For Emilie's birthday, her sister got her (and I) a gift certificate for a cooking class in Vevey where you work with a professional chef in a group setting to prepare a three course meal and then get to eat it afterward. Given Emilie's desire for me to start sharing the cooking load, the gift was welcomed and yesterday we finally participated in the class.
There are a couple of classes each week, so you simply find some dates that work and then sign up for one with a menu of your liking. I don't specifically remember the exact menu wording, it broadly consisted of the following:
- Entree: Tomato, mozzarella and basil in layers of mille-feuille puff pastry with an accompanying salad
- Main Course: Roasted rack of lamb
- Dessert: Thai mango salad with ice cream
The class was held in a kitchen that looked kind of like a set from a Food Network cooking show. In total, there were 12 students -- a mix of young and old, men and women (though mostly women), and exhibiting a full spectrum of cooking experience.
The night basically consisted of watching the chef and following his lead. Fortunately for me, we all weren't preparing the plates individually. Instead, we were simply assisting with various parts of the broader preparation -- basically, we were novice sous chefs.
I assumed that I could just lay low for most of the night and then swoop in at the end once the meal was prepared. Emilie was having none of that, however, and seemed to use mental telepathy in order to get the instructor to increase the level of my involvement.
All went relatively smoothly with the preparation / cooking and the meal turned out to be great. The presentation might not have been perfect, but I thought everything tasted very good and would have definitely gone back for seconds if given the opportunity.
In the end I can't say that I really learned much, though. The "class" was more of a cooking experience combined with the benefit of eating a very nice meal afterward -- which was perfectly fine with me.
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