Wednesday, January 21, 2009

'Saturdays at the CIA' offer continuing education based on best-selling cookbooks

A new series of classes for food enthusiasts, highlighting recipes from best-selling cookbooks, leads the Spring 2009 curriculum at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). The new "Saturdays at the CIA" lineup of classes will give budding chefs the chance to prepare signature dishes from the CIA's popular line of cookbooks.

Among the 12 new classes to be offered this season are: Rise of Asia; Spain and the World Table; Soups; Grilling; Baking at Home—The Desserts; Cake Decorating; Gourmet Meals in Minutes; and Breakfast & Brunches. "Saturdays at the CIA" classes will be held on the following Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: March 7 and 21; April 4 and 18; May 9 and 16; June 6 and 20.

"In our new Spain and the World Table course, participants will have the opportunity to work with ingredients they may have only seen until now on the Food Network," explains Laura Pickover, director of food enthusiasts programs at the CIA. "In making the signature tapas, the small bites so popular in the Latino world, students will work for the first time with fiery peppers, exotic spices, and savory foods that are used to create Spain's greatest culinary inventions. It's like traveling abroad with our chefs to sample specialties—right here in Hyde Park."

A Saturday schedule begins at 9:30 a.m. with orientation, followed by a lecture. Students head to the kitchen for food production and collaborate together on lunch. All attendees will receive a CIA cookbook and an official apron. Tuition for classes is $225 per person.

To register for one of the new "Saturdays at the CIA" classes, food enthusiasts can visit the CIA Web site at www.ciachef.edu/enthusiasts or call the college's Continuing Education Department at (800) 888-7850. Recipes from celebrated CIA cookbooks are the focus of the new "Saturdays at the CIA" food enthusiast classes, to be held Spring 2009 at The Culinary Institute of America's Hyde Park campus. (Photo credit: CIA/Keith Ferris)