Today I attended a Gluten Free cooking class at the Kitchen Shoppe in Carlisle, PA. The class was taught by Chef Amber Clay. Jennifer McCahan, RD LDN was also on hand to answer questions.
If you have never taken a cooking class at the Kitchen Shoppe you will definitely be surprised at how it resembles a cooking show on TV. Chef Amber is up front with a mirror above her and two TV screens to show you everything she does. Two sous chefs were on hand to help with the cooking and to hand out the goodies that were on the menu. Chef Amber has a great personality and her sense of humor comes through often making the class an enjoyable experience for the audience despite the product endorsements she makes during the whole class – which are to be expected.
This was not a hands-on class which meant we were observers in Chef Amber’s kitchen but we did get to sample each of the five dishes (plus variations.) Each participant – we had 16 – had a table setting with water, white wine and coffee or tea as offered beverages. Each time Chef Amber created a dish we got to taste the results. Each of us got to take home the recipes of the day plus some handouts from Ms. McCahan. (One of which is about grain milling and includes wheat – I hope that did not confuse anyone. It had no title and did not site the source though she did say in class where it came from.)
The recipes covered today ranged from quesedilas made with corn tortillas to a marble snack cake made with a rice/tapioca flour blend. Chef Amber explained where her ingredients came from and how she had label checked to make sure we were getting gluten free items such as salsa, sauces and vanilla. No one mentioned if the wine was gluten-free, but hopefully it was.
The folks in class included varied backgrounds from those with celiac disease to some with gluten intolerance to those with only an interest in gluten-free cooking. Many of us were cooking for others with conditions. There also seemed to be varying levels of knowledge of methods of basic food preparation. Chef Amber tried to cover the the variances by discussing each technique as if we had never done it before. Those of us familiar with yeast baking got an overly long re-education on it, but others were definitely learning it for the first time.
So what was my impression of the class? I have to say that in all I was disappointed in the class.
As someone who has been researching gluten-free diets for only a few months I was surprised that there was very little new information in this class for me. I was expecting a well-researched class that talked about the variations of gluten-free cooking that I had only heard about but never seen. Unfortunately all of the baked items in the class used the same rice/tapioca flour mix so there was little variation in flour blends. The recipes presented were run of the mill as far as food fare goes and the results we got to sample ranged from not bad (the crepes) to pretty awful (the pasta – it was cold which made it worse.) The snack cake was expectedly sandy as nearly all gluten-free baked goods are though it was a bit moister than most which made me wonder what it would be like tomorrow.
It was pretty clear to several of us in class that Chef Amber hasn’t had much experience with gluten-free cooking beyond reading and trying a few recipes to put this class on. She also did not seem to understand one of the main reasons many of us were there – to make a better product. She made one remark that I felt summed up her role in the experience. She was discussing the toppings for the pizza she was making – carmelized onions, prosciutto, sauteed mushrooms – and said something to the effect of if you can’t have a great crust, at least the toppings will be good. Something similar was said about the cake and frosting – implying that a not-so good cake can be made better by a good frosting.
This was a huge let down. What I wanted most from the class was a way to make a great tasting product with a normal texture. Any of us can open a mix to get so-so results, what we want is great food with or without the toppings!
It was also disappointing that Ms. McCahan was not better prepared. One question that several of us wanted an answer to was ”is there a difference between potato flour and potato starch.” Both Ms. McCahan and Chef Amber said they thought nutritionally they weren’t different, but neither seemed particularly sure if they were interchangeable. So we all left with that unanswered question. I did look it up when I got home and they are not nutritionally the same nor are they interchangeable. Seems that potato starch only contains the starch of the potato and potato flour contains the whole potato so nutritionally they are different and they would also act differently in recipes. Potato starch and potato starch flour ARE the same thing. These are the types of questions we had hoped to have answered. My hope is that both Chef Amber and Ms. McCahan look this one up before their NEXT gluten-free class so they have the correct answer next time.
OK, that all sounds pretty negative I guess, but do I think I wasted my $49? Absolutely not.
Though the class was not what I had hoped for, the experience of the class was very positive. The tastes of various foods, the beverages, the learning environment – all of this was enjoyable.
But by far the most valuable aspect of this class, and something I wish could be carried forward in a food club of some kind, was meeting other local people who were also out there reading labels, trying restaurants and cooking some really good food. I learned about what some local vendors were selling and that the local GF store in Dillsburg unfortunately closed two weeks ago. We discussed failed recipes and our tips for storing all that flour in our freezers. There was lots of “Did you know…” “Have you tried…” “And I saw the other day…” sharing.
The knowledge in this class definitely was with the students, not the teachers, and it felt good to be among a group all fighting the same battles. That part of the experience was definitely worth the price of admission and then some.
If the Kitchen Shoppe wanted to improve this class, what could they do? The best thing would be for Chef Amber to work with some real people who cook gluten-free on a daily basis who make good tasting, good textured food – better than what most of us do on a daily basis or can get from a box. She could show different flour blends and which are best for what situation since they are not all created equal. She and her attending nutritionist could do some additional research and be ready for the common gluten-free questions. And they could offer some really good food instead of the same old “not bad but not great” fare most people are familiar with.
Again, this class is worth taking to meet people with similar food issues and to enjoy an afternoon out, but unless you are very new to the gluten-free club you will not learn anything from the actual course.
