Basic Cooking

Number of lessons: 10
Starting date: September 27th
Time: 2-5pm and/or 7-10pm; see calendar
Price: €800

Teachers: Cristina Blasi & Gabriella Mari

10 lessons once a week in the afternoon or evening. The course centers on Italian and International cooking techniques. Each lesson is devoted to a specific topic such as sauces, meat, fish, vegetables, pasta, or desserts.

Lesson 1: THE BASICS
Description of the cooking tools and their use, introduction to the fundamentals of the classic sauces, rules to organize a menu, first course dishes, chopping vegetables, "mirepoix", "battuto & soffritto", clarified butter, meat stock, elements of foods preserving.

Cooking part: Traditional meat sauce (Bolognese), Crepes, Bechamel sauce, Red radicchio pie, Cheese souffle, Brown Sauce, Clarified Butter, Brased onions.

Lesson 2: THE SAUCES
Cold sauces, Emulsioned sauces. Hot sauces based on brown sauce or caramel, Vinaigrettes and Citronettes, Aromatic herbs, Sauces for meat, fish or eggs, Sauces for Fondue Bourguignonne, Sauce based on oil or butter.

Cooking part: Maionaise and its derived sauces (home-made, with electric beater, for
professionals), Vinaigrettes and Citronettes, Horseradish sauce, Hollandaise sauce, Bernaise sauce, Sweet and Sour sauce, Apple sauce, Pomagranet sauce.

Lesson 3: THE VEGETABLES
Selecting, cleaning, steaming, blanching, boiling, glazing, drying. Puree, flans, pies, souffles, Ratatouille, Caponata, Buglione ext. Potatoes, Spinach, Asparagous, Artichokes, Cauliflower, Onions, Broccoli, Jerusalem artichokes, Legumes.

Cooking part: Pommes Douchesse, Mashed potatoes, Artichokes flan, Glazed onions, Mixed vegetables honey favoured salad, Candied Tomatoes, Broccoli flan, Steamed whole cauliflower.

Lesson 4: COOKING METHODS
In salt crust, Poaching, Broiling, Sauteing, Pot roasting, Roasting,
Stewing, Steaming, En-papillotte, Smoking, Marinating, Maillard Reaction, Browining, Searing, Tieing the chicken, Boning the chicken.

Cooking part: Chicken in salt crust, Poached eggs, Poachen squids, Tuna slice with sesame, Roasted mackarel, Chicken breast with orange sauce, Mixed sea-food en papillotte, Steamed mussles with poaced eggs.

Lesson 5: FISH AND SEA FOOD
How to judge freshness, how to get fish fillets, cleaning and prepare for cooking, preserving, Fish fumets, Fish stock, Bisque, Fish coulis, Sole Colbert, Caviar.

Cooking part: Fish fumet, Fish stock, Roast fish with lemon, Sole filets with saffron, Calamari Marinara style, Sea-bass slice with potaoes crust, Bavette pasta with fish sauce.

Lesson 6: MEAT
How to select the veal and beef cuts for the different dishes, ageing, marinating, roasting, deglazing, brasing, stewing, Pork, Lamb, Organ meats, Mustard, Pepper, Sour Cream.

Cooking part: Filet en boite, Beef filet with green pepper sauce or balsamic vinegar, Boeuf Stroganoff, Veal stew "Bouquetiere". Duck breast with orange sauce, Pilaw rice.

Lesson 7: SOUPS AND RISOTTI
Different Italian soups, minestroni, fondues, consomme, veloutes. How to clarify stocks and to make a consommé.

Cooking part: Mushrooms risotto, Vichysoisse, Spinach Veloute, Cheese foundue Pidmont
style, Old style soup from Tuscany.

Lesson 8: THE BEST FRYING
The use of oil, pans, tools, metals. how to drain, how to reheat, how to flour, Villeroy recipies, frying potatoes, different coatings and batters for frying, 2 batters, Tempura, listing of dishes included in the many typical fried courses in Italy (from Pidmont, from Tuscany, from Rome, from Naples). The egg, freshness, cooking and use.

Lesson 9: HOME MADE PASTA
Home made pasta rolled out with the pasta machine, tagliatelle, lasagne, blanching, different shapes, sauces for fresh pasta (gravy from roast meat, truffle etc.)

Cooking part: Pasta Roll as a rose, Taglierini with radicchio and prawns, Taglierini with lemon sauce, White and green Cannelloni.

Lesson 10: DESSERTS
Classification of the different dessert and spoon dessert to finish a classic menu, main ingredients, uova, caramel, gelatin and other thickeners, chocolate, hygenic rules, flambé.

Cooking part: Crepes Souzette, Chocolate Mousse, Creme Brulee, Yogurt Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Compote, Souffle al Grand Marnier.

See the calendar for course times.

Contact the school for more information and details about this course.