Hello – I’m back, or rather the CIA update is back – and we are on #4 🙂

The trouble with waiting such a long time to write another update is the vast amount of information I’d like to share and not knowing where to start. So here is my warning – this update might be jumpy in terms of timeline and is definitely lengthy. Let’s get going.

School Stuff
Last time I wrote I was in Skills I class. Since then, I have completed Skills II and Skills III classes (learning more technique fundamentals, cooking complete portions with protein, starch and vegetable, evaluating plate presentation, and most importantly cooking in quantity to serve actual students who ate lunch out of our kitchen). While the classes were interesting, and challenging (had to work in teams, and I’d rather not go into all the details about some of my partners…!), I was ready to move on and learn something new – there are only so many dishes that you can make with chicken.

Next class was Cuisine of Americas – we studied cuisine of North, Central and South America. My brain was once again challenged to learn new ingredients, combinations and techniques. The chef stressed the importance of knowing the origin of dishes, how they came about, their influence, etc. The class was similar to history of food study. In a way, it is funny how we form our opinions about chefs before we even enter their kitchens. Once again I am reminded of my high school experience – the more other students complain about their teachers, the more I end up liking them. So the lesson is – form my own opinion, disregard what other students say about the chefs – most likely or not, they are just complaining about high expectations and standards.

Then we moved on to Cuisines of Asia. It’s amazing how much we had to cram in 3 weeks. Starting from the cuisine of China, we moved to Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and finished up in India. Overwhelming to say the least, but definitely delicious and inspiring. Just last weekend I ate in a Thai restaurant (Thai Market in NYC, absolutely delicious) and it was quite rewarding to recognize the names of the dishes, being able to identify the origin and main ingredients. Pad Thai is no longer just a noodle dish with some toasted peanuts scattered on top 🙂 Chef Pardus who taught the class (he is famous for being one of the main chefs discussed in “Becoming a Chef”) by far had one of the best teaching techniques – we had daily quizzes (made us stay on track with studying), daily self evaluations, and ingredient tastings. Trust me, you really do not want to taste fish sauce on its own (you’d be amazed though the depth of flavor that a small amount of fish sauce can add to your dish – we call it umami).

Most recently I completed Food Quantity Production Class. All I can say is that after working 4 days on a panini line, I consider myself a sandwich artist and am ready to apply at Subway (I hope sarcasm screams at you through this paragraph). Honestly, the class was a joke and a disgrace to the school and students. I felt like we were used as free labor to serve breakfast (class was 1:30AM-11PM), lunch (7:30AM-4PM) and dinner (1:30PM-9:30PM) to students. I’ve never complained about the class so much. We were rotated through each portion of the class after 4 days, and I feel like my body is still out of whack. Sigh. I am planning to talk to some of the Deans at school and possibly write an article for the paper. …. Democracy…. 🙂

My next class will be Garde Manger – salads, pates, appetizers, sausages, cold dishes, etc.

Moving Time
As I have mentioned before, part of the Culinary Institute experience is the mandatory externship which happens half way through the 2-year program. For 18 consecutive weeks, students return to the real world and work at one of the approved sites (the list is quite extensive). The majority of students end up working at restaurants, hotels, and resorts – which are considered traditional externships.

Why be traditional? 🙂 Even before I started school, I knew that I didn’t see myself working in a large, mass production kitchen, so for my externship I decided to go to an alternative site. Drum roll please….IOWA 🙂 That’s right. I will be working at the Cuisine at Home (www.cuisineathome.com) magazine where I will be learning how to develop recipes, test and improve recipes, write and publish food stories/articles, and learn about food photography. I am ecstatic!!! The magazine has 8 test kitchens and a large photo studio. Many of the editors, etc at the magazine are CIA grads. It is exactly what I have been looking for. The magazine looks great (both in print and online), so far, the people at the magazine have been very nice and welcoming – I can’t wait 🙂

Clearly, I could think of more exciting locations to be – but unfortunately, magazines in New York City and Los Angeles do not pay their externs and do not provide housing, and I could not really afford living that way for 4.5 months. So Iowa it is – I even get a free membership to the magazine’s gym.

The plan is to drive to Des Moines, Iowa and start my externship on October 1st. At the end of 18 weeks, I will have about 3 weeks of vacation before starting school. My main concern right now is housing in Iowa. If by some miracle, anyone knows someone in Des Moines, let me know.

Vacation, etc.
Seems like vacation was a very long time ago 🙂 It was wonderful to see many of you in New York, DC, Dallas and Seattle – that’s quite a bit of driving and flying for 3 weeks, but definitely worth it. As much as I enjoy school, it’s always such a nice treat to get away 🙂 The school is truly in the middle of nowhere – I often feel isolated from the world. Location, location, location.

I continue to escape to New York city, when possible. I was there over 4th of July and had a picnic in Central Park with a bunch of you Dallasites 🙂 Olga took a train up from DC, and Jenny met up with us and brought along her NYU friends. I love not feeling like a tourist in the city anymore – just spending a regular day of strolling the streets, dining out, and relaxing in the park was exactly what I needed.

Recently I went back to the city for a day – a perfect sunny summer day. Had brunch at The Spotted Pig – the best french toast ever 🙂 ( www.thespottedpig.com). Very simple, thick slices of fresh bread, perfectly soaked in milk, egg and sugar mixture and grilled. Served with blackberry sauce, fresh blackberries and creme fraiche. I can still taste it 🙂 The restaurant is kind of crazy looking – pigs are everywhere – part of the decor. One gripe though – who charges $12 for one mimosa?!

Bits and Pieces
Participated in the Olivado Avocado Oil recipe contest. Through the Women Chef and Restaranteurs group, tested the recipes submitted by chefs – you’d be surprised how inaccurate some of them were, and the lack of flavor in others. Was a great experience, good learning opportunity – the judge panel was very approachable and friendly. I got to sit in and offer my opinion on recipes and listen to their critique.

Attended a presentation by Chef Jose Andres – he is very well known, especially in Washington DC where he owns quite a few restaurants. I was pretty much blown away by his enthusiasm and passion for food. He was extremely captivating and energetic. One of his interests is in molecular gastronomy – he did several food demonstrations that were quite incredible. He is working on capturing the essense of the first bite of steak – and hopes to offer it to his guests at one of the restaurants.

While in DC during my summer break, I went to one of his restaurants – Zaytinya (Med tapas) and spent a few hours in the kitchen. It’s a beautiful place, the food looked absolutely amazing (sadly, although promised, I was not offered any of the tapas for tasting). They make their own phylo dough and flavored liquor. At the end, the executive chef offered me the position (externship), but this experience once again proved that kitchen is not a place for me, so I declined the externship offer.

Dining out for free – went to Boston and New Jersey with the Women Chef and Restauranteurs Club – dined at two restaurants ran by women chefs – empowering experience. Women rule 🙂 The restaurant in Hoboken, NJ was especially wonderful. Latin American food, beautiful setting, very warm and gracious chef – Maricel Presilla ( www.cucharamama.com/) She treated us to an endless array of appetizers – we were so stuffed that decided to skip main course and head straight for the desert – smart decision. And it definitely did not hurt that they had a wonderful mojito (we all know how much I appreciate those) 🙂

Tastings – in the last couple of months, I’ve attended a cheese tasting and soy sayce tasting sponsored by the Gourmet club.

Roommate changes – due to personal issues, my original roommate moved out. After 3 blissful weeks of having the room all to myself, my new roommate moved in. She’s alright. Most of the time she is out of the room and is very quiet.

Newspaper – I continue to write for the school newspaper when I have time (lately that has been rather scarce). I’m going to attach one story that I wrote – enjoy 🙂

* * *
Next time I write, hopefully I will be safely in Des Moines, Iowa, sitting in my beautiful downtown loft (one can dream, right?)

I look forward to hearing how everything is with you.

Bon Appetit,

Anna

I think spring is finally here! (well, here in Hyde Park) – and it’s almost the end of April – I suppose better later than never 🙂 had a gorgeous weekend here, almost upper 70s, bright blue skies – everything is starting to bloom. Campus is looking beautiful. I even got brave enough to put away winter coats, etc. Now I’m just hoping it’s not going to snow again any time soon.

School
Good news – I’m done with Fish ID & Fabrication Class (I was done about 2 weeks ago when I first attempted to write this)- I no longer smell like fish and don’t have fish scales on my shoes, my chef jacket, or in my hair.

Bad news – I started Skills I class in which one of our daily assignments is to prepare a knife tray – cut 4 onions, 3 shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, tomato concasse, parsley chiffonade and potato – we are graded on size/uniformity of the cuts, speed, cleanliness, etc. So basically now I smell like garlic and onions instead of fish.

Class is going well – we progressed from beef/chicken stock to broth, consomme and have been making soups for the last 5 days or so. My refrigerator is stacked with sealed bags of beef/vegetable, French onion, Cream of Broccoli and Fish Chowder soups. Liquid diet weekend (actually most of the soups have a pretty high ratio of butter and/or cream!).

We’re moving to Sauces next week. So getting ready to be all sauced up 🙂

House Stuff, etc.
I’m getting used to sharing a room – but still miss my own apartment.
Ani is cool, we get along pretty well.

Slowly but surely trying to discover places around school. Over the weekend went to a small town next to Hyde Park – Rhineback – quite quaint. Had a glass of wine in a bar/restaurant and listened to a local live band. Will have to come back during the day and discover more of it.

New York, New York
Treated myself to a birthday weekend in the city. Fun times – Olga took a train from DC and we hung out with old friends in the city and some new friends from the school. As usual, lots of eating out, some shopping, sightseeing. It was fun. Looking forward to a next visit – my Dallas peeps who are in NY now – will give you a call so we can hang out 🙂

Summer Plans
Starting to plan my summer vacation – I have 3 weeks off in July. Will be in DC and Seattle, and might squeeze in a few days in Dallas. Stay put for further updates 🙂

Apparently my attempt for weekly updates was a bit too ambitious 🙂

If you haven’t read my first email (shame of you! j/k) here’s a short update – I’m now at CIA in Hyde Park, New York.

Alright, let’s move on to the next installment of “life @ CIA.”

School
Today is the official end of the first block – 6 weeks into my culinary education. I had 2 midterms and 3 finals this week. This gives a good idea of the school lifestyle – hectic, busy, overwhelming at times and intense. After the first 6 weeks, I can tell you about the timeline and history of cuisines, identify items in the cabbage family and tell you that ambering on the grapes indicates that they are high in sugar content 🙂

On Monday I start Meat Fabrication class at 6:40 AM. It’s a seven day class, about 6 hours a day of meat, meat, meat! Cuts, cooking techniques, fabrication, costing, etc. This means we’ll finally be wearing our uniforms (still white – for now at least…embroidered with our names and the school’s name). All the tools are engraved with the CIA’s logo – just in case we forget where we are 🙂

After the Meat Fabrication class, we will move on to the Fish Fabrication class – similar idea – 7 days, 6 hours a day of fish. Oh the aroma… 🙂

“Rich” & Famous
One great benefit of being at the CIA is the access to the “Rich” & Famous of the Food Industry.

Just last month, we had a food writing panel hosted by the Gourmet Club that included Kim Severson (NY Times), Salma Abdelnour (Food & Wine), William Sertl (Gourmet), Melissa Clark (freelance, cookbooks) and Victoria von Biel (Bon Appetit). Each of them gave their take on the world of culinary writing and publishing, how to get in it and where to start. Motivated and encouraged, I submitted a story I wrote a while ago to the student newspaper “Culinary Vacations.” It actually got published 🙂

A few days later, Ann Cooper (previously a chef and a restaurateur) came on campus to talk about her Healthy Lunches initiatives at public schools. She’s basically a very passionate “lunch lady” who wants to feed the children local and seasonal, fresh (unprocessed) food and to teach them how to grow fruits and vegetables and cook for themselves. No more tater tots and frozen chicken nuggets in schools!!!

Oh, and can’t forget Duff Goldman!!! Yes, the Ace of Cakes himself was here at CIA to talk about his show on Food Network, how he started his own business, his passion for cakes, etc. What a cool guy!

Side note – if you would like to see a bit of the school itself and the school atmosphere, try to catch at episode of “Dinner Impossible” on Food Network – one of the episodes was taped here on campus, in the kitchens and was first aired two weeks ago.

A few other culinary events (these happen almost weekly or a few times a week) we’ve had:
*chocolate tasting and demonstration
*wine and dessert pairing
*kosher wines and fresh matzoh (coming up this weekend)
*clam chowder cook-off (coming up this weekend)

Life “Outside” of School
– got a job as a math tutor
– applied for NY driver’s license, car registration, etc.
– found a pretty good sushi restaurant w/n 5 minutes of school
– visiting the gym quite often (don’t want to be a statistic in terms of weight gain) 🙂
– not getting anywhere enough sleep
– still adjusting to the dorm life (contemplating applying for the Resident Advisor position to get my own room)

In general, time is flying by! I’m ready for the spring to finally get here (we had a foot of snow last weekend!) and it’s still pretty cold here.

Overall I’m glad I’m here. There are some really great people on campus – the student body is rather diverse, which definitely makes things more interesting and fun!

This is all for now.

***Disclaimer***
Somewhat detailed information is included, feel free to skip through. If you would like to be removed from the list for future updates, please let me know 🙂

Let us begin 🙂

Getting to the CIA
The trip to CIA began on Sunday, February 11th when Olga and I boarded our first Amtrak train from Union Station, DC heading to Penn Station, NY. 3.5 fabulous hours later we arrived to Penn Station and met up with Jenny for a quick lunch. Refreshed and refueled we then boarded the second train to Poughkeepsie, NY. Even in the winter time, the ride was quite beautiful and calming.

Once on campus, we immediately went to my residence hall and were greeted by my new roommate Ani. Our room has the typical dorm set up with two beds, two desks, some drawers and very small closets. I am thankful though that it’s only a double occupance and that we do have our own bathroom. Overall, the room exceeded my expectations, and now that I am mostly unpacked and have my personal momentos displayed, it doesn’t feel so institutional 🙂 Most importantly, I like my roommate, and so far we get along very well.

Back to day 1 though, I gave Olga a tour of the beautiful campus, the library and the restaurants located on campus. After a quick dinner at the student cafeteria, I send my dear sis on a cab ride back to Poughkeepsie station.

I am SO thankful that Olga came with me and helped me to move:) That’s what sisters are for.

First 2 Days of Orientation aka Blurry Days
The first two days as a new student, I had orientation! And what “fun” that was 🙂
Your basic guidelines in terms of being a student, your classes, school policies/expectation, etc. On top of that we had team building activities, shared lunch and dinner (the school does have pretty fabulous food! – as one would expect).

We also got measured for uniforms (we get chef jackets embroidered with our names), got our textbooks and knife/tool sets. Very exciting! (It’l be 6 weeks before we get to use our knifes – the first set of classes are strictly academic and is outside of the kitchens).

My schedule has only 3 classes – Gastronomy, Product Knowledge and Culinary Math (regularly, students also have to take Food Safety and Writing, but I transferred credits for the two classes and don’t have to take them).

First Day of Classes… or so we thought
I was really looking forward to starting classes on Wednesday, but alas, the weather had different plans for us. For the first time in many, many years, the school got cancelled due to a snowstorm. 🙂 We had over a foot of snow on the ground. Everything was white and beautiful and very, very cold.

The classes resumed on the following day. It’s too early to tell about the professors and the classes (except that math will be a bore) – will update on that later 🙂

More on Food…
The first few weeks, the new students are encouraged to eat “on stage” in the main dining room hall where they are served by other students. Regardless of whether you are eating lunch or dinner, each meal includes an appetizer, main course and dessert. Some of the dishes we had so far have included mushroom risotto, duck pate, canapes, poached salmon, beef – lots and lots of beef, creme brulee, tapioca pudding, fruit tarts and chocolate mousse. There’s always plenty of freshly baked bread on the table. Here’s an interesting fact – on average, a new student at the CIA gains 10-30 pounds a year!!!

As part of tuition, students receive two meals a day during the week. No food on weekends. Some dorms have shared kitchen with limited hours of operation.

Student Life
New students enter CIA every three weeks.
My class has 88 students, almost equally divided in terms of gender and in terms of traditional/nontraditional students. Half of the students will receive Culinary Arts and half will receive Baking and Pastry specialization. Most live on campus at residence halls. I have started the process of “getting to know your fellow students” and it’s going well! We are a very interesting and diverse bunch of people. There’s an opera singer in the group – I’m still trying to figure out who that is.

There are plenty of students organizations/clubs on campus that do tastings, panel discussions, sport activities, social activities, etc. This week the school will host a panel discussion with members of the culinary writing world and then there’s also going to be a “potato event” – where the science club will demonstrate what to do with potatoes 🙂

The Weekend
On Saturday, Ani and I walked to our local grocery shop – about 25 minutes from campus. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of produce – the store is called Shop & Stop 🙂
Carrying the groceries back wasn’t as much fun, but we made it back.

Saturday evening my car was finally delivered from Dallas! What a relief.

On Sunday I joined the international club and we took a train to New York City to celebrate Chinese New Year with a traditional dim sum brunch. Later we walked around China Town and Little Italy and then went to Chelsea’s Market. I’m in love!!! Imagine a mall where instead of Gap and Banana Republic, you have bakeries, Italian groceries, delis, kitchen supply stores, flower shops, gelato stores, etc. That’s Chelsea Market. We spent a few hours walking around. Will definitely have to come back.

In the evening, I met up with Jenny at Union Square and spent some time at the NYU business school. Later that night we had wonderful Indian food at Baluci’s and concluded the evening watching Desperate Housewives in Jenny’s beautiful loft (where I spent the night). Thank you – my NY hostess 🙂

Monday morning after breakfast with Jenny at a local bagel shop, I headed uptown to meet up with Cheryl and Riley! How is it that I move from Dallas just to have my Dallas friends follow me to New York? 🙂 We had a wonderful lunch at Le Pain Quotidien Belgian Bakery and walked through Central Park – how amazing! The park is completely covered in snow and has a very serene quiet feeling. Beautiful! Stopped by and looked around at Zabar on the Upper West Side (New York’s gourmet epicurean emporium). We then strolled down Madison Ave on the East Side where I had a refresher course in high fashion names 🙂 So shiny! Lovely seeing you – it was almost weird how “not weird” it felt hanging out with you in NY. I’m glad I got caught up on my play time with Riley 🙂 Will see you in the city soon.

This brings us to the end of my first week here. I caught a Metro North train back to Poughkeepsie and got back on campus at 8pm.

I really wanted to send this to you tonight and let you all know that I’m doing well and am excited to be here. Miss you and hope you are doing well.