I'm pleased to announce a new series of cooking and food culture classes I'll be teaching at two different Thrifty Foods Cooking and Lifestyle Centres.
One series takes place at the Lifestyle Centre at the Tuscany Village store in Victoria, and it's all about Italian food.
Here are the class descriptions:
March 4th – Sicily: This is where my grandparents came from, people who really know what to do with fish and vegetables. These easy-to-make dishes, big on flavour, include: Orange and fennel salad, caponata (hot or cold appetizer made with braised eggplant), fish couscous, (a dish brought to Sicily by Moorish conquerors) and Aunt Polly`s Cassadetti, a ricotta-stuffed pastry dessert.
March 11th – Tuscany: The home of some of Italy`s most popular comfort food….I'll make it easy and delicious: Warm citrusy, herbed olive appetizer. Savoury duck ragu on pappardelle noodles, and for dessert, panna cotta with local fruit preserves.
April 1st: Emilia-Romagna: This is the land of Parma Ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and we will celebrate both of these ingredients. I'll explain how the products are made and the proper way to serve them as appetizers. Also on the menu: Tortelli di Zucca – a ravioli-like dish stuffed with roasted squash and crushed almond cookies, served with a sage butter sauce and grated Parm.
April 15th: Cook Like A Genovese: Many of the most popular Italian dishes we enjoy today originate in the Ligurian city of Genoa, or Genova, just like my last name! Tonight I feature many different ways to create and use pesto, a meaty rice dish you can serve as a main course, and the famous Genoa Cake, a variation on the popular sweet fruit bread, pannettone.
Again, these courses take place at the Tuscany Village location of Thrifty Foods in Victoria. Just click on this link and you can register online! Take one or take them all!
For folks who live in the Vancouver area, I'm very pleased to be teaching some courses at the new Thrifty Foods location at Morgan Crossing, in White Rock. These courses combine history and cooking in a fantastic new teaching kitchen/multi-media facility.
March 1st: Intro to Food Culture and Cheese! I'll explain the concept of food culture and then delves into one of our oldest processed foods, cheese. Learn about cheeses from around the world, and taste the difference between cheese made from different animals, as well as some of the best artisanal cheeses made here in BC.
March 8th: It's Mainly Because of the Meat! Taste the difference between barbecue, smoked meat and cured meat, and learn how to make some simple cured meats at home while visiting the world of sausages and charcuterie in Canada and around the world.
March 15th: Olive Oil: The staple of the vaunted Mediterranean Diet, I explain how to make sure you're getting a good olive oil for your money, help you taste the differences in oils from different countries and some unusual ways to use it. Have you ever tried extra-virgin olive oil on vanilla ice cream?
March 22nd: Sustainable Seafood: Thrifty Foods is now featuring seafood with an Ocean Wise designation in all of its stores. We'll talk about why we need to think about how we shop for fish while I demonstrate some of my favourite recipes.
March 29th: Eating Local: How to find the best local foods, both at Thrifty Foods and in your neighbourhood. What kind of questions should you ask your grocer or a farmer? I'll give you a quick guide to joining the ranks of people who call themselves 'locavores'.
To sign up for any or all of the above courses at Morgan Crossing, just head to this link at the Thrifty Foods website, and I hope to see you very soon!