There’s more to an evening meal than just meat and potatoes — a lot more, as the people who have been attending this year’s Food Lovers series of courses offered by Okanagan College have been learning.
The courses offered this academic year started three weeks ago with Japanese cooking with Ginger Shoji and continued last weekend with Mexican cooking under the tutelage of Sherry Klemmensen. And, boy, are they tasty!
The courses continue on Nov. 15 with Greek cooking as practiced by Emo and Julia Joakimides and will continue in the New Year with more courses on Japanese, Mexican, Italian and Chinese cuisine. These are all hands-on sessions, conducted in the kitchen at the Community Centre. You get to chop the vegetables, wash the rice, grate the chocolate and stir the soups. It sounds like work but, really, it’s not hard and the payoff is delicious. You also leave the course with sets of recipes you can perfect at home.
Here are a few photos of the Japanese and Mexican courses:
A student cuts bitter chocolate from a block for traditional Yucatan-style mole sauce. David F. Rooney photoTammy Kermack (center, left) tends a pot of tortilla soup while Elena Bishop stands watch over cooking tomatillos. David F. Rooney photoAndrea Pont scoops fresh avocado from its rind prior to whipping up some guacamole. David F. Rooney photoElena Bishop mixes a refreshing and zesty jicama and pepper salad. David F. Rooney photoA student prepares to add fried plantains and onions that were mixed in a blender to a pot. He'll then add the melted chocolate and pepper that make Mexican mole sauce so distinctive. David F. Rooney photoInstructor Sherry Klemmensen adds some avocado and tortilla chips to students' bowls for the class favourite: tortilla soup. David F. Rooney photoStudents enjoy the jicama salad and roast pork enchiladas with mole sauce that they prepared in Sherry Klemensen's Mexican food course. Que sabroso! David F. Rooney photoAs students look on, Instructor Ginger Shoji pours her special teriyaki sauce over a pan full of chicken. David F. Rooney photoInstructor Ginger Shoji tastes the miso soup. David F. Rooney photoLightly pickled cucumber slices are gently squeezed prior to building a fantastic salad. David F. Rooney photoTurning the teriyaki chicken is essential to give it the full flavour and to ensure it is well cooked. David F. Rooney photoInstructor Ginger Shoji shows her students the proper way to layout the filling for a sushi roll. David F. Rooney photoReady for rolling, this rice, cucumber and crab filling sits on a sheet of green seaweed atop the mat that will be used to roll it up. David F. Rooney photoRolling your sushi is not as easy as it sounds. Too tight and it will be, well, too compressed. To loose and it will fall apart. Here, Ginger shoji demonstrates the proper technique. David F. Rooney photoPress firmly! Ginger Shoji presses the ends of her sushi roll before unwrapping it. David F. Rooney photoAnd voila! Ginger Shoji removes the mat she used to roll her sushi, revealing the finished sushi roll.. David F. Rooney photoZophie Humphries and Carol Fitchett savour the fresh taste of sushi they prepared with their own hands. David F. Rooney photo
