Cooking classes are a great opportunity to learn about new dishes, cuisines and techniques. My boyfriend got us Fresh Pasta Making Classes at The Brooklyn Kitchen, as a gift a few months ago and we finally made a date out of it.
We got extra lucky when the regular teacher was substituted by Chef Brendan McDermott, who I had been trying to book for Knife Classes at ICE for months, I mean months.
The 2 hour class taught the basics of pasta making, from making the dough to shaping it into familiar favorites like tagliatelle and stuffed ravioli. We also learned tips on how to create memorable cream and red sauces, and how fresh herbs in the summer can simply be sauteed in a little (aka a stick) of butter to make a flavorful and quick sauce.
The class was a lot of fun, interactive and laid back. Somehow yours truly ended up being the “cheese girl” for the night, again. This may have had something to do with the fact that I temporarily stole the huge brick of Parmesan floating around the classroom.
The most important trick I learned was the following: Pastas that are meant to be served with a light sauce like a basic Tomato sauce, should not be boiled in water with olive oil. The olive oil coats the pasta and does not allow the flavors of the sauce to fully penetrate it. Light pasta rarely sticks together to begin with, so the olive oil should be added only if you’re cooking heavier pasta or will be serving it with a labor intensive sauce like a Bolognese.
In other happy news, this rather strange coincidence allowed me to book Knife Skills classes with Brendan McDermott at The Brooklyn Kitchen for half the price they are listed at ICE, and a few months earlier.
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