In professional kitchens, any cook worth his or her salt knows the importance of mastering the most used tools in the kitchen - the knives. The goal of this class is to build confidence while teaching precision and skill, working alongside our Chef Instructor. Major cutting techniques are demonstrated and practiced using our block of knives. You will learn the purpose, usage and correct grip for each knife. As well, we’ll showcase and practice the most efficient way to chop, slice and dice a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for different situations and maximum results. You’ll reap the rewards of your new knife skills by creating delicious recipes during class.
The Calphalon classroom was composed of four long counter tops: one at the front for the chef, and the 12 students distributed along the other 3 rows. There are a couple ceiling mounted televisions for the camera above the chef’s head, and a long row of mirrors above the chef’s counter to give a similar view.
Each student’s station had a nicely folded apron, washcloth, and towel for hot handles. A knife block held Calphalon’s VG knives, and a motley collection of spatulas, spoons, graters, forks, etc. in a couple pots. A shared block of four gas burners and a couple of non-stick woks rounded out the equipment. Upon arrival, each student received a binder to hold the recipes received in the subsequent weeks.
The chef, Ian Dowsett, has a pleasant radio-celebrity-type voice, and his assistant, Donna Wong, was very helpful. The chef made the class feel at ease with his comfortable, self-deprecating manner: a smooth banter talking with students by name. We spent the first 15 minutes waiting for a no-show, and another 15 minutes talking about procedures (cleaning between recipes, knife use, etc.).
For each recipe, the ingredients were already washed and prepared to the degree necessary for the lesson. Students line up at the front to receive the ingredients from chef and assistant on their trays.
The first recipe, a fruit salad, was an exercise in delicate knife skills. We each received our fruit pieces and tried out the small paring knives as instructed. Slicing instructions for the strawberries; carving instructions to remove the peels from the kiwi, papaya, and cantaloupe; learning to “segment” an orange; skinning a pineapple. Perhaps an obvious “trick”, but the chef pointed out that when one’s knife is too small to hold fruit on the blade, one could sweep the fruit from the cutting board into the fruit bowl. The fruit salad was laced with a delicious raspberry liqueur for a delicious finish.
The second recipe, a chicken stir-fry, was an exercise in chopping up vegetables. The emphasis here was on the large knives, and we were free to rotate between the classic chef’s knife, santoku, and mini-cleaver. They were all made out of the “Damascus” steel that gives the lovely wavy pattern on the blade. Most of this section I already knew (e.g. rocking motion to mince garlic, finger placement, peeling ginger with a spoon), but I did learn a few novelties (hot peppers expunge their seeds when you “roll” it like a cigar) and had a good time trying out the different knives for feel. I decided I didn’t like the full chef’s knife - too heavy.
We also got some instruction in using the wok: order of ingredients going in, amount of oil to use, what happens if we let the oil get cool, visually identifying the “done-ness”.
After each recipe, we brought back the various bowls to the front and took a short break to package the food up and eat some if we wished. The fruit salad was a no brainer, and my chicken stir-fry turned out okay, although as always I cleaned the snap peas poorly.
After class, I chatted with the chef a bit about George Brown College’s culinary classes (for continuing education students). A GBC alumni, he told me that:
- Calphalon’s class size is 12 vs. GBC’s 24.
- Calphalon prepares the ingredients somewhat for you, compared to GBC’s raw materials.
- GBC offers more breadth, but you also spend more time doing other things (e.g. prep work)
My additional notes are that Calphalon provides equipment and cleans for you, but GBC qualifies for the tuition tax credit. I suspect that GBC appeals to the more serious/dedicated culinary students, whereas Calphalon is more of a “spontaneous, fun activity”. Certainly, when I looked at GBC’s courses, they were all full or canceled for the summer, but I was able to book with Calphalon two days prior to the first class.
An added bonus: on days when I am taking a lesson, I receive a 20% discount on Calphalon equipment. Anyone want anything? 
