Atten-tion! Okay you lily-livered landlubbers! Stand up and listen! This here is Boot Camp, see, and it's high time you learned some kitchen basics.
Yeah, so Biltmore's Culinary Boot Camp is hardly militant, but it will get you slicing, dicing, and cooking better than you currently do... even if you still haven't graduated from the Chef Boyardee Academy. It's not a bad deal for $450, either, since it lasts for three half-days and includes three glorious meals with wine, coffee, and pastries for breakfast. Oh yeah, and don;t forget the apron, binder with useful notes, and easy-to-make recipes.
The class is great for various levels of cooks. The session we attended at the start of the year consisted of a yacht-bound chef, a homemaker, a journalist who likes to eat more than cook, and a medical sales rep in the midst of following the P90X diet. (There's another version called Culinaria for Spanish speakers, but our lack of Rosetta Stone made participating in those classes unrealistic and, frankly, dangerous.)
Every few weeks the Biltmore Culinary Academy's (BCA) founding director Lourdes Castro flies down from her New York nest to teach up to 10 students everything from how to segment a lemon to which part of a cow is best for stewing. They don't tackle desserts, but hopefully that will come later.
Check out our interview with Castro for more insights, or just check back in tomorrow for a breakdown of what you'll learn.
The next session will take place October 13-15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To sign up, visit BCA's website or call 305-913-3131.
