Instead of “live well”, the French say “Eat well:” Mangez bien
One of the reasons I wanted to attend the Professional Chef Program at the Natural Epicurean was to learn how to live well through eating well. I feel strongly that how we fuel our bodies has a real impact in the other areas of our life. The last week at school was a good reminder of this passion that I am continuing to cultivate in the hopes I can translate it to helping others learn the same.
The week was intense, but a treat as we worked with French Chef Alain Braux, a Master Pastry Chef and author among other things, and learned how to make and think about putting together Vegetarian Recipes and Menus (VRM) for specific health concerns such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
In the afternoons we learned about specific foods and nutrients that can help with each of the mentioned diseases-whether in prevention or as an aid in reversal and treatment. In our morning labs we made some amazing recipes and learned about what ingredients have powerful properties in helping with these lifestyle diseases. Here’s a glimpse at what we were privileged to cook and taste:
Cardiovascular Disease Menu
Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Menu
Cancer Menu
A highlight this week was definitely the sampling of all these recipes! So many of the dishes this week were over-the-top tasty! My classmate can’t stop raving about the roasted vegetables with pesto. I can’t wait to make the sweet potato pie and no-pasta veggie lasagna for anyone who comes over-hint-hint family (come visit us in Texas!). And OOOOHHHHHhhhh. .. the Pineapple Basil Sorbet! YUM!
On the challenge side of things- this week was a bit intense and we had to learn a new order of operations and different expectations. We had different procedures when presenting our dishes and it was a bit of a race at times. However, by the end of the week I felt like our little group was more efficient and tidier than we have been before. We even seemed to have many less dishes to wash. This week also came with quite a bit of homework -readings, prepping recipes, studying for the test, and preparing a research project and presentation. Little Plate and Mr. Plate felt how I was MIA and we are all looking forward to Fall Break the week after next.
And then…Quarter Two!! We will be the senior students as the new fall track takes our place as the freshman students. I can’t believe how fast it has all gone by. I feel like this last week gave me a little glimpse into Quarter Two which seems to offer the more health-supportive modalities and philosophies as we continue to hone our general culinary skills. I can’t wait!
Loves,
Ash
PS- Little Plate is now officially Two Years OLD! Happy Birthday to the sweetest thing in my life! I am going to try to make her a 100% homemade/ more health supportive version of this:
Ice Cream Cake with Sugar Cone Crust
Food for Thought
This week we talked a lot about the controversy surroundings GMOs. We talked about the potential health dangers and how to be better educated as professional chefs and consumers. There are a lot of misunderstandings surrounding the different terms used in the marketing of food but here are a few labels that (although imperfect-a step in the right direction) I feel actually mean something. . .
This topic deserves a whole post… series of post. . . it’s own website… but if you want to look into it a little right now check these out:
If for no other reason you buy organic, buy it because GMOs are prohibited (and let’s keep it that way!):
For your viewing Pleasure: