{"id":24568,"date":"2012-03-21T20:37:29","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T20:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=24568"},"modified":"2019-12-04T09:52:53","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T14:52:53","slug":"10-things-i-learned-from-culinary-school-alison-barnett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/food\/10-things-i-learned-from-culinary-school-alison-barnett\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things I Learned From Culinary School"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My name is Alison, and I am a Jewish day-school grad from Columbus, Ohio…enrolled in a non-kosher culinary\u00a0school. I did this because I want to learn EVERYTHING about food! Crabs, lobsters, pork, shellfish, shrimp\u00a0and all other forms of treif<\/em> as well as non-treif<\/em>. I want to touch it, cook it and experience it. Even if\u00a0we cook something from kosher ingredients,<\/a> it is always in non-kosher pots and\u00a0pans and therefore forbidden for me to eat.<\/p>\n

My rabbi told me I could taste my\u00a0assignments as long as I don\u2019t swallow anything, but I can\u2019t get the full flavor\u00a0unless it hits every taste bud on my tongue – not the easiest thing to do. I pretty\u00a0much avoid tasting and, instead, practice with kosher versions of the food at home.<\/p>\n

So why am I putting myself through this? Why don\u2019t I just go to CKCA or the Jerusalem\u00a0Culinary Institute, both kosher culinary institutions?<\/p>\n

Since I was a child, I wanted to go to culinary school, and I promised myself that\u00a0WHEN I went, I was going to experience everything, within the confines of halacha. I\u00a0wanted to increase my knowledge of all aspects of the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\"\"I can’t eat anything in class, and that’s not fun (especially when it goes from\u00a06pm to 10pm without break), but that’s life as an observant Jew, and my goals are worth the\u00a0sacrifice. Before Orthodox Jews go into the secular world, they need to be strong\u00a0in what they believe and have a good grasp of the halachot pertaining to what they\u00a0are doing.<\/p>\n

The payoff? The things I have learned and cooked with, thus far, are amazing; I am\u00a0now getting up close and personal with foods I never thought I would touch or even\u00a0see without being behind a television screen or display case.<\/p>\n

My goal is to use what I learn to make kosher food as expansive as possible, in\u00a0appearance and taste. So here are the top ten things I\u2019ve learned, as they relate to the kosher homemaker:<\/p>\n

1. Read recipes.<\/strong>\u00a0Before you begin a trip, you have to know where you are going.\u00a0Are you able to ride a bike there? Do you need to drive a car? The last thing you\u00a0want to do is start your journey and realize that you don\u2019t have the tools to get to\u00a0your destination! Read your recipes thoroughly and think about all the steps in\u00a0the recipe. Do they make sense to you? Maybe you need to adjust the ingredients and skip or add a\u00a0technique. Plan ahead and you won\u2019t make a wrong turn!<\/p>\n

2. Use a good knife.<\/strong>\u00a0Ever cut into a pineapple or onion with a dull knife? Not only does\u00a0it come out uneven and take forever, it also leaves your kitchen a mess. If you slice\u00a0onions with a sharp knife, the sulfur doesn\u2019t break as much, causing you to tear\u00a0less!<\/p>\n

\"\"3. Use salt.<\/strong>\u00a0Have you ever heard someone say, \u201cNo one makes this like my mom!\u201d\u00a0The difference between a home cook and a restaurant is often salt content. If high\u00a0blood pressure doesn\u2019t run in your family, your mother probably seasoned her food\u00a0with salt. So don\u2019t be afraid, a little salt goes a long way!<\/p>\n

4. Pre-heat your pan.<\/strong>\u00a0Food you cook sticks to your pans? Don\u2019t give up! This is one of the most common mistakes\u00a0in cooking. To prevent sticking and ensure a nice golden color on your fish, meat,\u00a0chicken or tofu, make sure the oil in your pan\u00a0is sizzling. To test, sprinkle a few\u00a0drops of water in the pan; if it pops, you can start saut\u00e9ing or searing. But be\u00a0careful! Too much water can lead to oil popping in your face.<\/p>\n

5. Experiment!<\/strong>\u00a0You never know what new trendy dish you will come up with.\u00a0Don\u2019t get down if you mess up; it happens to everyone. Just keep on cooking and\u00a0you are bound to come up with something tasty! This is just one way to have fun\u00a0in the kitchen, and experimenting with food is how the best recipes are invented!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>6. Who says you can\u2019t have it all?<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t let allergies, dislikes or Pesach keep you\u00a0from enjoying what you love or want to try. A lot of food items can be replaced or\u00a0replicated. Eggs, milk, wheat\u2026you name it, there\u2019s always a substitution.<\/p>\n

7. You get what you pay for.<\/strong>\u00a0So buy the best produce you can. If you pay for old\u00a0tomatoes, you get an old tasting tomato salad. The fresher the better! This doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean throw old produce out. Fruits and tomatoes can be made into sauces, and\u00a0herbs can be made into flavorful herb oils to put on top of roasted vegetables or\u00a0salad. Aging vegetables make a wonderful vegetable soup!<\/p>\n

8. Cook’s best friends.<\/strong>\u00a0Immersion blenders and food processors provide great shortcuts and make a huge difference for home cooks and chefs. Have you ever grated\u00a0your potatoes and onions by hand for a meal of 20? Unless you enjoy\u00a0grating the potatoes and tearing from the onions, I recommend investing in a\u00a0food processor. Even the cheapest one will get the job done more\u00a0efficiently.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>9. Kitchen safety<\/strong>. Know what to do in situations that could arise. An automatic\u00a0reaction to a fire is dousing it with water, but you should never put water on a\u00a0grease fire (remember tip #4)! Keep band aids in your kitchen for minor cuts and\u00a0burns. Don\u2019t let potential hazards in the kitchen stop you from cooking. Everything\u00a0you do in life has its hazards, but being aware of these issues prevents them from\u00a0happening in the future.<\/p>\n

10. Reduce sauces.<\/strong>\u00a0If you have leftover juice in your pan from searing or baking\u00a0marinated meats, put it on the stove and reduce the juice to a delectable sauce. There is a lot of flavor in the\u00a0sauce and reducing it to a gravy consistency gives the dish an added dimension\u00a0that will make your guests wonder why you don\u2019t work in a restaurant.<\/p>\n

\n

This article originally appeared on www.cookkosher.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Alison Barnett is currently enrolled part-time in the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York City and works full time for Synagogue Services at the Orthodox Union. She is one of the only observant Jews in this non-kosher culinary program and wants to demonstrate that an observant Jew can do what he or she is passionate about within the realms of Jewish law. Alison started her blog\u00a0www.alibabka.com<\/a>\u00a0in July 2011 to express her passion for cooking and show others that anyone can cook with a little direction, the right tools and patience.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\nAlison is originally from Columbus, OH and currently resides in New York City.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Orthodox Jew in non-Kosher culinary school shares tricks of the trade you can incorporate into your own Kosher cooking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":24572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Things I Learned From Culinary School - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My goal in going to non-kosher culinary school was to make kosher food as expansive as possible in appearance & taste. 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