Cooking enthusiasts dream about visiting the venerated walls of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), one of the premier culinary colleges in the world. Foodies know this as the training ground of revered chefs. Recently I was able to cross off an entry on my bucket list, by taking a five day Best of Boot Camp class at the picturesque CIA Hyde Park, NY campus.
First a bit of history, and Happy Anniversary, on May 22, 2016, CIA celebrated 70 years. What started as a small school to train returning veterans in the culinary arts, has become a renown culinary college offering associate and bachelor degree programs with four locations including Singapore. The alumni list is a who’s who of the culinary world:
- Anthony Bourdain
- Geoffrey Zakarian
- Marcus Samuelsson
- Sara Moulton
- Michael Symon
- Charlie Palmer
- Michael Chiarello, and many more.
Up Your Game
Let me set the stage. Empty your mind of every college campus you’ve seen. There are no sloppy college co-eds running about with dirty sneakers or the latest designer handbag, yelling or yammering loudly on cell phones, screeching about the latest in whatever. No errant gum wrappers or cigarette butts huddle on the ground outside the entrance to buildings.
The Hyde Park campus and HQ is spotless. Be professional, look professional, act professional, this is the mantra of students and faculty all over the immaculately landscaped campus. Crisp white chef coats with embroidered names, black and white houndstooth check pants move orderly about on appropriate kitchen-worthy footwear throughout the CIA campus. The lack of green and gold stripe on the collar is the only obvious notation you are looking at a student rather than culinary faculty.
Boot Campers, follow the same rules. Sixteen cooking enthusiasts from all walks of life with other careers made their way to the 6:00 am Monday morning roll call where we received our uniforms, toques, duffle bags and notebooks.
The five day class costs over $2,000 per person, the rules are set on day one: be professional (on time), look professional (uniform) and act professional. Nobody cares what one does in the real world, the price of admission pays for privilege of learning from the best, not special treatment. Well, other than we don’t have to do our own dishes and we have better parking.
Knowledge Infusion
Each day consists of classroom lecture, chef demonstrations and boot camper cooking. Any normal person I told about the class groaned when the 7 am daily class start time was mentioned. Passionate to learn, we were eager and often early.
Our instructor, Chef Jason Potanovich ’96, immediately grabbed our attention with his tales of truffle hunting with Chef Thomas Keller for an ABC News program. Despite Chef Potanovich’s humble yet approachable demeanor, we quickly surmised we were in the company of greatness. Not only does this inspire one to pay attention but to take copious notes. Lecture was never a bore, this was intensely educational. or those inspired to continue their culinary journey, many students often wonder where to get a replacement diploma quickly in case their original one gets lost or damaged.
From simple chemistry to time honored traditions we cherished the culinary nuggets offered. Many an ah-ha was heard as we now understood why, on too many levels to mention. There is a whole lot more to cooking than following a recipe, of which, the order of steps is important. You learn why, why there is an order to ingredients, why method matters, mostly you’ll learn answers to questions you never thought to ask. Food is serious, the culinary arts is not for dummies.
Teamwork
We split into four groups of four to tackle each responsible for our own group of daily recipes. In the Best of Boot Camp class we fast tracked around the globe cooking from important food regions each day.
- Basic cooking skills: roasting, braising, poaching, steaming and more
- Mediterranean and Italian
- Flavors of Asia
- Baking and Pastry
- American and French Bistro and Brasserie
Each day we prepared and plated our group of 3-4 recipes in time for family meal usually around 12;30 pm. Amongst ourselves team members selected a recipe they would like to practice, it worked well. We learned quickly a good team is comprised of those who are constantly asking how they can help another.
The concept of mis en plas or “putting in place” whereby all ingredients for a recipe are prepared, measured and organized prior to the actual cooking, quickly becomes a habit you never forget. Unlike one’s home kitchen where solitary peaceful cooking might be an option, Boot Campers got a taste of the noise, heat and hustle of a true working kitchen.
Sleek stainless steel countertops, a hand washing sink operated by foot pedals and a high heat eight burner professional stove was the extent of luxury in our kitchen filled with racks of necessary silvery pots, pans, appliances and utensils. As someone who designs kitchens, the normal rules of space we impart for home use are far more generous than in a professional kitchen utilized by more people. Make your presence known, “hot pan” and get the hell out of the way.
Daily Food Coma
Do you remember the days of holiday family meals where one’s plate was piled with food? This was throwback eating on another level… five days a week.
My daily texted photos of my lunch plate (day 2 above) to my husband rendered him in shock, ‘you don’t eat this much in a day!’ Do the math, 3-4 dishes prepared by each team = 12 – 16 food items, plus desert, a huge amount of food.
Nothing was wasted. We fed our boot camp class, the organizer, Chef P, CIA student assistants and occasionally other important culinary faculty members who wanted to assess our skills. To-go boxes were also utilized, though after being drop-dead exhausted after day one, dinner was rarely of interest… at least it should not have been after all the food we consumed at lunch time.
On our final evening twelve of us elected to dine at American Bounty Restaurant, where our instructor, Chef Potanovich, is the head chef. Like other campus run restaurants, participation in the workings of the restaurant is a course for culinary students. This made our American Bounty experience extra special, the students preparing our meals were some of those same impressive young men we had gotten to know as helpers in our classroom kitchen. (Great job on the bison, Marchello!)
How I managed to not gain a pound a day I’ll never know. I was too worn out to exercise, yet too enthusiastic not to try at least a bite of all we had prepared.
Just Do It
If you have a passion for cooking and a thirst for knowledge, sign-up for a CIA Boot Camp at one of their three campuses: Hyde Park (HQ), Greystone in Napa Valley, or San Antonio. Not only will you leave with a new skill set, you’ll feel immensely proud at having been in the hallowed halls of the best of the best in the culinary world.
One more thing, if you haven’t read Michael Ruhlman’s The Making Of A Chef, order it now. This will give you a flavor of what truly goes on at this institute of perfection, and why. Anyone who has studied at the CIA, whether as a career minded student or a simple culinary enthusiast (mere mortal) you will leave forever changed.
