Cooking 101 Recap: Week I

Hi everyone! Campus Executive Chef Tom Barton here. Last night we had the first session of our nine week Cooking 101 class -- and we had a blast! Our ten lucky students joined Northeastern Dining's Nutritionist Christine Clark, Quality Assurance Manager Chris Jennings, and myself for a lot of great interactive discussions.

Our first class was a bit of an introduction to the course - just as most first classes are - but we did have some lively discussions about nutrition, building your pantry, and menu planning. We also compared a few store brand products with national brands and showed that a well-known brand name (with brand name pricing) doesn't necessarily mean you can't find the same, or better, flavor from a store brand. I also really enjoyed the initial discussion we had about building flavors and plate design. Christine gave us some very useful tips on reading food labels and some great things to think about when menu planning and shopping. Many thanks to Christine and Chris for getting us off to a fantastic start!

Next week...knife skills. All of your friends will be jealous of you in the kitchen!