Introduction to Pastry & Baking

Once you master essential cooking techniques, you possess the culinary grounding to cook both classical cuisines and the latest cooking styles. These full-participation classes teach fundamental skills, not just recipes. Most important, 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. The course consists of four 6-hour classes. Fine Cooking 1 is a prerequisite to Fine Cooking 2. The course completes in four days.

Seafood, vegetables, whole grains, herbs and olive oil are among the ingredients most associated with countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. They make for flavorful dishes that trigger memories of sunbathed vacations and leisurely meals. This class focuses on the cuisines of Southern France, Eastern Spain, Italy and Greece. You will cook your way through a menu-map that includes French olive tapenade on garlic toast; Greek briam; Spanish fideua Catalania; and Sicilian pesce spada.

Learn everything you need to know to recreate that quintessential New York staple, the bagel! Make everything you love about brunch, from the fixings to the bagels to the boozy beverages. We'll make: bagels (in multiple flavors: everything, salt, sesame, poppy seed); bagel fixings (scallion cream cheese, tomatoes, onions, capers, lox); whitefish salad; and Bloody Marys to wash it all down.

Let's eat like we're in Italy, from the apps all the way through to a rich dessert! These dishes put you back in that Mediterranean mindset...even if you've never been there. Make and sit down to this warm, comforting Italian banquet of: fried zucchini with Parmesan; veal saltimbocca alla romana; spaghetti carbonara; cavolfiore alla napoletana (cauliflower with raisins and pine nuts).