Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Day 1: In which we meet our chef, and receive our syllabus

The night class instructor for Level 1 is chef Vic Sanchez, a former economist and member of the late senator Raul Roco's Senate staff. He also managed his family's restaurant for seven years and cooked for several major hotels in the Philippines, including the Mandarin.

In his first lecture, he talked about the giants of French culinary tradition: Boulanger, the "inventor" of the restaurant; Careme, who helped formalize cooking techniques; and Escoffier, the pioneer of nouvelle cuisine, a healthier kind of cooking with lighter sauces and respect for ingredients' distinct, natural flavors and whose Le Guide Culinaire is still considered the chef's bible.

There are two women and 19 men in my class. We are a diverse bunch - among our ranks are a call center agent, veterinarian, banker, a nursing board review center operator and a sexagenarian OFW recruiter.

This is our syllabus (click on the photo to zoom in):

1 comment:

  1. Imeets would like to invite graduates in culinary arts to join this July, a Cookery Program Level 4 in Dunedin, NZ. This Program allows you to get an international certification (NZQA), which is preferred by Kiwi employers. Benefits? Your entitled to work for 20hrs/week with pay including holidays. Bring your spouse & kids (kids study for free while your partner is allowed to work)) and an option to apply for permanent residency once you gain a job offer after the Program is completed. For more details, please contact iMeets at 6898403 (www.imeets.co.nz). Kia Ora!

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