A Look Inside Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy

Have you always drooled over the foods prepared by Ã山ǿ¼é chefs and students but felt you could never make them yourself? I know I did; the last thing I thought of myself was culinarily gifted. That was only for the rising star chefs at JWU, I believed.

Well, I was wrong.

For years, Ã山ǿ¼échefs have been helping non-foodies and foodies alike develop and refine skills in the kitchen through interactive cooking classes formerly known as Chef’s Choice© and now known as Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy. They’re avenues for exploring global cuisines, learning how to pair foods with wines, and encouraging kids and teens to explore their creative side in the kitchen.

What does Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy offer?

Hands-on cooking classes led by experts are helpful for people at all culinary levels. Options for various ages, preferences and circumstances include:

• Recreational cooking classes that help you sharpen your cooking skills under the direction of professional chef-instructors, letting you focus on favorite dishes, desserts or confections and then gathering together to eat what you’ve prepared
• Summer cooking camps for kids and teens to sharpen skills in a professional-grade kitchen while learning cooking and baking fundamentals, techniques and safety. Kids aged 10-12 and teens aged 13-17 can choose to explore culinary (savory cooking) or baking and pastry (desserts, breads and sweet pastry)
• Wine and beverage education through JWU, an Approved Program Provider for the globally recognized Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) — providing a thorough grounding in food pairings, wine and beverage production, and wine-tasting techniques
• Customized classes for corporate or private events providing groups of colleagues, families or friends with a fun bonding experience in the kitchen, whether learning to prepare meals, incorporating a competitive challenge or participating in interactive food and wine pairing dinners
• Inside the Professional Kitchen classes designed for experienced culinary professionals and dedicated food enthusiasts comfortable with professional equipment and fast-paced kitchens who are ready to expand their knowledge while networking with industry professionals and enthusiasts

See Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy in action:

If you’re ready to explore everything from knife skills or artisan breads to week-long culinary camps, check out future Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy offerings in Providence and Charlotte.

Explore Providence Classes     Explore Charlotte Classes

Recreational Cooking Classes at Johnson & Wales

Recreational cooking and baking for all levels is the foundation of Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy. “Instructing the public population in Kitchen Academy is amazing,” states Gill Stansfield, assistant dean of Ã山ǿ¼éProvidence’s College of Food Innovation & Technology. “We show our guests how to properly fabricate chicken and other proteins. We also show tricks of the trade, like how to peel an entire bulb of garlic and how to cut bell peppers without leaving a seed on the cutting board. Some knife skills that are second nature to us are often new and innovative to the guest.”

Ã山ǿ¼éCharlotte Professor of Hospitality Management Piyavan Sukalakamala taught Thai Noodles, Thai Curries, Thai Entrées and Thai Seafood at Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy. “We have had many repeat participants; some have taken every class I have taught/we have offered,” she states. “Many participants have expressed how happy they are to cook the dishes they learned at home, which is one of their main goals in attending these classes.”

“I believe students will learn new skills and knowledge about the ingredients and techniques, get information about where to get the ingredients, and feel very comfortable that they can reproduce that learned product/skills in their home,” states Harry Peemöeller, senior instructor in Ã山ǿ¼éCharlotte’s College of Food Innovation & Technology, whose Kitchen Academy teachings have included French Breakfast Pastries, Holiday Breads & Pastries, Old World Holiday Bread and Pastries, The Art of Artisan Bread (two levels), Baking with Whole Grain, European Café, Cheesecake, Deep Fried Pastries, Viennoiserie, Organic Baking, South of the Border and Ice Cream. He has faith that anyone can learn to bake, stating that as long as you have an oven, you can do everything else with your hands.

Peemöeller says, “Above all, Kitchen Academy is about being entertained and having a positive/fun time.”

What’s it like taking Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy classes?

Lee Rocamora, M.D., a member of JWU’s Epicurean Scholarship Society, has taken an impressive amount of culinary classes at JWU, including Cooking Light: Italian Style, Bread Baker’s Apprentice, True Thai, Flavors of the Sun: Mediterranean Cooking, Spectacular Starts and Fantastic Finishes, American Pie: Making Perfect Pizza, Sushi Blues, A Taste of Italy, Sensational Seafood, Asian Street Food, Lock, Stock, and Barrel, Tuscan Trattoria, The French Bistro, Low Country Cookin’, The Mexican Table, Historic Breads of Europe, Pacific Rim, Warming Winter Soups and Feliz Navidad: It’s a Mexican Fiesta. Rocamora appreciates that the recreational classes “are geared to the processes of cooking and not just a specific recipe.”

He adds, “The instructors and assistants have been truly engaged with me as well as the other participants. They are all hands-on, so I learn the techniques of preparation and cooking.”

For Jennifer Newton, Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy is a family affair. Over the years, the Newtons have taken Brunch with Chef Quentina Stewart; Italian (Osso Bucca) with Chef Tom DeRose; Biscuits with Chef Ellen Duke; Pizza with Chef Peter Reinhart; Galette with Chef Cece Kriles; All about Curries, True Thai and Oriental Vibe with Piyavan “Dr. P” Sukalakamala and both Holiday Breads and Artisan Breads with Chef Harry Peemöeller — not to mention that her daughter has taken four summer classes through JWU’s kids’ camp over the past three years.

“The most valuable parts of the classes are the community (both professors/chefs, and other attendees), the shared joy of cooking and the entrance into a secret society of knowledge, learning techniques, habits and processes that chefs do automatically but the uninitiated do not know,” Newton shares. “We were initially surprised that we enjoyed it so much and kept wanting to go back.”

I also plan to take more classes. My initial worry about being outed as incompetent the first time I picked up a utensil turned into three hours of in-kitchen fun followed by community building as we shared the various dishes we’d made. There’s hope for all of us in a Ã山ǿ¼ékitchen.

How does Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy improve your culinary skills?

“I have used many [recipes], and some have been the basis of exploring beyond,” shares Rocamora. One hit tip he learned: “When searing meats, be sure the pan is hot before putting in the protein so it will release when [it’s] time to move it.”

“We used the pasta, biscuit, pad Thai, curry, pizza, focaccia, some bread recipes and many more,” Newton shares. “They generally turned out well. Reproducing things was a struggle, but we could see that our skills improved.” One tip she learned: “The most crucial ingredient in bread is time.”

For my part, I now know I’ve been whisking eggs wrong my whole life. Instead of whisking in circles, I learned to use more of a back-and-forth motion. I also can brag that I’ve made things like gnocchi and polenta from scratch, armed with printed recipes and memories from my class so I can make them again. Others in my class had whispered “Oh, so that’s how you do it” during each chef’s demonstrations, such as how to properly truss a chicken, and I don’t doubt they’ve employed their new knowledge in their own homes as well.

Newton used to overwork her biscuits, but she learned at Ã山ǿ¼éto knead less, while her family learned to freeze and shave their butter for biscuits. “We also learned that some items, like curry, are just as good premade, but others like pad Thai need to be from scratch,” she adds. “We enjoyed learning which ingredients and companies are best to buy from.”

Safety and sanitation are emphasized in every Kitchen Academy class. “Our daughter learned that a dull knife is a dangerous knife,” Newton shares. Luckily, knife sharpeners are accessible at weekly events including Providence’s and the .

A Chef’s View of Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy

“We have a lot of fun showing guests how to use minimal amounts of cookware to make clean-up easier for them at home,” Stansfield states. “We also show them the importance of keeping food out of the temperature danger zone. We teach them the mother sauces so that they can make flavorful sauces at home. We try to teach them to be better consumers when grocery shopping what to avoid, buying local, cooking different cuts or meat and making them flavorful. And finally, we reiterate the importance of sustainability and total product utilization.”

One shopping tip Stansfield, who has four teenage/young adult sons with large appetites, shared in my class was that non-members can get a day pass to shop at Restaurant Depot. He often purchases meat from the food warehouse in 50-pound quantities, knowing it won’t go to waste in his home, and he experiments with different recipes for his family to try.

Sukalakamala notes in addition to needing the right equipment, such as bamboo steamers or woks, and fresh ingredients for each dish, student culinary assistants are crucial. I know I was impressed during my Italian cooking class as two Ã山ǿ¼éstudent culinary assistants constantly rotated, always available to whisk away a dirty pan or utensil, help participants identify ingredients or walk people through using an iCombi or other equipment. Someday they may be star chefs, but right now they are helping Kitchen Academy participants have a smooth experience. She identifies one thing attendees can bring: “An open mind and a willingness to try new recipes.”

Peemöeller agrees: “Show up with a positive spirit and expectation of a great time of learning and companionship!”

What is Ã山ǿ¼éKitchen Academy teaching this fall?

Upcoming offerings in Providence this fall include Soups & Stocks, “Crocktober” one-pot meals, Thanksgiving sides from scratch, and a family holiday bake-off of festive breads, cookies, bars and other sweet treats.

Although Ã山ǿ¼éCharlotte isn’t offering recreational or corporate classes until the spring, wine lovers and professionals who are ready to be introduced to wine study can take in-person WSET Level I Award in Wines (earning a WSET certificate and pin after successful completion of the exam) this fall, with more advanced courses following in the spring.

Start your burners; with experienced Johnson & Wales instructors and helpful culinary students behind us in the kitchen, even non-foodies like me can’t go wrong.

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