Culinary Basics (elective)

In this course, students will master the fundamentals of cooking through various lectures, cooking demonstrations, and practical workshops. We will begin by working through the four basic elements of food by going through Samin Nosrat’s cookbook, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Through reading discussions and in class workshops, students will develop their palette, and their understanding of what goes into making a dish great. Students will also learn how to recreate dishes made by the instructor in class with their own notes. This will teach students how to write a recipe. The recipes chosen will serve to take students through how to cook with basic ingredients and create core dishes (vinaigrettes, sauces, vegetables, fish, eggs, poultry, red meat, desserts, and more). Students will learn basic cooking techniques: blanching, sautéing, caramelizing, searing, poaching, etc. and refine their ability to use a knife effectively and safely, as well as how to keep themselves and the kitchen clean while they are cooking. And finally, students will create a menu of their own for a multi-course meal composed of dishes they would like to attempt. They will cook this course over several weeks. 

Students will meet twice a week. The first class meeting of each week will be primarily for cooking demonstrations, and the second class meeting will be for practical workshops (where students cook the dishes themselves). Note: to provide sufficient time, meetings will be two hours long. Students will be allowed to leave early if they have completed the dish and their kitchen has been cleaned.

NB: Students will be graded on their ability to recreate specific dishes, and so if there is a food allergy that might inhibit a student from creating a dish, they will be responsible for finding a substitute that works. They will not receive credit for creating a wholly different dish than the one assigned in class.