COVER STORY
Fare with flair
A culinary party
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MORE INFORMATION
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Friday Night Cooking Series Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle St., Cambridge. 617-547-6789. Preregistration required, call early. $36 per night. Fridays at 6:30 p.m. during school sessions. Wine is included with some but not all classes, so guests may bring their own. (Get directions).
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Cooking in Cambridge
If you have ever watched a cooking show and groaned with envy as the host sits down to savor the mouth-watering dishes, the Friday Night Cooking Series is your chance for relief. This particularly popular program at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education provides a close-up view of how a master cook prepares a gourmet meal. Cooking tips, techniques, and recipes flow freely.
More important, you get to dine on a full portion of everything that's made - from appetizer to dessert.
"It's a culinary party. They come to learn, but they also come to have a good time," said instructor Josef Brozek. Brozek and his wife, Caryl Oliphant, approach their Provencal bouillabaisse class as if they were putting on a show. To liven up the school kitchen, they spread out tablecloths, display ingredients in baskets, put up decorations, and light candles.
"It has to be unique, exciting, and unusual. People expect something very tasty but you have to entertain them as well," Brozek said.
Those who wish can help chop, stir, or prep. Making individual crepe desserts in Brozek's class is something nearly everyone wants to try. Others prefer to train their eyes on the chef or gab with other guests, and people do make friends here.
"In a restaurant there is a nice atmosphere, but no one from the other tables will pay any attention to you," Brozek said. "You come here and it is a friendly supervised place to meet people." There is no need to commit to the whole dinner series, each class is offered individually, but the menus may tempt you to try them all.
Fall's choices range from chef Rafael Pereira's sangria and Spanish paella (a rice dish made with a bounty of seafood, meats, saffron, and more) to Bonnie Shershow and Sally Vargas's canape soiree where students sip wine and prepare fancy hors d'oeuvres such as gorgonzola and pine nut crostini.
Michael Malkoff, author of "The Every Day Gourmet" (Healing Arts Press), offers several Friday dinners that feature inspired recipes from his cookbook. A recent five-course meal featuring fresh herbs began with his citrus shrimp vinaigrette with basil served warm over arugula and endive. Aromatic entrees of sage balsamic grilled chicken, smoked salmon baked on a pine board with lime and cilantro, and garlic dilled rice followed. Dessert was simple and elegant: fresh pineapple tossed in pinot grigio (a dry white wine) with a touch of sugar and chopped fresh mint.
Malkoff doesn't dress up the room like Brozek but adorns his presentation with nonstop cooking insights and priceless asides such as, "If you get a little stem in there, they know they're eating the real thing," or "It's food. It's no big deal. Don't be afraid to cook for people - we're practically related to this stuff."
Cooking for 24 can get a little hectic, so expect a lively, sometimes frenetic atmosphere. Washing dishes for 24 is, well, like washing dishes for 24, so expect paper plates and plastic cutlery. Lest all the knowledge you acquire evaporate like alcohol in a flambe, bring a pad and pencil for notes.
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