My Cook'N With Class in Paris experience March 16, a Market class
Apr 15th, 2012, 08:23 AM
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My Cook'N With Class in Paris experience March 16, a Market class
I’ve yet to start my Paris trip report for March 10-18 but I thought I would at least get up a bit on my Cook’N With Class experience. People have mentioned them in trip reports, and people have asked about the classes, so I thought maybe a separate post/trip report was in order to make it easier to find.
Quite simply, this was an amazing experience and right up there as possibly our favorite thing that we did in Paris that week (although, honestly, I may have also said that after the dinner with other Fodorites, a trip to the park with my friend and her children, the day with Michael Osman, and the modern circus experience).
One of the things I wanted to do on this trip to Paris was to take a cooking class. I had in mind the sort of class where you visited a market, picked out what was fresh then went back and cooked it all together and enjoyed the meal together.
Then I was lucky enough to read a trip report mentioning Cook’N With Class, and it had pretty much exactly what I was looking for! So, I signed up my friend and myself for the Friday, March 16 Market class.
A side note: I hold no candle to most of the other foodies on Fodors, but I really do enjoy cooking and have taught myself quite a lot over more recent years. I think food and culture are really very interesting, and one of the things (other than having McDonald’s and Subways everywhere you visit in the world) that remain fairly culturally distinct.
If you visit a grocery store in another country (or even in the US, in another state!) it is really very different. If you talk with people about what they cook at home, it really still differs. Going to the markets in Paris? A completely different experience.
Quite simply, this was an amazing experience and right up there as possibly our favorite thing that we did in Paris that week (although, honestly, I may have also said that after the dinner with other Fodorites, a trip to the park with my friend and her children, the day with Michael Osman, and the modern circus experience).
One of the things I wanted to do on this trip to Paris was to take a cooking class. I had in mind the sort of class where you visited a market, picked out what was fresh then went back and cooked it all together and enjoyed the meal together.
Then I was lucky enough to read a trip report mentioning Cook’N With Class, and it had pretty much exactly what I was looking for! So, I signed up my friend and myself for the Friday, March 16 Market class.
A side note: I hold no candle to most of the other foodies on Fodors, but I really do enjoy cooking and have taught myself quite a lot over more recent years. I think food and culture are really very interesting, and one of the things (other than having McDonald’s and Subways everywhere you visit in the world) that remain fairly culturally distinct.
If you visit a grocery store in another country (or even in the US, in another state!) it is really very different. If you talk with people about what they cook at home, it really still differs. Going to the markets in Paris? A completely different experience.
Apr 15th, 2012, 08:30 AM
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I am so happy you enjoyed Cook'n With Class. I did write about it here, but I think my post may have been way too old for it to have been your reference point. My youngest daughter and I enjoyed a class with Eric near the time he had opened his business, and we felt the visit to the market was even more instructive than the cooking class, although we enjoyed that immensely, too. Four years later, my daughter ended up living on her own in France for four months, and every day she visited a market, she secretly thanked Eric--she knew what to say, how to touch, and how to buy.
Apr 15th, 2012, 08:42 AM
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Darn, I meant to put the URL right up front. Here it is: http://www.cooknwithclass.com/
The experience was great from start to finish. Everyone embodied great customer service, from the person helping me with the registration (I had a bit of confusion but he helped me sort it out) to Patrick, our chef, to the woman who quietly and efficiently prepped, cleared and wiped as we cooked, to the two other chefs who popped in and out. I wanted to hang out with them.
The day started at 9:20 (well, a little later because we ended up at the wrong metro stop, but only by one thank goodness and Patrick was very understanding) by meeting Patrick and our other class member, John from Ireland, at the Jules Joffrin Metro stop, Patrick with his grocery cart at hand. The market portion includes stops at the fromagerie, the boucherie, the fish monger, and fruit and veg shop, and final stop at a bakery.
That does not do the market trip justice. At every stop, Patrick took the time to give us detailed information about the cheeses, about bresse chicken, about why rabbit is sold with its head on, how to identify fresh fish and more. Just fabulous.
We ended up with cheese in the bag, a magret du canard, monkfish, apples, frisee, oranges, zucchini, and what I would have called fingerling potatoes but they weren’t (I can’t remember what they were called). At the bakery, if memory serves, we picked up maybe olive bread and a baguette.
Back to the kitchens at Cook’N With Class.
(btw, my French is very bad, I hope I call things by their correct name)
The experience was great from start to finish. Everyone embodied great customer service, from the person helping me with the registration (I had a bit of confusion but he helped me sort it out) to Patrick, our chef, to the woman who quietly and efficiently prepped, cleared and wiped as we cooked, to the two other chefs who popped in and out. I wanted to hang out with them.
The day started at 9:20 (well, a little later because we ended up at the wrong metro stop, but only by one thank goodness and Patrick was very understanding) by meeting Patrick and our other class member, John from Ireland, at the Jules Joffrin Metro stop, Patrick with his grocery cart at hand. The market portion includes stops at the fromagerie, the boucherie, the fish monger, and fruit and veg shop, and final stop at a bakery.
That does not do the market trip justice. At every stop, Patrick took the time to give us detailed information about the cheeses, about bresse chicken, about why rabbit is sold with its head on, how to identify fresh fish and more. Just fabulous.
We ended up with cheese in the bag, a magret du canard, monkfish, apples, frisee, oranges, zucchini, and what I would have called fingerling potatoes but they weren’t (I can’t remember what they were called). At the bakery, if memory serves, we picked up maybe olive bread and a baguette.
Back to the kitchens at Cook’N With Class.
(btw, my French is very bad, I hope I call things by their correct name)
Apr 15th, 2012, 09:01 AM
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AlessandraZoe, I want to say it was lowcountryislander's trip report where I first saw mention of the class, but can't be sure. Now I want to go look for yours though!
Yes, the market portion was really great, I learned so much!
Yes, the market portion was really great, I learned so much!
Apr 15th, 2012, 09:04 AM
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Wonderful aromas met us as a macaroon class was taking place in the next kitchen. I believe Constance was teaching that one.
The kitchen has all the cooking appliances along one wall, and we sit at high tables facing them. Patrick stands between the table and the stove, oven etc, cooking, demonstrating, and teaching us. Each of our places has a cutting board, chef and paring knife, vegetable peeler and apron.
As I mentioned, there is a woman in the background that you would not even notice is there, she greets us with a quiet Bonjour, and gets to work. Before you know it, all the groceries are prepared and laid out for the cooking to begin.
I liked her even more when she asked if we wanted coffee and then set about making each of us an espresso. We all then washed up and donned our aprons, and the cooking began.
Our menu:
Magret du canard w/apple chutney and a frisee salad
Monkfish with potatoes simmer in white wine and a zucchini flan
Cheese plate
Molten chocolate cake with macerate strawberries
All served with wine of course, and preceded by an aperitif.
The kitchen has all the cooking appliances along one wall, and we sit at high tables facing them. Patrick stands between the table and the stove, oven etc, cooking, demonstrating, and teaching us. Each of our places has a cutting board, chef and paring knife, vegetable peeler and apron.
As I mentioned, there is a woman in the background that you would not even notice is there, she greets us with a quiet Bonjour, and gets to work. Before you know it, all the groceries are prepared and laid out for the cooking to begin.
I liked her even more when she asked if we wanted coffee and then set about making each of us an espresso. We all then washed up and donned our aprons, and the cooking began.
Our menu:
Magret du canard w/apple chutney and a frisee salad
Monkfish with potatoes simmer in white wine and a zucchini flan
Cheese plate
Molten chocolate cake with macerate strawberries
All served with wine of course, and preceded by an aperitif.
Apr 15th, 2012, 09:17 AM
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I will leave the details of the cooking class to your own experience. I’ll just say that I learned so much! Possibly just as much by watching Patrick and how efficient he was about little things that I never would have thought of. We do a little chopping and buttering of dishes, grating and peeling, etc.
We start with the chocolate molten cakes, so that they can chill as we continue with the other dishes. Apparently this is the trick to molten chocolate cakes as then when they bake, the middle melts into liquid rather than baking into a brownie. Who knew!? Possibly you, but not me.
The potatoes go next, cooked on the stove top with white wine and vinegar, herbs and garlic. A marinade is prepared, the duckfat scored, and into the marinade the magret du canard goes.
Prep begins on the monkfish, pan roasted with the bone on the side, helping to flavor the wonderful pan sauce that will be made at the end. We grate the zucchini and the flans are prepared.
At the same time as all of this, we peel and core apples and prepare the ingredients for the chutney and that begins simmering on the stove. You can imagine the smells in the kitchen at this point. Patrick has also prepared some orange peel in small slivers and has that on the stove being candied.
I am still impressed at how quickly and unobtrusively the assistant clears away cooking debris as we/Patrick cook.
John is an enjoyable class partner, and this class is a birthday gift from his wife. She arrives to join us for the meal.
We start with the chocolate molten cakes, so that they can chill as we continue with the other dishes. Apparently this is the trick to molten chocolate cakes as then when they bake, the middle melts into liquid rather than baking into a brownie. Who knew!? Possibly you, but not me.
The potatoes go next, cooked on the stove top with white wine and vinegar, herbs and garlic. A marinade is prepared, the duckfat scored, and into the marinade the magret du canard goes.
Prep begins on the monkfish, pan roasted with the bone on the side, helping to flavor the wonderful pan sauce that will be made at the end. We grate the zucchini and the flans are prepared.
At the same time as all of this, we peel and core apples and prepare the ingredients for the chutney and that begins simmering on the stove. You can imagine the smells in the kitchen at this point. Patrick has also prepared some orange peel in small slivers and has that on the stove being candied.
I am still impressed at how quickly and unobtrusively the assistant clears away cooking debris as we/Patrick cook.
John is an enjoyable class partner, and this class is a birthday gift from his wife. She arrives to join us for the meal.
Apr 15th, 2012, 09:29 AM
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OMG the meal. Absolutely delicous, due entirely to Patrick although I like to think that I may now be able to replicate it down the road. Patrick assured us that he would be sending us the recipes (which he did)so we didn't need to worry about trying to remember everything. Someday down the road I want to try to treat a group of friends to the meal to show off what I know.
The duck is succulent, and wonderful with the apple chutney and salad. The monkfish, topped with a pan sauce and candied orange peel, is to die for. The flan? OMG I am absolutely making it this summer with produce from our CSA. And the potatoes!
The teaching continues as Patrick shows us how to set up a cheese plate and properly cut the cheese. (did I just say that?) He tells us that they serve it with bread, and butter (not crackers like in the US) and puts out the normal unsalted butter and a truly delicious salted butter, telling us to take the bread, butter it, then put the cheese on top.
I start laughing to myself at one point because I had been a fairly stringent program prior to the Paris trip and here I was layering bread with butter and cheese, and enjoying it thoroughly!
Then, the dessert. I am pretty sure I moaned with my first bite.
As you can tell, I would strongly recommend Cook'N With Class! Constance popped over with leftover macaroons for each of us, and we got to meet Alex when he was coming in for the afternoon Market class. We spent from 9:20 am to 3 pm there, worth every dime. I even bought a set of knives to take home, and I SHOULD have bought an apron.
The duck is succulent, and wonderful with the apple chutney and salad. The monkfish, topped with a pan sauce and candied orange peel, is to die for. The flan? OMG I am absolutely making it this summer with produce from our CSA. And the potatoes!
The teaching continues as Patrick shows us how to set up a cheese plate and properly cut the cheese. (did I just say that?) He tells us that they serve it with bread, and butter (not crackers like in the US) and puts out the normal unsalted butter and a truly delicious salted butter, telling us to take the bread, butter it, then put the cheese on top.
I start laughing to myself at one point because I had been a fairly stringent program prior to the Paris trip and here I was layering bread with butter and cheese, and enjoying it thoroughly!
Then, the dessert. I am pretty sure I moaned with my first bite.
As you can tell, I would strongly recommend Cook'N With Class! Constance popped over with leftover macaroons for each of us, and we got to meet Alex when he was coming in for the afternoon Market class. We spent from 9:20 am to 3 pm there, worth every dime. I even bought a set of knives to take home, and I SHOULD have bought an apron.
Apr 15th, 2012, 09:45 AM
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Oh, if you want to see pictures you can see them here. You'll have to wade through a few others from the the trip to get to the cooking class, but not too many:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...0670243&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...0670243&type=3
Apr 15th, 2012, 09:49 AM
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Toucan2, great report. Since we did the boulangerie session with PattyC I have wondering about taking other classes. Did you each prepare the whole menu or were parts assigned?
Yes, a cooking class combined with a GTG would be a hoot and I hope I am in Paris when it happens.
Yes, a cooking class combined with a GTG would be a hoot and I hope I am in Paris when it happens.
Apr 15th, 2012, 09:55 AM
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Sounds wonderful; alas such a treat doesn't come cheaply and for 2 people [DH and myself] well, it's <i>almost</i> a weeks worth of rent. I lived vicariously through your great TR. Merci pour tout.
Apr 15th, 2012, 10:08 AM
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AGM, in this case we just did parts. I think Patrick was trying to judge how much or how little each of us wanted to do, so sometimes we were watching, ,and watching each other, and other times we were doing.
Deb, it indeed doesn't come cheaply, but I think the meal itself at a minimum would have been between 65-80 Euros in a restaurant, and you add that it is 5-6 hours plus, and in my head it comes out pretty reasonably. Still, a splurge.
Deb, it indeed doesn't come cheaply, but I think the meal itself at a minimum would have been between 65-80 Euros in a restaurant, and you add that it is 5-6 hours plus, and in my head it comes out pretty reasonably. Still, a splurge.
Apr 15th, 2012, 02:27 PM
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I enjoyed our time with Michael very much! If time would have allowed and he was free, I probably would have asked for another day. The day with him ended too soon.
Sure, ask away kelsey. I am going to try to get my official trip report up too, and will expand on the time with him then as well.
Sure, ask away kelsey. I am going to try to get my official trip report up too, and will expand on the time with him then as well.
