http://www.nwcav.com/blog Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:02:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The BC Chefs Table Society met for the last summer meeting Monday afternoon at the beautiful open dining room of NU Restaurant.  It was the best turnout we’ve had to date.  It was also a very fruitful meeting, lots on the agenda, with two guest speakers, and many pending issues ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/07/01/its-all-about-mindset/ The most difficult, challenging topic for me to teach is pasta.  Getting students to understand the essence of pasta is extremely difficult because most, the vast majority, have been lead astray.  Getting students to get off the dry vs fresh track is nearly impossible, taking much effort, a Joe Pesci ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/27/rouxbe-andt-the-art-of-21st-century-teaching/ The snow is still flying but many families are looking ahead and planning summer vacations.  To help you with your family plans we have set the dates for Summer Culinary Camps, 2008 with Chef Barb.  The week long camps are just too good to miss.  We've got a new line ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/06/03/kids-teens-summer-cooking-camps/ We are pleased to welcome back into our kitchens Jeff Van Geest, Owner & Chef of the award winning Aurora Bistro! Chef Jeff will present to the Foodies a locally inspired menu featuring the best of BC's bounty, including a selection of delicious BC wines.  As always, our classes are hands-on, ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/26/foodie-club-going-local-with-aurora-bistro/ As the days get longer, our thoughts drift to Spring and warmer evenings spent around the BBQ with friends and family.  To give you some new inspiration in that department, we are very pleased to offer two BBQ classes hosted by Brian Misko of the award winning House of Q. ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/26/serious-foodie-bbq/ Chef Ian Lai, instructor for our Professional Culinary program, has been receiving a lot of press lately.  As founder of the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society (http://myterranova.ca/), Chef Ian is very active in the Richmond community teaching young people from K-12 about the joys of organic farming, and connecting them to ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/15/kudos-chef-ian/ As many of you know, NWCAV is proud to support the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society farm project in Richmond, BC (www.myterranova.ca). Terra Nova was founded & is headed by Chef Ian Lai, one of the Professional Culinary instructors at the Academy. Chef Ian is pleased to announce that Terra Nova now ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/15/terra-nova-tea/ On the first day of class, within the first hour in fact, we put our students in groups and ask then to list the qualities that best define a professional cook versus a professional chef.  This is to eliminate any illusion that the focus of our school is not to create chefs, but ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/05/01/defining-your-path/ When asked if any of my students are superstars, I smile, bite my tongue, and pray that this might be the last time I have to answer such a stupid question.  Our obsession to over-dramatize the status of chefs and equate them to rock stars, celebrities, or superstars is as ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/04/30/why-lou-gehrig-would-have-been-a-great-cook/ My old culinary school in Montreal, ITHQ, had an amazing library, especially their archives.  I was particularly blown away by Careme's books, the insane details of his recipes (if not ostentatious) and particularly his drawings.  Careme is still considered one of the greatest chefs ever, definitely a (if not the ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/04/28/antonin-careme-the-model-learner/ There's this perception out there that people go into the cooking field for the love of it, solely for the love of it, simply for the passion, not the money.  How naive to even think that people are willing to sacrifice their personal life - willingly, I may add -  in order for ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/04/24/get-real/ Today we started day 2 of the new class talking about knives.  I've changed it up in the last couple of terms from the past, ever since I saw Alton Brown's Youtube video on how to sharpen a knife.  He states, emphatically, never, ever to sharpen your own knife, that even ... http://www.nwcav.com/blog/index.php/2008/04/22/craftsmanship/