ottawa foodies

I have been attending classes at the Urban Element for the last five years or so and I can't say enough good things about this cooking school. The school offers a variety of hands on and demonstration classes as well as wine and food pairings. The classes are taught by local chefs and the ingredients are sourced locally. The wines that are served with the meals are often Ontario wines although they occasionally serve wines from other parts of Canada or overseas. Some of the courses I have taken are on knife skills, kitchen fundamentals (boning chicken and fish, learning different cuts of meat, etc.), and pastry-making. Most recently I have taken courses on curries with Tanya Skeates of Soupçon, a soup class with Jacqueline Joliffe of Stone Soup Food Works, and I have an upcoming class on noodles also with Tanya. So far I have been pleased with the classes and they are worth every penny.

wanted to post this for awhile but just came back from an extended NYC trip full of foodie R&D stuff. here you go:

enter the firehall red door and you'll find a kick-ass bitchin' kitch'n... i wonder what the fire alarm here sounds like.

livit, learnit, lovit @ urban element. panko fried green tomatoes, dill flowers and a top secret tsaziki special sauce. gonna incorporate the recipes and ideas from these classes into my big binder @ home to make for dinner parties....AND LIKE MOST PEOPLE: CALL IT THEIR OWN!!!!

the more you stare at it, the more it takes you away to that safe place you always wanted to be...

don't just go with the flow and be oRdiNArY. education is always good. be a student of life.

werk it, werk it, werk it....!!

livit, lovit, learnit @ urban element. discover super secret recipes and concoct stuff like this in your own home. oyster, tomato water, arugala and other delectables.

learn it, livit, lovit @ urban element. zOMG how kewl is that? nitro puts the celebrity rockstar in your kitchen. now where are the lasers, vari-lites and pyro?

learn it, livit, lovit @ urban element. tomato sorbet made with your friendly neighborhood liquid nitrogen ladies and germs.

learn it, live it, love it @ urban element. neat demos, wine pairings, tomatoes, lamb and other goodies. learning is great and to make the best of it ask questions and pick their brains. most of the attendees were kinda quiet and passive... just like in grade school, high school and especially college & university duhh LOL!!!

learn it, live it, love it @ urban element. cool textures in this tomato soup cake dish. recipes to be had as you attend these cool classes.