The Culinary Institute of America - San Antonio

cazzy

I've been sitting on a CIA gift card for about 13 months and the wife started giving me hard time about it since it was a birthday present.  I signed up for a class about a month ago and I must say, I'm getting pretty excited about it.  

I decided on the following course as I think it will be very beneficial down that road and can definitely help elevate any dish.

Classic and Contemporary Sauces (San Antonio, TX)

Sauces are among the first true test of a cook’s skill. The ability to produce a perfectly balanced vinaigrette, a creamy and subtly flavored mayonnaise sauce, and a silky, full-bodied pan gravy is a skill that can be learned and honed throughout years of experience. In this class, you will learn the basic characteristics and techniques for preparing a range of classic and contemporary sauces such as emulsions, coulis, and more. You’ll also discover the ideal foods to pair with these sauces, along with presentation techniques.

jscarfo

Sounds like a great class

Mickey

We fully expect a posting each class night of what is learned. As of now when I put in the ingredients for a sauce  on the Egg it just runs down the grill to the firebox?????????

cazzy

I agree!  I can't wait for Saturday!

They had a Italian and Pasta class, but I thought the sauce class would help with any cuisine.  

Little Steven

cazzy said:

I've been sitting on a CIA gift card for about 13 months and the wife started giving me hard time about it since it was a birthday present.  I signed up for a class about a month ago and I must say, I'm getting pretty excited about it.  

I decided on the following course as I think it will be very beneficial down that road and can definitely help elevate any dish.

Classic and Contemporary Sauces (San Antonio, TX)

Sauces are among the first true test of a cook’s skill. The ability to produce a perfectly balanced vinaigrette, a creamy and subtly flavored mayonnaise sauce, and a silky, full-bodied pan gravy is a skill that can be learned and honed throughout years of experience. In this class, you will learn the basic characteristics and techniques for preparing a range of classic and contemporary sauces such as emulsions, coulis, and more. You’ll also discover the ideal foods to pair with these sauces, along with presentation techniques.

Very cool man! I would love to do that. How long are the classes?

TUTTLE871

A friend of mine had gone to a few classes there last year and said it was a great experience and learned a lot.

The facility where it's located is pretty cool as well. You should have a lot of fun.

cazzy

5 hours.  Check out more of the courses here:

http://enthusiasts.ciachef.edu/cooking-and-baking-classes/

Eggcelsior

Suh-weet! My wife keeps pushing me towards cooking as a job. Let me know how it goes. I have taken classes at this place: http://www.culinaerie.com/

It is a blast!

cazzy

TUTTLE871 said:

A friend of mine had gone to a few classes there last year and said it was a great experience and learned a lot. The facility where it's located is pretty cool as well. You should have a lot of fun.

Great to hear!  

Something tells me that I won't be able to take my camera lol

henapple

Are going or teaching the damn class?

cazzy

Eggcelsior said:

Suh-weet! My wife keeps pushing me towards cooking as a job. Let me know how it goes. I have taken classes at this place: http://www.culinaerie.com/

It is a blast!

Niiiice!  I don't know how long it will be, but I will have my own restaurant or trailer one day.  Have a lot to learn about the industry though.  The wife and I have already talked about it, but I eventually will quit my job and start over in the food industry to get a couple years of experience.  Need to learn more about operations.  

cazzy

henapple said:

Are going or teaching the damn class?

Haha...no.  I need to go learn how to cook so I can stop taking credit for all the food and BBQ my wife makes!

DMW

Jealous!!! I've been looking at the course catalog for The Restaurant School in Philadelphia.

http://www.walnuthillcollege.edu/

I would really like to have a catering business someday, not sure if it will ever pan out.

Mickey

Would love to have a hot dog and Frozen Custard trailer some day. From what I have read you do not need all the health permits like other foods.

buzd504

Mickey said:

Would love to have a hot dog and Frozen Custard trailer some day. From what I have read you do not need all the health permits like other foods.

Truth.  You can hide anything in hot dogs and custard.

JohnInCarolina

I love that it's called the CIA.  They kill with cooking.

Carolina Q

Little Steven said:

Very cool man! I would love to do that. How long are the classes?

You should! If you still go to New Haven from time to time, the CIA's main campus in Hyde Park NY is almost on your way! Business trip = business expense? 

Little Steven

Carolina Q said:

Little Steven said:

Very cool man! I would love to do that. How long are the classes?

You should! If you still go to New Haven from time to time, the CIA's main campus in Hyde Park NY is almost on your way! Business trip = business expense? 

Oddly enough most of  what I know about cooking is from reading and re-reading the New Professional Chef by CIA

HDumptyEsq

For Christmas back in 2007 SWMBO bought me a week's "boot camp" at the CIA in Hyde Park. I opted for French Cooking. It was more fun than you can legally have this side of the sheets! We worked our asses off in class and the kitchen and shared our food for lunch. They took us on speciality courses in the afternoons, like 'table side service'. They entertained us in their restaurants in the evening and we were treated like proper chefs by the students. I'll never forget it and still use their techniques at home

cazzy

Well it was a pretty cool class! We were devided into 4 teams and had a protein and 3 different sauces on all but 1 team. The 4th team had grilled veggies and 3 sauces.

They had a demo here and there to see what the other teams were doing. Would I say I'm a better cook because of this class? Maybe a lil bit, but I have several recipes and saw how each sauce was paired with different protiens.

At the end, we had a pretty awesome buffet style meal together. Really cool experience and they gave us a cook book and we kept our aprons.

I was responsible for the beef tenderloin...I know, way to put yourself out there. It actually worked out perfect cause I was able to float around as I did the steaks at the very end. They had Domino Kosher Salt and it's very fine, so it looked like more salt than it probably was. I definitely could have used more, but it was fine since we had plenty of sauces to go with it!


Fun day and I encourage you to do a class as it was pretty badass to be in a professional kitchen. I will likely sign up for the knife class and a meat fabrication class if they have one.

Pics to come later!

brianwdmn

I've done similar classes here in Atlanta at the Art Institute School of Culinary Arts. One my favorites was Sauces. Everything from vinegrette to demiglase. I highly recommend them to anyone even vaguely interested.

Little Steven

cazzy said:

Well it was a pretty cool class! We were devided into 4 teams and had a protein and 3 different sauces on all but 1 team. The 4th team had grilled veggies and 3 sauces. They had a demo here and there to see what the other teams were doing. Would I say I'm a better cook because of this class? Maybe a lil bit, but I have several recipes and saw how each sauce was paired with different protiens. At the end, we had a pretty awesome buffet style meal together. Really cool experience and they gave us a cook book and we kept our aprons. I was responsible for the beef tenderloin...I know, way to put yourself out there. It actually worked out perfect cause I was able to float around as I did the steaks at the very end. They had Domino Kosher Salt and it's very fine, so it looked like more salt than it probably was. I definitely could have used more, but it was fine since we had plenty of sauces to go with it! Fun day and I encourage you to do a class as it was pretty badass to be in a professional kitchen. I will likely sign up for the knife class and a meat fabrication class if they have one. Pics to come later!

So what did you learn about sauces?

henapple

Omg...not a Cazzy's sauce thread.

Little Steven

I was hoping he could recite the five mother sauces and all of their derivitives

cazzy

cazzy said:

Well it was a pretty cool class! We were devided into 4 teams and had a protein and 3 different sauces on all but 1 team. The 4th team had grilled veggies and 3 sauces. They had a demo here and there to see what the other teams were doing. Would I say I'm a better cook because of this class? Maybe a lil bit, but I have several recipes and saw how each sauce was paired with different protiens. At the end, we had a pretty awesome buffet style meal together. Really cool experience and they gave us a cook book and we kept our aprons. I was responsible for the beef tenderloin...I know, way to put yourself out there. It actually worked out perfect cause I was able to float around as I did the steaks at the very end. They had Domino Kosher Salt and it's very fine, so it looked like more salt than it probably was. I definitely could have used more, but it was fine since we had plenty of sauces to go with it! Fun day and I encourage you to do a class as it was pretty badass to be in a professional kitchen. I will likely sign up for the knife class and a meat fabrication class if they have one. Pics to come later!

So what did you learn about sauces?

Honestly not a whole lot because of the structure.  Our team made the following sauces:

Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

Blackened Tomato Salsa

Bechamel for the Mac and Cheese

I was excited to see the process for properly executing the bechamel sauce.  It also showed me what I did wrong when my sauce broke last time.  

The other teams made:

Jus Lie

Peanut Sauce

Apple Chutney

Jalapeno Cilantro Compound Butter 

Romesco sauce

Beet Vinaigrette

Sriracha Aioli

Pan Gravy

Pineapple Chutney

Red Pepper and Kim Chi Ketchup

Asian-Style Barbecue Sauce

So while we were able to taste those sauces with their recommended protein or vegetable, the structure didn't allow you to make any of the other sauces on the other teams.  The demos weren't too beneficial because we had things to get done and couldn't always see them.   I would have preferred to have like 10-15 sauces, watch a demo, then execute the sauce.  That's why I mentioned I don't really think i'm a better cook because of this class.  It was still fun though.  

cazzy

Little Steven said:

I was hoping he could recite the five mother sauces and all of their derivitives

Nope...that wasn't covered but i've actually read about the five mother sauces.

Foghorn

bacon grease, Crisco, hamburger grease, chicken stock, and vinegar?  Those were my mother's 5 sauces.

I didn't realize she was so famous.

Little Steven

cazzy said:

cazzy said:

Well it was a pretty cool class! We were devided into 4 teams and had a protein and 3 different sauces on all but 1 team. The 4th team had grilled veggies and 3 sauces. They had a demo here and there to see what the other teams were doing. Would I say I'm a better cook because of this class? Maybe a lil bit, but I have several recipes and saw how each sauce was paired with different protiens. At the end, we had a pretty awesome buffet style meal together. Really cool experience and they gave us a cook book and we kept our aprons. I was responsible for the beef tenderloin...I know, way to put yourself out there. It actually worked out perfect cause I was able to float around as I did the steaks at the very end. They had Domino Kosher Salt and it's very fine, so it looked like more salt than it probably was. I definitely could have used more, but it was fine since we had plenty of sauces to go with it! Fun day and I encourage you to do a class as it was pretty badass to be in a professional kitchen. I will likely sign up for the knife class and a meat fabrication class if they have one. Pics to come later!

So what did you learn about sauces?

Honestly not a whole lot because of the structure.  Our team made the following sauces:

Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

Blackened Tomato Salsa

Bechamel for the Mac and Cheese

I was excited to see the process for properly executing the bechamel sauce.  It also showed me what I did wrong when my sauce broke last time.  

The other teams made:

Jus Lie

Peanut Sauce

Apple Chutney

Jalapeno Cilantro Compound Butter 

Romesco sauce

Beet Vinaigrette

Sriracha Aioli

Pan Gravy

Pineapple Chutney

Red Pepper and Kim Chi Ketchup

Asian-Style Barbecue Sauce

So while we were able to taste those sauces with their recommended protein or vegetable, the structure didn't allow you to make any of the other sauces on the other teams.  The demos weren't too beneficial because we had things to get done and couldn't always see them.   I would have preferred to have like 10-15 sauces, watch a demo, then execute the sauce.  That's why I mentioned I don't really think i'm a better cook because of this class.  It was still fun though.  

The New Professional Chef is pricy but worth ever penny. I think they have DVDs now too.

Griffin

Sounds like a good time. I'd love to take a class like that. I went through the first part of the interview process at the cordon bleu here in Dallas a few years back but didn't go through with it. Time and money were an issue.

cazzy

Walked up and saw the CIA students cooking a whole hog for the Farmers Market.  

Pretty dope mac & cheese w/ bacon

My team is ready to go!  

The filets were on me...pressure?  Nah...easy peasy!

Some thick, some thin, so they ranged from medium-rare to medium-rare plus.  

Grilled veggies surrounded by assorted sauces.

Roasted chicken

The rest of the spread

The good thing is that I definitely know which sauces I want to try and which ones I don't.  It will be fun practicing!     Didn't learn a ton, but it was fun and we finished with a great meal.