CCA Manila Interactive - How to cure your kitchen phobia

How to cure your kitchen phobia

By Ruby de Vera
Wednesday, June 25, 2008, Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—I pride myself on being independent, but the only kitchen equipment I own is the microwave and the lowly can opener. My roommate, legally, owns the stove in the apartment. Without someone to cook for me, I resort to one of the following: eating out, takeouts, or opening a can of something and nuking it. I’m also a fan of the just-add-hot-water variety.

When my roommate learned that I enrolled in the Kitchen Discovery Class of the Center of Culinary Arts (CCA), she offered to call CCA to warn them that there might not be a CCA at the end of the day. I invited my friends along, just in case. They wouldn’t leave me alone in a burning building.

The Kitchen Discovery Class used to be a prerequisite for students of the two-year Culinary Arts course, but due to its popularity it was offered as a separate one-day course. After the course, students should be able to decide whether or not they have what it takes to be in the kitchen.

Cookout for beginners

On the day of the class, we were handed our uniforms consisting of a shirt, apron, and a hat. I had

never owned an apron, ever. There would be two sessions—cooking in the morning, and baking in the afternoon.

Chef Menoy Gimenez, one of the founders of CCA, said that the gauge of how good our dish was, if we’d be willing to pay for it. He divided the class into three groups, and we proceeded to the “Laboratory.”

The Laboratory is a huge kitchen with pots and pans of all sizes, knives, chopping boards, and all sorts of strange contraptions. There was also a fire extinguisher near the stove. Good.

We were going to make Caramelized Salmon with Orange-Shoyu Glaze with Sauteed Mixed Vegetables, Soba Noodles, Lemongrass Beurre Blanc, and Balsamic-Soy Reduction. I was tasked to peel the vegetables while the others gathered the ingredients. Moments later I managed to peel some skin off my fingers.

At one point they asked me to operate the stove, but I couldn’t light it and there was a gas smell already so I turned it off. Someone took over and there was a tall flame for a split second, and I screamed. My roommate was probably right.

Everybody sautéed, fried, swirled, stirred, and reduced for two hours. It was strange and at the same time fun to see my friends cooking. Half of them were as undomesticated like me, and we hopped from one station to another to see who had the best beurre blanc sauce.

Chef Menoy went around tasting the dishes, and he declared everything was great. We had to eat what we cooked and I remember wishing I had no groupmates so I could have the whole dish to myself. It was that good.

Breezy baking

For the baking class, we had to do Saffron Panna Cotta with Citrus Caramel Sauce and Almond Tuille. I had no idea what a tuille was. Chef Anne Atanacio was our instructor for the baking class, and she explained that while cooking is an instinctive process, baking is an exact science.

First, she showed us how to do the whole thing, especially the fact that powdered gelatin should be “bloomed in” first by adding water to it, before dumping to a simmering mixture. We wouldn’t have known that if chef Anne didn’t come to our lives.

In baking, measurements should be exact. With the precision of scientists searching for the wonder drug, we held our breath while measuring ingredients. I had fun pouring the strained panna cotta liquid into martini glasses to set, being careful not to slosh it around the sides of the glass.

The hardest part was segmenting the oranges and making the caramel. We were lucky we had Fifi, because our orange segments were wonderfully done. The trick to making the caramel, chef Anne said, is not to touch the mixture of sugar and water until it thickens.

Jason, Giles and Laarni’s caramel sauce almost didn’t make it—chef Anne did her magic and made it normal again. Giff was too busy laughing at that incident that he forgot her own caramel was cooking on the stove.

If the caramel sauce was hard, the almond tuille was tricky. The tuilles were supposed to be formed into different shapes while still hot, but we didn’t make the temperature requirement and broke off corners. In spite of that, our panna cotta rocked.

No more kitchen scare

The whole day of cooking left us all tired and sweaty, but we were all proud of ourselves. Our undomestic selves actually produced something delicious and pretty and we would definitely not mind if we had to pay for it. Some of us had tried cooking the dishes at home, and got good reviews. I don’t know if I could cook it on my own, but for now I can say I am less intimidated of the stove.

For inquiries about the Kitchen Discovery Class and other courses, CCA is located 287 Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, or you may call them at 4264840.

Link: Inquirer.net

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