They slice, flip and cook just like the pros, but professional chefs they are not.
The Institute of Culinary Education is loaning chefs for a boot camp-style class, and Chef Gerri isn't messing around. She has five days to teach 16 students the basics.
And the students dive in, getting their taste buds going, as well as their hands and fingers.
It was a feast fit for a professional kitchen. The menu included chimichurri flank steak, grilled chicken pie-yard, grilled shrimp brochette, pork chops with roasted poblano and every kind of vegetable you can think of, which were cut, sliced, rubbed and marinated. At the end of class, it was time to put their work to the test.
And as varied as the food was, so were the students. James Kerson is a 19-year-old college student, looking to take advantage of learning some advanced lessons. Carmen Concha was on holiday from Chile and wanted to sample cooking, American style.
"I learned a lot of techniques I didn't know before," she said.
And according to the chef, that's what it's all about.
"It's less about taking recipe and reading," she said. "It's more understanding what's going on."
The institute has 11 courses this summer that run through September. And the classes vary from $200 to just over $600.
For information from the institute's main page, visit ICECulinary.com.
To go specifically to the boot-camp classes page, CLICK HERE.
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WEB PRODUCED BY: Bill King
NEW YORK AND TRI-STATE AREA NEWS
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