‘Master Class’ touts eating locally

By Anne Quinn Corr

A Master Class is an affirmation of why culinary training programs are important. The award-winning New England Culinary Institute trains 500 students a year to take lead jobs in food service operations all over the world.

“A Master Class: Sensational Recipes from the Chefs of the New England Culinary Institute and Ellen Michaud,” Ellen Michaud, ed.; University Press of New England; 2008.

View larger

The education that the chefs receive at this Vermont school helps to insure contemporary American cuisine is recognized as authentic with a base firmly rooted in regional ingredients.

“Contemporary American cuisine” — what is that? Is it the Olive Garden, T.G.I. Friday’s, Outback and McDonald’s restaurants that we see stretching from sea to shining sea clustered at interchanges on every interstate highway in America?

Is it the beef and chicken shipped in via U.S. Foodservice from faceless factory farms that have no address? Is it California lettuce in bags, clone-like garlic bulbs in little sleeves from China and year-round cherries from South America?

We can get almost any fruit or vegetable that we want at our supermarkets today. There’s only one thing wrong: They don’t taste the same as they do when they are purchased locally and eaten in season.

“A Master Class” is a testament to eating locally and celebrating each season through the flavors of the foods available at that time. Master Chef Michel LeBorgne taught at the school for 25 years and this native of Brittany, France, brought his formula with him: Local plus fresh multiplied by skill equals good food.

It’s a simple equation, but one with infinite interpretations. Le- Borgne orchestrated the recipes chosen for the book from the vast NECI recipe files and states in the introduction that “the recipes we’ve included have a contemporary New England accent that relies on the authentic flavors of sustainably grown vegetables and produce from all four seasons.”

While the book will be a comfort to New England-philes who will enjoy the essays about each season that are scattered throughout the book, “A Master Class” does not limit itself to that region. Rather, the book “urges you to look at the recipes, look at the ingredients, go to a farmers’ market, farm, or fish monger’s, see what’s fresh, see what’s local, see what’s in season, then use the book as a catalyst to explore your own creativity.”

Culinary education is foremost, and helpful chef’s notes accompany almost every recipe and offer tips on techniques or explanations of ingredients. Wine tips are included under the text box “Le Sommelier,” and the focus is on regional New England and New York wines that complement the dish.

Many seasonal specialties make your mouth water as you read the recipes: Chicken Soup with Ramps, Wild Rice and Morel Mushrooms, Asparagus and Scallop Brochettes with Risotto, Spring Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette.

New England standards are well represented with Yankee Pot Roast, Classic New England Salt Cod Cakes and Lobster Potpie. The desserts, such as Vermont Maple Crème Brulee, Caramel Apple Tarte Tatin and Lemon Strawberry Tart, are enough to drive you right into the kitchen to wrap on your apron.

While “A Master Class” clearly has a New England focus, it is a book for anyone who looks forward to the end of the day as a celebration of life and spirit at the dinner table.

There are many inspirational recipes in the 274-page book that span the seasons and give you a perfect reason to shop at the farmers’ markets, subscribe to a weekly farm share through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, or even better, go out into your own garden and harvest the fruits of your labor.

This is a book to savor throughout the growing season.

Anne Quinn Corr is an instructor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State and frequently writes about food and cooking for the Centre Daily Times.