Vacationing with the CIA
Click here to see the whole series!
No, NOT the Central Intelligence Agency! I’m off to the Culinary Institute of America, located in Hyde Park, New York for a one week long boot camp in late September. It turns out that I’ve got some time on my hands due to a transition between jobs, and I decided to put some of my spare time to good use! The CIA is one of the country’s biggest culinary schools, along with the French Culinary Institute and a few others, and one of the few that offer classes for those who are not pursuing the culinary arts on a professional basis. The boot camp I’m taking is the basic course, with emphasis on tool skills and preparing meats appropriately. Believe it or not, baking, broiling, frying, braising, poaching, sautéing and stewing are each appropriate for certain types and cuts of meat, and completely inappropriate for others. This week is targeted at unraveling these mysteries and building some expertise. The boot camp classes are integrated into daily campus life, and every participant is required to where a chef’s uniform when participating in the course! And, we start at 7am every day and run to 9pm! Except for the first day, when we start at 6am. Hmmm, I’m gonna be tired. That’s 3am California time!
I’ll be sure to take some time each evening to write about the days happenings and attempt to capture the highlights, lowlights, and just pure excitement of it all. Stay tuned…! Just for kicks, let’s take note that my weight is currently 205. Will it go up, or down, over the next two months…?! Place your bets!
– Chris