Tuesday, June 4, 2019
By Brian Foley, Web Content Specialist
The first few minutes of the cooking workshop begin slowly, as ingredients are catalogued, cookware is organized, and participants trickle through the doorway. But once the menu is parsed and the meals are selected, a whir of activity takes over the kitchen-classroom crossover.
On Saturday, June 1, instructor Chantal Currie closed out the spring cooking session at Riverside High School Community Center with the latest in her Taste of the World series, this time featuring Argentinian cuisine. Currie has been leading Recreation classes for over a decade, teaching upwards of 50 different international cooking classes across all 6 of the world's inhabited continents in the process (though Currie could probably whip up a solid meal with some Antarctican rations as well).
"I enjoy teaching cooking classes because I think it is great for people to experience new foods and cultures that they may never have thought about trying," Currie said. "It can also make people come out of their comfort zone of eating the same food."
In her most recent session, Currie took her participants on a culinary tour of Argentina with a brief history lesson and an expansive menu that included recipes for chimichurri, berenjen en escabeche, ensalada de pepinos, locro soup, salsa criolla, milanese de brenjenas, ensalada de tomatoes y cebellos, carbondada criolla, and several Argentinian desserts. Over the three-hour session, participants discuss several meal options with Currie to prepare, create, and eat.
"Chantal always has a spirit of the job and always presents well," longtime Riverside Recreation attendee Louis Poore said. "She is very friendly, engaging, and knowledgeable, and does good research."
Research is the common thread among her scores of international cooking classes. She pulls recipe ideas and information involving the specific countries from topical news stories and a range of television programs, including from the late Anthony Bourdain's show.
"Chantal really does an exceptional job researching each of her classes and providing background information to her participants," Recreation supervisor Julie McLaren said. "She’ll share the history of the country and facts she learns about the culture and food. I think participants really enjoy that element of the class, and she really goes above and beyond."
Currie's relaxed teaching style and detailed recipes make it easy for participants to leave each class with new cooking knowledge and a sense of accomplishment. Bourdain's messages have had an outsized impact on Currie, and his quote - “good food is very often, even most often, simple food” - from his 2000 book, "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" certainly shines through during her sessions.
Her favorite place to travel is Europe, but Currie's preferred cooking style is Middle Eastern and Mediterranean, two approaches in which she will be able to dive into this summer. From late June to early August, Currie will be leading 10 different cooking classes at the Riverside and Hamilton locations. Click the below links to register and find more information on her summer workshops:
Visit our seasonal activity guide and our online registration page to sign up for more summer programming!