The highlight of that class was watching episodes of the hilariously disastrous reality show "The Restaurant" and discussing the many ways in which pretty-boy chef Rocco DiSpirito and his bankroller Jeffrey Chodorow failed. They subsequently drove Rocco's (The Restaurant) into the ground, and the show also turned Rocco, actually a talented chef, into a joke in the New York food world (although he does still make lots of money doing commercials for frozen pastas and appears on Top Chef, probably only because the pasta company is a sponsor). Anyway, I digress...there were lots of lessons of the restaurant business to be learned from the show.
Our instructor, Chef R., was not just a lazy teacher who plays videos to pass the time (loved those in high school though!) He's really knowledgeable and shared a lot of insight about the restaurant business, and when it came to the videos, he selected his material carefully. He showed us interviews with successful chefs like Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter in which they shared their philosophies on food and business. I knew a lot about these guys beforehand—they're household names for anyone who reads as many food publications, food sections and food blogs as I do—but many of my classmates learned about them and their high standards of excellence for the first time and came away really inspired. It was cool to see that. We also had to do a presentation on a chef and a restaurant that we admired, and—no surpirse here—I chose Johnny Monis from Komi in Washington, probably my favorite restaurant anywhere.
So that's the short gist on the last three weeks. I'm happy to say that I'm back to cooking (and blogging about it), to sweating behind the stoves and rushing to get my plates ready on time for presentation. Although I know that culinary-school production is nothing compared to the frenetic pace of a restaurant kitchen, feeling that stress in the kitchen definitely does give me a rush that makes it clear, for a second at least, why people choose to enter the crazy career of cooking professionally.
Having reached International Cusine, we are truly culinary school Seniors. Only one more rotation after this, and then we go into the school's restaurant. International covers so many cuisines that I really wish it were spread out over six weeks or more. Some days are devoted to one country—this week we hit Italy and Spain—but other days are a hodgepodge, with one group focusing on Greece, another cooking Middle-Eastern, and yet another preparing something from Eastern Europe. That was Friday.
I was very happy to be at the table cooking Greek food—one of my favorite cuisines. Our group of four made spanakopita, moussaka, baklava, and shrimp with feta, each of us taking the lead on one dish. I worked on the shrimp with feta and loved the results. It was a simple, fresh, light entree that I will most definitely be making again. First, I made a fresh tomato sauce with white wine and lots of herbs and spread it on the bottom of a baking dish. Then, after peeling and deveining the shrimp (the only annoying part!), I quickly sauteed them in olive oil and layered them on top of the tomato sauce. Thinly-sliced tomatoes were arranged on top of the shrimp, and then I sprinkled the whole baking dish with a generous amount of feta. It goes into the oven for 10-15 minutes, just until the cheese begins to melt and brown a tiny bit.
Shrimp with feta, just out of the oven
Plated shrimp
Spanakopita, phyllo filled with spinach and feta
Baklava...more phyllo, filled with nuts, cinnamon, honey, lots of butter.
Crappy cell-phone photo of pasta e fagiole, topped with Parmesan. After sitting for a while, the macaroni absorbed much of the broth. It still tasted wonderful!
