The French Country Kitchen

Prosecco, prosciutto and provolone: some of life’s simplest and tastiest pleasures come straight out of Italy. Join ICE Director of Wine Studies Richard Vayda for a delicious discussion, as you tour some of the major wine regions of Italy while tasting traditional cheeses and cured meats. Winemaking, as well as the production of cheeses and salami, will be covered. Throughout it all, you'll enjoy a variety of scrumptious Italian pleasures, from fresh and uncomplicated to rich and complex. Un vero festival! We'll taste at least eight wines, plus matching cheeses.

ICE’s Fine Cooking series are the classes on which our recreational program’s reputation was built. This intensive course expands on our Fine Cooking 1 series and takes a deeper dive into essential culinary techniques. These full-participation classes teach fundamental skills, not recipes. This course covers everything from fileting a fish, to properly sautéing, to cover poaching techniques and fundamental sauce making. As you advance through the series, you’ll gradually come to understand each cooking concept. You’ll have a firm grasp of ingredients and equipment; you’ll know why things happen; you'll learn how to avoid and correct mistakes. Most importantly, you’ll gain the experience you need to cook with confidence and pleasure - without relying strictly on recipes. Each class culminates with a student-prepared meal. Prerequisite: Fine Cooking 1.

Experience the bold, aromatic flavors of the Caribbean in this "Essentials of West Indian Cooking" class! You’ll make Haitian Soup Joumou and Jamaican Jerk Chicken; Dominican Gandules and Rice with caramelized plantains; and Trinidadian Channa Doubles (a beloved and satisfying street food). It’s a smoky-meets-spicy, sweet-plus-savory menu that gives you a taste of the islands – and the skills to replicate them at home.

Nothing beats the rich flavor and perfectly al dente texture of handmade pasta. So let's practice making our own pastas by hand and concoct some rich fillings, learning how to stuff ravioli, tortellini and cannelloni. As we make these three heavenly pastas, we'll complete them with homemade sauces that are the perfect complement to each shape and filling. You'll handcraft: lemon ricotta ravioli with sage brown butter, roasted red pepper tortellini in fra diavolo sauce, and beef angolotti in brodo.