perspective.
Home Ec: Understanding Oil, Butter and Fat will cover the following:
-Types of fat
-Emulsions and suspensions (i.e. mayonnaise and vinaigrette)
-The function fat performs in a dish
-Sautéing vs. shallow frying vs. deep-frying
-How much fat to use
-How fat relates to salt and acid in a dish
-The importance of temperature when using fats
Together, we'll cook a variety of dishes for lunch using different cooking techniques to demonstrate the principles of oil, butter, and fat:
-Garden lettuces vinaigrette
-Deep-fried asparagus with aïoli
-Soul Food Farm chicken cooked al mattone (under a brick)
-Apricot tartlets with créme fraîche
About Samin
A professional cook and freelance writer, Samin Nosrat looks to tradition, culture and history for inspiration. Trained in the Chez Panisse kitchen, she cooked there for several years before moving to Italy, where she worked closely with the Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini and chef Benedetta Vitali for nearly two years. She spent five years as the sous chef and "farmwife" at Eccolo restaurant, butchering, brining, and preserving nearly everything in an effort to make the restaurant as self-sustaining as possible.
Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, Wallpaper, NPR, and San Francisco Magazine, while her own writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Meatpaper, and Edible San Francisco, as well as on her blog, Ciao Samin.
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LocationSoul Food Farm
6046 Pleasants Valley Road
Vacaville, CA 95688
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 8 |
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
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