quick pig cooking class @ ICE

as one of my last adventures in new york, ruby and i took a cooking class at the institute of culinary education called 'quick pig' (don't you just LOVE the name?!). we were to be making ALL pork dishes, so this was definitely not a class for the faint of heart. (i'm just happy ruby survived! great job, ruth! oops, i meant ruby!)

as we stood around in the reception area upstairs, with a billion other eager students waiting for their classes, i couldn't help thinking that the school needed some serious work on their people/space management. i mean, there were 3-4 classes worth of students waiting in a tiny reception area, PLUS there was a special event going on. so as soon as the guests for that event started showing up, the whole floor was even more congested. and let me say this (if i haven't already): i absolutely HATE crowds. i mean, i can deal w/them, but i hate feeling like i don't have my own air to breathe. how annoying!

at any rate, as soon as they directed us where to go, we made our way upstairs to our kitchen. after being advised by richard (our chef) to remove any valuables from our pockets, we stowed our coats down the hall and joined him at the main table. it's been years since my time at the french culinary institute, so it was fabulous to be in the kitchen again, w/everything all silver and shiny, and just slightly larger than what you'd see at home.

after we all got seated, richard introduced himself and went over all the dishes we were going to make for the night. he spoke fast and w/quite a bit of flair. a little dramatic for a cooking class, but i love anyone who can include words like trychinosis and gluteus maximus in the discussion w/o a blink of an eye. and as awful as this is going to sound (and who cares really?), i secretly (and now openly) relished the fact that one woman had to raise her hand and ask "what's trychinosis?" (i mean, are you stupid?) especially since she was the one who was later competing for who made the best bundt cake. (i mean, are you retarded? how old are you?) so there, i'm a snob. what can i say? i love words. and if you can use them in the correct manner and shoot them off at a rapid fire pace, you get brownie points. and lots of them at that!

let me say that there were NINE dishes on the menu. NINE. and it was a FOUR-hour class. FOUR. granted i'm the the little asian girl that can't do math, but i don't think it takes a lot to figure out that, unless you're robert irvine, this meal ain't comin' together -- at least not on your own! at first, i'd thought that ruby and i were supposed to make all of these dishes b/w the two of us (b/c we worked in small teams @ FCI). needless to say, i was quite relieved when richard started assigning different tasks to different groups and tables. for example, he assigned us (me, ruby, and our new friend bernie) to work on the mojo for the marsitas fritas (which received rave reviews from the class, even though it was a bit too citrus-ey for me).

richard was QUITE sarcastic, but also QUITE witty, which totally made for fun times since i couldn't take his barbs too seriously. he was really quite hilarious and i'll be sure never to say nor cal to a nor cal native again! (ok, richard?) as for the rest of the class, we interacted mostly w/bernie, who was our partner in crime. while her hubby worked on the bundt cake and the shanghai meatballs w/another student, we focused on the marsitas fritas and the spaghetti squash w/pancetta. to be honest, i felt like i was chopping garlic the WHOLE time, but i also didn't really mind. especially since i wasn't too excited about possibly burning myself or tiring myself out given that i had to wake up at 5am the next morning.

at any rate, i thought our marsitas fritas came out a bit dry, and our spaghetti squash a bit salty, but very few dishes came out perfectly. (i mean, seriously, FOUR hours? plus, we actually didn't come close to cooking for the whole time. especially when we started at 6:30, and were cleaned up, fed, and dismissed by 9:30. didn't i say richard was speedy?) not that it mattered b/c it was so exciting to see everything all come together at the end. we even go to use nice ICE china & utensils -- no scrimping here! only the best for the best.

we started off w/the onion & chorizo soup, which was a teensy bit salty, but very good. then we all got to go around the other table and grab a plate and pile on whatever we wanted. i had a little bit of everything -- and then went back for seconds! from the dishes we didn't make, i thought the mushrooms, bacon, & mustard greens were a bit salty, and the pork-filled meat pies (like empanadas) were a bit bland. the prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin was probably the easiest to make (roll up a piece of meat in a piece of fat -- i mean, seriously!) and, more importantly, the juiciest! but i had to have seconds of the shanghai meatballs (which had a bit of crunch from what i thought were the rice noodles but were actually the water chestnuts -- who would've thunk?) b/c they were oh-so-flavorful AND MOIST, and the serrano ham pressed sandwiches (like cubanos and/or paninis -- i haven't decided which) which were UNBELIEVABLE b/c of the spiced guava paste. i seriously HAVE to find me some of that. i totally love the combo of sweet & savory (which apparently derek dislikes -- you're a chump, derek, but i love you!), so these sandwiches were AMAZING.

we ended the night on a sweet note w/two versions of the lemon poppy seed bundt cake. even though the annoying girl was trying to make richard pick the "better" one (again, how fucking juvenile!), he didn't. and i decided that the poppier one (which was a paler yellow and quite a bit more speckled) had a lighter, milder flavor (which richard noted was probably a good palate cleanser) and the sweeter one (which was a brighter yellow and less speckled) would've been perfect w/a nice cup of coffee. and though richard pointed out the coffee in the corner, i thought i'd stay away from the caffeine for fear of staying up all night!

other than the competitive girl (and her poor significant other -- oh how i felt for him), everyone else was pretty nice and friendly. bernie & her husband were very into the cooking and had taken a few classes before. ruth & jeff were a really cute couple who worked in publishing together. kate & jeff were another cute couple who we found out went to dartmouth too! (it's hilarious how your ears perk up as soon as you hear your alma mater.) i felt bad when they said their partner in crime was an asshole know-it-all. (god how i hate those too. am i hypocrite though?) but the guy who made the soup was very sweet. as was the woman who made the poppier bundt cake -- i think she was a personal chef who worked upstate. richard himself went to cooking school out in northern california (happy, richard?) and spent many years out there before moving to new york. i'm not sure which coast he's actually from, but he could totally be bi-coastal.

at any rate, this dinner w/12 strangers (just about) was quite lovely. and i really do love being surrounded by people who love food and cooking. there's something so warm and fuzzy about that. it's just not the same staring at food network....

institute of culinary education
50 west 23rd street
new york, ny 10010
800.522.4610

http://www.iceculinary.com/

oh! and richard also has his own blog:
http://www.unitedtaste.blogspot.com/