Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Pastry chef Jacques Torres gives a dessert class at Sur La Table in Old Town, Los Gatos. The store offers weekly classes by various chefs.
Gourmet cooking classes on the Sur La Table menu
By Suzanne Cristallo
Just six of the 15 September cooking classes are open in the summer season series at Sur La Table, the gourmet kitchen supply store for professionals and home cooks in Los Gatos' Old Town. The popular culinary program, which features both hands-on and demonstration-style classes, allows students to get a glimmer of what goes on behind the kitchen doors from noted cookbook authors, award-winning chefs and seasoned professionals.
Students get to eat--either some of what the teacher prepares or what the students prepare themselves. One of the student participation classes is a 10 a.m. class on Sept. 23 with Carolyn Weil, a baker with 20 years of professional experience.
Weil's "Putting Up the Harvest" class is a guide for making winter dishes: old-fashioned, dried fruitcake wrapped in cheesecloth for aging in brandy; mulling spices for use in warm apple or cranberry juice or red wine; traditional spiced apple and fruit mincemeat for tarts, cookies or pie; and a hot buttered rum mix.
"It's a chance to put on an apron and get messy," laughs Jeanne Beaulieu-Wang, store manager.
Emily Luchetti, author of Stars Desserts and Four-Star Desserts and executive pastry chef at San Francisco's Farallon restaurant, will be demonstrating "Desserts with Panache from Farallon." The 6:30 p.m., Sept. 21 class will show students how to prepare strawberry-honey cream parfait, chocolate caramel tart, lemon-raspberry Pavlova--a crisp meringue base topped with whipped cream and fruit; and apple phyllo Napoleon--tissue-thin layers of apple-flavored pastry spread with egg custard and topped with confectioners' sugar.
For vegans or simply those wishing to limit their dairy intake, Louis Lanza will demonstrate "Totally Dairy-Free Cooking" on Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m. This is also the title of his book. Lanza is the executive chef at Josie's, New York City's "premier dairy-free restaurant." The dinner he plans is: spiced edamame (Japanese fresh soybeans); long tubes of pasta called ziti, covered with vodka tomato soy "cream" sauce; sesame-seared tuna with miso (bean paste) vinaigrette; and banana bread pudding with soy whipped cream and caramel sauce.
Su-Mei Yu, a Thai native and owner of San Diego's award-winning Saffron Restaurant, will employ the four major seasonings used in Thai dishes on Sept. 25, at 6:30 p.m. Salt, cilantro, garlic and Thai peppercorns will be used in five dishes in her cookbook, Cracking the Coconut. The menu is: crispy rice crackers with coconut; shrimp and pork dipping sauce; Three Kings soup; Southern Thai-style catfish; water chestnut salad and rice with coconut cream.
On Sept. 27, at 6:30 p.m., Frances Wilson, executive chef at Berkeley's Lalime's Restaurant, plans a traditional menu from Provence, France. Wilson spent the past two summers teaching at Chateau Routas in the Var region of Provence. She plans an authentic meal, pairing the dishes with wines from the Chateau: Socca--a crispy chickpea pancake; Provençal caviar--an eggplant dip; Saussoun--an almond and fennel dip; seafood stew bouillabaisse; and beignets de fruit au glace au miel, a tempting dish of apple and raisin fritters with honey ice cream.
Weil also will conduct two 6:30 p.m. hands-on "Foundation for Baking" classes. On Sept. 20 it is short pastry dough; on Sept. 27, it's yeasted dough.
One lunch-hour class remains of Nicole Henri's Lunch and Learn series. On Sept. 20 at 12:15 p.m., the French native and chef will teach quick and easy dishes for people with no time for cooking classes. The fast menu is roasted tomato soup, focaccia and galette--a round, flat cake topped with berries.
Fees range from $35 to $70.
Sur La Table, 23 University Ave., Los Gatos. Call 408.395.6976, Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. for reservations.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
