Cookery classes offer chance to learn new cuisines and skills

IN THE KITCHEN by Pat Tanner:  Offering an appetizing selection of courses from Princeton’s Dorothea House, the Princeton Cooking School, Princeton Adult School and Wegmans Family Chefs Institute.

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Illustration by Judy Martin

   Area residents have an appetizing selection of cooking classes to choose from this fall. There’s something for everyone, from learning basic techniques, like making a tart and cooking with herbs, to delving into organic foods and getting to know the world’s most fascinating cuisines.
   In addition to the perennially popular cooking of France and Italy, the gastronomically curious can learn to make Chinese dumplings, Mexican pumpkin-seed dip, or South Indian vegetarian dishes, to name but a few of the delectable choices on tap.
   Italian Cooking & Conversation at Dorothea’s House
   One of the more unusual courses is a 10-week series that will be held at Princeton’s Dorothea House that combines Italian cooking and conversation. Quattro Chiacchiere in Cucina (Chatting in a Kitchen) is intended for anyone interested not only in Italian food, but in Italian language and culture as well, whether beginner, intermediate or advanced.
   The course will be led by Skillman resident Cristina Fratarcangeli, assisted by instructors from her cooking school, CriCó.
   A native of Rome, Ms. Fratarcangeli moved to the Princeton area six years ago. Last year she taught Italian cooking to schoolchildren in Princeton, Pennington and Plainsboro.
   Each class will run two hours, on Thursday mornings. For the first hour, Ms. Fratarcangeli and her assistants, Paola Snyder from Padua and Monica Cerati from Milan, will prepare a recipe while talking about it in Italian. Students will be split into three groups — beginner, intermediate and advanced — for the second hour, in order to discuss the food, of course, but also other aspects of Italian life, including movies and art.
   "We want people to come for pleasure, to learn in a relaxed atmosphere, and to get to know other people who are also interested in Italian food and culture. Food will be just the starting point," says Ms. Fratarcangeli.
   Each session will feature an appetizer, pasta, main dish, vegetable, and dessert that she says "are simple recipes that people can go home and prepare immediately." Among the specialties students will get to taste are Tuscan-style crostini, something Ms. Fratarcangeli calls "real risotto," gnocchi, and cassata, a ricotta-filled cake that is a specialty of Sicily.
   The first class in the 10-week fall series will begin Thursday but registration is still ongoing. There is no class on Nov. 22 (Thanksgiving). Cost for each 10-week session is $250, and includes ingredients and materials. Winter session begins Jan. 3 and spring session on March 28. Classes are held on Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Dorothea House, 120 John Street (at the corner of Paul Robeson Place), in Princeton.
   For more information call Cristina Fratarcangeli at (609) 466-6886.
   Princeton Cooking School
   The Garden Café, which opened February in a space inside the Princeton YM-YWCA, will be the site this fall for a series of cooking classes coordinated by owner Ruth Alegría of Princeton, who also happens to be the force behind the Princeton Cooking School.
   Ms. Alegría, the former owner and chef of the Mexican Village II restaurant in Princeton, has gathered a cadre of chefs and cooking teachers from all over the state for a diverse selection of demonstration classes.
   Ms. Alegría herself will lead three classes on Mexican cooking in November. The first will cover the basics of Mexican cooking, including chilies, spices, and native vegetables; the second will put them together in a menu that includes guacamole, tortilla soup, smoked salmon quesadillas, carne asada and other dishes. The final session will focus on fish dishes of coastal Mexico, including two featuring whole red snapper, one with salsa verde, and the other wrapped in plantain leaves.
   • Beginning Oct. 16 on Tuesday evenings — an exploration of the techniques of classic French cooking with June Jacobs of Jersey City, who has taught cooking classes for 19 years. Among the menu items that students will learn to braise, sauté, poach, et cetera, are boeuf Bourguignon, goujonettes of sole, and mousse au chocolat. In November and December, Ms. Jacobs will lead sessions on great chicken dishes from France, create a Provençal Christmas buffet, and divulge her secrets for traditional holiday treasures, such as buche de Noël, pannetone, and chocolate truffles.
   • Unrelated to these classes (or perhaps because of them?) is one on spa cooking with Barbara Seelig Brown of Basking Ridge, a culinary educator and nutritionist. Healthy, gourmet dishes will include clams in fennel and tomato broth; mango, banana and orange salad with honey dressing, and fresh berry tarts with chocolate.
   • Princeton cookbook author Angela Chang will lead two sessions, one in November called Chinese Home Entertaining (which is also the name of her book). Here, Ms. Chang will dispense advice on traditional Chinese ingredients while whipping up stir-fried lotus root, pressed tofu with water spinach stems, and meatballs with cabbage and cellophane noodles. In December, she’ll conduct a Chinese dumpling party that includes her favorite dumpling recipes.
   • Just in time for the December holidays, Lida Bickford, pastry chef at Princeton’s Witherspoon Bread Company, will share the basics of making tarts and divulge her recipes for tarts made with three popular fillings — raspberries, chocolate, and pears poached in red wine.
   Classes will be held on weeknights throughout October, November and December, except for the one titled Holiday Treasures, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 8. Fees for individual classes run between $35 and $55.
   For more information, call Ruth Alegría at the Princeton YM-YWCA at (609) 924-5702, ext. 4.
   Princeton Adult School
   Four culinary arts courses are on the agenda at the Princeton Adult School, but be warned: these popular classes fill up fast. In fact, two were already full by mid-September, one on Pakistani/Indian cooking and another on the appreciation of fine wine.
   But worth looking into are a four-week class on cooking with herbs and a new offering called From Field to Table: Organic Vegetables at Their Best. For the latter, students will spend the first session at Princeton High School tonight, learning about local agriculture from Pam Flory, the manager of Spring Hill Farm in Hopewell, which supplies seasonal organic vegetables, flowers, and herbs to Rat’s restaurant at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton.
   This introduction will be followed by excursions on the next two Sundays, the first to tour Spring Hill Farm. The series will culminate in a visit to Rat’s restaurant for a tour of the kitchen with executive chef Eric Martin and a light meal.
   "Anyone who takes food seriously knows that the right herbs can turn plain food into a gourmet special," reads the description of Cooking with Herbs: The Chef’s Secret Weapon. For four weeks beginning Thursday, members of the Delaware Valley chapter of the Herb Society of America will demonstrate how to use herbs in appetizers, breads, salad dressings and desserts, as well as how to make herb vinegars. Cost for each series ranges from $60 to $75.
   For more information, call the Princeton Adult School at (609) 683-1101.
   Wegmans Family Chefs Institute
   Family cooking expert Lynn Fredericks will wrap up her seven-part series of cooking lessons for kids and adults at Wegmans at Nassau Park Boulevard in Princeton Saturday, Oct. 13, with a session on pasta dishes.
   Ms. Fredericks, author of "Cooking Time is Family Time," teaches in a fun, upbeat way that appeals to parents and children alike. In an earlier session, she had children happily wolfing down Thai-style fish chowder, and, for this class, will give step-by-step demonstrations of such dishes as quick lasagna, gnocchi, white bean ravioli, and even penne with smoked salmon and cream. Participants will sample what they make in class.
   Cost is $20 for the first adult and child, and $10 for each additional person in the family. Children must be accompanied by a participating adult. Pre-registration is required.
   For more information, call Wegmans at (609) 919-9300.