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Philosophy
Feast Vancouver demystifies the secret of culinary greatness. The simplest of meals can become a sensory feast when all the elements of dining are brought together well.
To create such an experience involves a number of disciplines that are easily learned and quite reproducible at home. Taste, technique, timing, and tone form the foundation for creating a sense of culinary confidence that can quickly lead to mastery and bold experimentation in your home kitchen. But remember, your guests have come to visit with you not your food. Racing to and from the kitchen in a frantic effort to present "perfect" dishes runs contrary to the relaxed enjoyment we all experience when well prepared food is simply used as a catalyst to draw us closer together.
A little bit about the disciplines...
Taste
Beginning with the ingredients, the home cook needs to understand their source, composition and character to get the most from them. Of course this requires the use of all your senses. With time and exposure professional chefs learn to train their senses to differentiate subtle differences in ingredients that make a huge difference in the end product. Likewise we will encourage the training of the senses to identify these subtle differences as well as experimenting with combinations of ingredients and components to make a dish sensational.
Technique
From the basics of handling a knife to food presentation to the most complex dessert creations, a chef's technique will always be improving. Understanding the concepts behind cooking techniques, equipment use, dish presentation and execution within the kitchen isjust the start of your culinary journey. It's the practice that gets
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you to your destination. At Feast Vancouver we have built our workshops to encourage everyone to participate and practice each element of the meal in such a way that you can continue the practice at home. In fact we'll be giving you tasty homework assignments to encourage practicing!
Timing
In a commercial kitchen, chefs hone their sense of timing through repetition, refinement, hard work and lots of pressure. Since most home cooks don't work in the same type of environment it is difficult to replicate this experience. However, Feast Vancouver will provide you with practical exercises to work on focus, process and coordination when preparing meals with more complex components that require good timing in order to arrive on the table at in prime condition. The idea here is that with limited time in our busy schedules we should make the most out of each minute in the kitchen.
Tone
Casual or fancy? Simple or complex? Somewhere in the middle? This applies to every element of the meal from your attitude, the dishes selected, the music listened to and the guests invited. Regardless of the intent of the meal, understanding how to set the right tone is important to bring all the other elements into alignment. It is amazing how creating "anticipation" for a meal can whet the appetite! Feast Vancouver will spend some time in each session working with you on the elements of ambiance that are practical yet surprisingly effective.
Feast Vancouver brings people together and teaches them how to explore, discover and create in a friendly home-like atmosphere. This culinary experience is not about watching a chef create, and mimicking their actions. It's about finding your own chef within and creating more than just a meal.
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