Chef Jamie Watson, Viking Cooking Class
I like stuff. Any time I gain interest in a new hobby or sport I’m always fascinated by all the “stuff” that goes along with it. I’ve had an interest in learning real cooking skills for several years and would occasionally wander into a store and purchase kitchen utensils or gadgets in an attempt to make my limited recipes taste better – but who am I kidding – I like to play with the “stuff”.
On a visit to the Viking store a few weeks ago I noticed a list of their cooking classes and decided to sign up. The helpful lady working out front suggested I start with “Basic Knife Skills” and then find other classes of interest. I have to say, learning how to effectively slice, mince and dice are fundamental to preparing food in a timely manner. I make really good chili but it takes me thirty to forty minutes to dice the onions and bell peppers and mince the garlic. But now – now I have some elementary knife skills that will allow to reduce that time by sixty or seventy percent. Oh, and by the way, I used some really nice and very sharp knives. Those of you are already good cooks know the importance of sharp knives and how a balanced knife feels in your hand. I considered my initial knife instruction a success – no nicks, cuts or abrasions and I came home with all ten digits – my first evening’s objective.
The three-day basics class at Viking begins with a Friday evening class. There are six of us in this class, which is a great good number since working in three’s is ideal in the kitchen. Chef Jamie Watson, an extremely accomplished chef who is relaxed and has a talent for explaining in simple terms what he’s attempting to teach a group of novice cooks, is our Executive Chef. His Sous Chef, Brooke Bridge, assists Chef Jamie and taught us important sanitary techniques before and while preparing our food. Chef Jamie is formally trained in French cooking and explained at the beginning of class that the French were the first to “codify” cooking. As he was inundating us with information (kind of like drinking water from a fire hydrant), there were three basics he said every good cook should know.
1) Understand seasoning (Yes, bland food should be outlawed)
2) Taste, taste, taste (Yum)
3) Don’t forget the first two things
Now that I get – I learned to love well seasoned food growing up in a household with really good southern food and I always want to taste whatever I’m preparing in the kitchen. For example, “salt balances everything”. I learned to use kosher salt several years ago and Chef Jamie told us in no uncertain terms not to waste our taste or whatever cooking talents we might possess on iodized table salt, which I did not know is primarily produced in Ohio and a couple of other states. Hmm, learn something everyday.
We began by preparing the bread for our fresh fruit shortcake that would complete the evening’s menu of Asian-Marinated Grilled Fish, Crispy Lemon Chicken, Basmati Rice Pilaf and Stir-Fried Vegetables.
Chef Jamie informed us there were seventeen (17) essential techniques to cooking. “Anyone can follow a written recipe, but if you know and learn technique, you can cook most anything.” he emphasized. There’s a lot to learn and attending a first session isn’t going to make you an excellent cook – that comes with mastering technique and most importantly, having a passion for food and the process of cooking. In fact, I may have been the least accomplished cook in the room because at least three others knew quite a bit about cooking and it was more than obvious they were well read and watched the Food Network on a regular basis.
After completing all our “prep” tasks and actually cooking our meal, it was delicious if I must say so myself. I grilled the Salmon in our group tonight but hope to get more hands on experience in sauté techniques on day two. Stay-tuned, a five hour shift awaits and I’m sure our meal today will be as good as the first days. Oh, and thanks for our classmate Dan for the great bottle of Layer Cake to compliment our dinner.
Food prepared in the Viking cooking class November 5, 2010
