Cooking Lessons

Once, when I was hanging out at my sister Hani's house, I noticed an abstract painting that her friend, Kyle Talbott had done as a gift to her. It's a beautiful piece, thoughtful and uncluttered; and like all exquisite items, its simplicity is deceptive.

I wasted an afternoon, a hundred bucks in paint supplies and a beret (come on; if I'm going for affectation, I should go all the way) attempting to do what Kyle appeared to have done so effortlessly.

"Hani," I said after conceding defeat, "It's not as easy as it looks."

I taught my first cooking class last Saturday at Columbus Cooks, our local gourmet kitchen supply store and demonstration kitchen. I absolutely loved the experience -- the class was small enough to enable a hands on session, and everyone was enthusiastic about cooking, which made it easier (and a lot more fun!). We made 8 dishes, some of which have appeared in previous posts: Sundried Tomato and Feta Tarts, based on the basic savory custard recipe used in the Wild Mushroom Pomponnette recipe, Carrot "Fettucine" with Marsala Cream Sauce, Cornmeal Blinis with Crab, Cauliflower Gratin, Caramelized Onion Crème Fraîche Mashed Potatoes, a garlicky version - Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and for dessert, a Maple Crème Brulée (because I'm still so excited about using the dark amber maple syrup I got from our Vermont trip).

We cooked and ate as we went along and I was really pleased when one of the participants claimed to hate cauliflower, yet wolfed down an entire portion of the gratin. I also loved hearing each of them talking about what they wanted to bake with the pastry dough they had learned to make, and what ingredients they would substitute in the savory custard.

Teaching was a lot harder than I thought it would be, which surprised me since I always thought it would be easy to teach a subject matter about which I am passionate. But I learned something about myself which I had never noticed before: I'm a pretty quiet cook. The only sounds generally emanating from my kitchen when I'm cooking are the pots being set on the stove top, and the food being prepped and cooked. And the occasional Guns N' Roses (sigh; yes, seriously. If it's not Bach, Verdi, or Miles and Etta, it's Axl Rose). I learned how to cook from my mother by way of osmosis and the verbal shorthand that marks a close relationship. At our dinner parties, my fabulous brigade of girlfriends has learned to translate my grunting and malapropisms into actual instructions. Thus, I had never talked so much in a kitchen as I did on Saturday, but I wanted to be sure I could coherently explain concepts.

After being on my feet for five hours, concentrating on making sure I was explaining every step properly, and praying ferociously that I would not set some kitchen disaster in motion, I was completely drained. Jenn came over to hang out and thank God we are so close she doesn't need to be amused, because I could barely speak intelligible sentences to her. It was all I could do not to drool from the side of my mouth as I lay on the couch, unable to move beyond the occasional shuffling to get away from the cat. Lacking small children and needy dogs to take care of, I was able to sleep until 10:30 the next day, but found my brain of no more use.

I meant to make Cantuccini for Amanda, but was completely unequal to the task of turning on the oven so we went out for coffee at the bookstore instead. In addition to being a dear friend, Amanda is also my piano teacher.

"How in God's name do you do it nine hours a day?" I asked. If she'd told me that she routinely hit a bottle to get through the day, I would have understood. I got to teach friendly, interested adults; most of her students are little kids with big attitudes.

"You have to love what you're doing," she said.

Teaching was definitely not as easy as it looked for me; but I'm hoping that it gets easier as I keep trying. Because I really did love what I was doing.

Comments

[Stephanie]

Wow...I'm impressed. You should be proud; I know from experience teaching is not an easy job.

The cauliflower bit made me laugh...

And my kitchen music? Bif Naked. Non-stop. And the Clarks, and Van Morrison, and a batch of CD's from Ultra Lounge.

When I come in after Matt's spent some time there, I have to switch off NPR, because the *last* thing I want to hear when I'm cooking is opera!

Again, good job!

[Cathy Hong-Praslick]

Thanks for the kind words, Stephanie! I had a lot of fun and am hoping to do it again.

Emil's dial is set on talk radio. Makes me nuts. I'll happily listen to opera over talking heads. I find opera's good only if I'm making pasta, but Beach Boys are great for chopping and prepping.

I'd actually be curious to know what other people listen to when they cook...because my friend Annette thought it was hilarious that I've cooked some of my best meals to Guns N Roses. :-)

[Rachael]

Hi Cathy!

I teach cooking too and promise, it gets easier. You will build up a banter that becomes second nature.

My big tip is to just pretend you are on a cooking show. And to pre-chop most everything, just leaving small bits to demonstrate on. Streamlines everything. So if you need 4 diced onions, go ahead and pre-dice three of them. Getting this idea down was the turning point in my career! LOL

I love the blog and will be back often!

Best-
Rachael

[Cathy Hong-Praslick]

Hi Rachael! Ta da! See! I have the power to change things:-) Thanks so much for advice -- I'm looking forward to the next class and will let you know how that goes. Thanks SO much for visiting. :-)

[Stephanie]

I actually sent a couple of CD's to my BBM person; mixes of what I typically listen to!

[Cath]

Hey Stephani, any interest in sharing the mix? I'd love to see what you're listening to!