Something's Not Cooking in Culinary School
by Sonja Albrecht
Chef School Review Columnist
The latest trend to hit the culinary world? Not cooking the food. Nutritionists have long hailed the benefits of raw vegetables, but the ‘naked cuisine’ school takes the idea a step further.
Raw Flavor
Raw cuisine is more than celery sticks and carrots: raw diners eat cheese and crackers, pasta—even ice cream. The only raw cooking-school rules: food temperature must remain under 118 degrees, and ingredients cannot include eggs, dairy, or meat.
Not-Cooking School
The raw chef’s job is to get creative: cheese is made out of nuts; crackers out of potato, red bell pepper, or banana; pasta from angel-hair zucchini. According to chef Roxanne Stein, who pioneered raw “cooking” while in culinary school, the job of raw food preparation involves sprouting grains for bread, dehydrating vegetables, and soaking nuts to make “dairy” products, processes that can take anywhere from 8 to 48 hours.
But the payoff is huge: a low-cholesterol, low-fat, high fiber, and nutrient-dense diet that tastes delicious. Stein’s specialties include the likes of Three Peppercorn-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Honeycomb and Balsamic Vinegar, and Banana Chocolate Tart with Caramel and Chocolate Sauces.
Chef Jobs, No Cooking Required
Charlie Trotter, celebrity chef and coauthor of the cookbook Raw, envisions raw food preparation becoming a standard part of the chef’s job description: “I think, in the future, all chefs will need to have an awareness of how to prepare raw food,” he says. “It will be just another component of a well-rounded culinary education, like learning about butchering or pastry.” Culinary schools are already emphasizing the importance of fresh produce, and some offer courses in raw food techniques.
Traditional cooking is undergoing a transformation in restaurants and cooking schools nationwide. If nutrition and creative cuisine are a priority for you, consider focusing your talents in culinary school—who knows, “naked chef” could be your next job title.
Sources
Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein, Raw. (Ten Speed Press, 2003)
“Eat it Raw,” Monterey County Weekly
“The Raw and the Cooked,” Epicurious
About the Author
Sonja Albrecht works as a writer for an online media company. She has also taught college writing and completed a Ph.D. in English.
Posted on April 17, 2007 at 12:44 PM
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