March 11, 2013

What's on the menu? Knife skills and technique with a recipe on the side......


Chicken curry with basmati rice, lime and cilantro.
Knife skills are an inherent part of
most lessons.
With so much going on at Liaison Kitchener during the daytime – full-time programs, special events, Friday lunches – our evening classes so far have been flying under the social media radar. Since they attend school just two evenings per week, these part-time students are part of the school’s social fabric for a much longer stretch of time than the daytime students, and deserve a little more attention. 

The lessons flow a little differently at night: while daytime classes concentrate on classroom theory in one five-week stretch, the part-timers get textbook material interspersed with hands-on kitchen time, giving them a chance to apply their freshly-learned theory at the stove as they work their way through their term.

Last week Chef Tekin had a couple of poultry lessons on the menu, walking the evening students through an Asian curry with basmati rice, along with a poached chicken leg, wrapped in bacon and stuffed with ricotta and spinach.

Chef Tekin wraps stuffed chicken in plastic wrap and foil
before poaching.
The goal is not so much for students to learn a recipe or two- those can be found in any number of books, magazines and websites. Knife skills and technique, however (cutting up a whole chicken, cooking methods, etc)  are at the heart of every lesson, giving students a chance to practice these essentials each time they don their aprons. 

For more photos, visit our Facebook page.