I am proud of the classes we offer here at The Chopping Block. We offer classes that are fun, approachable, entertaining and interactive. We have beautiful facilities with state of the art equipment and our classes include recipes that are interesting, delicious and lend themselves to what you might make for your family on a Tuesday night. Our goal is to get our customers to cook, not intimidate, overwhelm or exhaust you.
And then there is Boot Camp! Over this 5 day intensive class, you will be lead, instructed and supported by some of the best chefs in Chicago... chefs who now call The Chopping Block home. We will have not done our job if you do not feel a twinge of being overwhelmed, exhausted or intimidated at some point during the week. I hear constantly from Boot Camp graduates that this class is a life changing experience and that their relationship to food and cooking is taken to a level they did not think possible. Here is a taste of what you might expect to get out of our Culinary Boot Camp:
Day 1 Knife Skills and Butchering: Efficient chopping is not a matter of what the knife does, but what the hands which holds the food does.
Day 2 Meat Cookery: When carving a chicken you do not actually cut through any bones but simply lift the meat off.
Day 3 Sauce Making: The key to emulsions such as Hollandaise or Mayonnaise is water. Without enough water to separate the droplets of oil, they pop.
Day 4 Vegetables and Grains: How do salt and acid affect the taste of vegetables when cooked but also the cooking procedure?
Day 5 Flavor Dynamics and Meal Composition: Herbs are water soluble and spices are fat soluble, the flavors of each are enhanced through different methods.
Next week, we will welcome a full class of Boot Camp recruits. Upcoming summer sessions are July 12-16 and August 9-13.
Want an inside look at the week-long class? Watch our video here.
