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Cooking school offers variety of classes
By Bernice Torregrossa
Contributor
Published August 26, 2009
For decades, people interested in pursuing a career or passion in the kitchen have flocked to the Culinary Institute of America in upstate New York, the nation’s most esteemed cooking school. Now it’s possible to receive CIA training right here in Texas, at the CIA’s San Antonio branch, where the foods of Latin America are a particular focus.
“What we’re trying to do here is to educate Americans and others about the subtleties, nuances and traditions of Latin American food,” Shelley Grieshaber, the San Antonio campus’ director of education, said. “We want to elevate Latin American food to be on a par with Italian and French cuisine.”
The CIA began as a cooking school for soldiers returning from World War II, preparing them for careers in food service. While it is still the gold standard in professional culinary education, in recent years, the number of classes offered to nonprofessionals, at levels from kitchen novice to skilled chef, has exploded.
Classes in the CIA’s “Food Enthusiast” program range from two-hour demonstrations to weeklong boot camps, and the San Antonio campus offers a variety of the shorter sessions.
“We began, just this spring, offering five-hour classes one Saturday a month,” Grieshaber said. “Because we’re short on space, we can only get the boot camps, which require several days of kitchen time, scheduled at the end of a certificate-class semester.”
CIA-San Antonio recently held a two-day skill development boot camp, followed by an hors d’oeuvre boot camp and has Saturday classes scheduled on breakfasts and brunches, soups, desserts, as well as a class on some of the CIA’s all-time favorite recipes.
Each class is designed around a CIA cookbook, which helps to refresh students’ memories once they are back in their home kitchens.
“The Saturday classes are very hands-on,” Grieshaber said. “Students here get more hands-on experience than anywhere in the country.”
Grieshaber noted that, until a few years ago, the CIA had no plans to set up branch campuses and is unlikely to expand beyond its current satellites in San Antonio and in California’s Napa Valley.
The San Antonio campus originally was an independent cooking school, the Center for the Foods of the Americas, and became the third campus of the CIA in 2008.
“San Antonio is the gateway to Latin America, and it’s so accessible for students here,” Grieshaber said.
While classes are scheduled throughout the upcoming year, an even larger selection of boot camps and one-day classes will be offered in 2010, when the CIA moves into a larger facility nearby.
“We’ll go from 5,000 square feet to 30,000, and we’ll have a wider pool of chef-instructors,” Grieshaber said. “We’re growing, and we hope we’re contributing to San Antonio’s growth.”
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Seared Scallops With Fiery Fruit Salsa
Searing scallops keeps them plump and tender on the inside, crisp and golden on the outside. When buying scallops, ask to smell them; scallops should have the pleasant briny scent of the ocean. Keep them refrigerated or on ice until cooking time.
2 pounds sea scallops 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For The Salsa
2/3 cup mango, peeled, diced 1/2 cup papaya, peeled, diced 1/4 cup pineapple, canned or fresh, cored, peeled, diced 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced 1/3 cup red onion, diced 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped 1/2 tablespoon lime juice 1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar 1 teaspoon jalapeño, seeded, minced 1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Combine all the ingredients for the salsa in a bowl. Allow the salsa to sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Remove the muscle tabs from the scallops; blot the scallops dry. Heat a sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add the oil to coat bottom of pan.
Place the scallops in the pan and sauté on the first side for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn the scallops once and sauté on the second side.
Do not overcrowd the scallops in the pan. If necessary, cook the scallops in batches, holding those that are cooked in a warm oven.
Serve the scallops with the tropical fruit salsa.
Note: The scallops will release from pan when properly browned. Do not try to pry the scallop from the pan as they will tear. The pan should not be too hot because the scallops will get scorched before they’re cooked.
— Recipe courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America
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