The Culinary Institute of America: Flavor Dynamics

It has been a while since my last post.  I have a list of stuff that I want to accomplish/ do before I die, and one more thing on that list has been complete!  I have officially attended culinary school through the CIA.  I took the advanced class on flavor dynamics starting on January 3rd, and I was very excited.  Even though I had to wake up at 6am for class everyday, for some reason, I didn't really mind.  It was really like a dream come true.

The class schedule was similar to a normal science class  w/ lab at rutgers.

In the morning, we would have lecture for an hour and break for breakfast at 8am.  Bagels were fresh delivered everyday.  Afterwards, we would go on to food/ flavor tasting and more discussion.  We tried a plethora of herbs, and basic cooking ingredients.  There was also a herb/ spice  pop quiz on one of those days.  See if you can name these by looking/ smelling them: Szechwan peppercorn, star anise, juniper berry, curry powder, caraway seeds, cinnamon, coriander seeds, chervil, cilantro, sage, tarragon, dill, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.  I got one wrong (too bad tests were not always like this-- I would ace school and really enjoy going to class).  

For lunch, we were split up into 6 teams.  Two teams make the same five dishes for lunch, and we eat, then get critiqued by the chef.  We had two hours to prep lunch, and it was pretty fun.  I felt like we were on Iron chef america, but at busch dining hall.  After lunch, we would have another food tasting and lecture.  I've never eaten so much in a week, but it was a great experience.