I am deep into chef & instructor training. Since this is the 3rd module, designed for us to be certified as Associate Chefs & Instructors, the pace has picked up quite a bit. Classes are starting earlier and ending later, with less breaks than before - so condensed in fact, that many participants are getting tired and grumpy - how about that! I am actually getting quite tired on my feet as well, but the information is all so fascinating and I have such a deep desire to absorb everything that I am still enjoying the class thoroughly.
In this module we are being trained in 2 major aspects - 1 is in a high level of culinary skill, and the other is in culinary instruction. They are 2 very different skills! You could say that while culinary skill is a fine art, instruction is more of a science in organization. The great thing is that we are being taught very comprehensively, even down to methods for organizing our filing and schedules, so much so that even a hair brain like me can become confident in organizing a class.
One of the highlights for us is our individual demonstration next week - each of us will be teaching the rest of the class a particular dish, just like the cooking shows on TV! There are hours of preparation behind each demonstration, and it gets us quite enthused about the opportunity to stage a performance. I will be teaching the class how to make Spinach Mushroom Quiche, and it is a dish that's generating a lot of excitement.
In the chef training, I am so impressed by the recipes that we are learning to make. Just about everything we've been learning has been taken to a new level of sophistication. It now dawns upon me that this really is a school of culinary arts rather than just a raw food school. Today Cherie demonstrated a linguine in a truffle cream sauce. The dish was completely raw, but the flavours were so outstanding that it was probably the best tasting pasta dish (cooked food included) that I'd ever had. Can one imagine that I now have the recipes and the know-how to make stuff like that as well? I can't! Woo hoo!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Day 7 @ Living Light
Chef training is going well, although I've been feeling somewhat disconnected today - I'm not sure why. Nevertheless, it was an interesting day - Cherie got 2 of us to help her with a class demonstration, so I got to make something up in front of class. We added a twist of humour by mimicking Cherie's *every* move - it was quite funny. We made Vanilla Cherry Cheesecake - and it was amazing! Cherie has such a gift for manipulating raw textures. Today I found out she has the same birthday as my mum that she's not used soap or shampoo to bathe for the past decade. Isn't the raw food world interesting?
Today was the last day of "Essentials" - we finished with an exam and a graduation ceremony, after which we ate our cheesecake! The day ended by 4, and graduates went out to celebrate while the sun was still out, but being in my disconnected mood, I came back to the inn to meditate and to catch up on some sleep and a little reading. I spent a few hours reading about seeds and growing, getting information about what I'll be able to grow when I'm back home. My plan is to grow enough salad and juicing greens and maybe some tomatoes in the apartment to eat as a staple, and I will be buying the organic seeds from seedsofchange.com while I'm still here. I'm hoping that some heirloom seeds will grow in our climate as well! :) It seems that growing our own food is becoming a larger and larger part of healthy living. In 2 weekends I'll be attending another class on just kitchen gardening and composting - if I can get this going in Singapore its going to be very exciting!
I think I've found a source of worms for the vermicomposter. WormMan will deliver in Singapore!
Here we go!
Today was the last day of "Essentials" - we finished with an exam and a graduation ceremony, after which we ate our cheesecake! The day ended by 4, and graduates went out to celebrate while the sun was still out, but being in my disconnected mood, I came back to the inn to meditate and to catch up on some sleep and a little reading. I spent a few hours reading about seeds and growing, getting information about what I'll be able to grow when I'm back home. My plan is to grow enough salad and juicing greens and maybe some tomatoes in the apartment to eat as a staple, and I will be buying the organic seeds from seedsofchange.com while I'm still here. I'm hoping that some heirloom seeds will grow in our climate as well! :) It seems that growing our own food is becoming a larger and larger part of healthy living. In 2 weekends I'll be attending another class on just kitchen gardening and composting - if I can get this going in Singapore its going to be very exciting!
I think I've found a source of worms for the vermicomposter. WormMan will deliver in Singapore!
Here we go!
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Day 4
Excerpt from email to my family
...
The founder of the school, Cherie Soria, returned to teach us today. She has been in Florida with her husband Dan (the GM of Living Light) at the Hippocrates Health institute attending a raw food summit. Cherie is turning 60 in 2 weeks, and we (the students staying until then) will be catering her birthday party lunch! Cherie is stunningly beautiful. She has a figure of a young pop star, long curly black/gray hair, and a gorgeous face. Her skin and her eyes radiate like a studio camera effect - it is ridiculous. She has a humble, loving and sharing energy that is wonderful to receive, and she will be teaching us from now on!
This is her picture from the website, which looks just -okay-. In person she looks like the kind of woman that teenage boys have crushes on.
Today we had tasting class all morning. We were given trays of little "flavour" cups (e.g. garlic, lime, tamarind...) and spent all morning experimenting with how different flavours combined together. I find this a little challenging - it is all awakening a very new awareness in my mouth.
After that we made a delicious Caesar salad sauce that you would've loved mummy, because it tastes like a Japanese sauce using a lot of miso flavour and horseradish. We had that (Caesar salad) for lunch, with yummy croutons made from almond pulp. Later we also made apple pie, followed by some raw pasta dishes (pesto & marinara). These are dishes that I've made before but I'm learning new ways and techniques to create better, more conscious versions! And these are REALLY GOOD YUMMY VERSIONS! *slurp* The wonderful thing is that, they are even healthier and easier to digest than the ones that I've learnt in the past, just by using more intelligently combined ingredients and by using techniques like fermentation and dehydration.
...
The founder of the school, Cherie Soria, returned to teach us today. She has been in Florida with her husband Dan (the GM of Living Light) at the Hippocrates Health institute attending a raw food summit. Cherie is turning 60 in 2 weeks, and we (the students staying until then) will be catering her birthday party lunch! Cherie is stunningly beautiful. She has a figure of a young pop star, long curly black/gray hair, and a gorgeous face. Her skin and her eyes radiate like a studio camera effect - it is ridiculous. She has a humble, loving and sharing energy that is wonderful to receive, and she will be teaching us from now on!
This is her picture from the website, which looks just -okay-. In person she looks like the kind of woman that teenage boys have crushes on.
Today we had tasting class all morning. We were given trays of little "flavour" cups (e.g. garlic, lime, tamarind...) and spent all morning experimenting with how different flavours combined together. I find this a little challenging - it is all awakening a very new awareness in my mouth.
After that we made a delicious Caesar salad sauce that you would've loved mummy, because it tastes like a Japanese sauce using a lot of miso flavour and horseradish. We had that (Caesar salad) for lunch, with yummy croutons made from almond pulp. Later we also made apple pie, followed by some raw pasta dishes (pesto & marinara). These are dishes that I've made before but I'm learning new ways and techniques to create better, more conscious versions! And these are REALLY GOOD YUMMY VERSIONS! *slurp* The wonderful thing is that, they are even healthier and easier to digest than the ones that I've learnt in the past, just by using more intelligently combined ingredients and by using techniques like fermentation and dehydration.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Day 3 @ Living Light
Excerpt from an email to my family
...
Yesterday was the end of the first module of the course, "fundamentals". Today was the start of "essentials", which is an intensively hands on course that will carry through the next 4 days. Aprons on, hats on, knives out! The schedule runs very tight from 8 am to 6.30 pm everyday, and at times it can get quite stressful for my leisurely brain to work at such speed - but that hasn't stopped me from having a wonderful time. Today was our first real theory class on organizing a kitchen and general knife rules. We made sprouted buckwheat granola, sauerkraut, and almond cheese. We've actually been eating these things everyday since we got here, and they are ALL favourites with us because they taste so good. Today we got to make them! We were also assigned a batch of sprouts each which we have to take personal care of over the next few days (or weeks) depending what sprout we got. We carry them around in a jar. I got an easy one - clover. In the later part of the morning, we made garden blend soup, pizza crackers and black forest cherry brownies. All these things that we made became our meals or snacks at various points throughout the day. Now, these items are not raw foods which I have been excited about in the past, but I tell you, EVERYTHING we made today was so delicious, it really blew me away!
Finally time for lunch! Lunch was a massive salad spread with our garden soup. This doesn't sound delicious but the kitchen here has a way of making it delightful. The soup was what we made in class, and I really don't like these raw soups usually, but today's was SO GOOD. At every lunch, there is a sweet touch - we all hold hands around the buffet spread and feast our eyes on it. We say a big family prayer together and celebrate EVERYTHING! And then we eat. No doubt, this is a fully fledged woo woo school.
The afternoon was spent on learning to use our knives, practicing good knife etiquette and also learning the techniques of cutting various fruits & veggies. All the stuff we were cutting/dicing/juliening/chiffonading eventually went into our own sushi rolls, which we would then eat later in something Gastronomy Lab, which marks the end of each day. During this time, we are quiet and reverent with the food that we've just made, and eat our food with deep consciousness and intensity, paying really close attention to what we are tasting - the 5 different tastes, the effects of the textures, the effect of each different vegetable in the roll, where the different tastes occur in the mouth... it was so overwhelming that I could not begin to think of how I'd balance the food better, because I was just taken aback by how much was going on in my mouth as I consciously chewed and tasted my food. New dimensions indeed.
...
Yesterday was the end of the first module of the course, "fundamentals". Today was the start of "essentials", which is an intensively hands on course that will carry through the next 4 days. Aprons on, hats on, knives out! The schedule runs very tight from 8 am to 6.30 pm everyday, and at times it can get quite stressful for my leisurely brain to work at such speed - but that hasn't stopped me from having a wonderful time. Today was our first real theory class on organizing a kitchen and general knife rules. We made sprouted buckwheat granola, sauerkraut, and almond cheese. We've actually been eating these things everyday since we got here, and they are ALL favourites with us because they taste so good. Today we got to make them! We were also assigned a batch of sprouts each which we have to take personal care of over the next few days (or weeks) depending what sprout we got. We carry them around in a jar. I got an easy one - clover. In the later part of the morning, we made garden blend soup, pizza crackers and black forest cherry brownies. All these things that we made became our meals or snacks at various points throughout the day. Now, these items are not raw foods which I have been excited about in the past, but I tell you, EVERYTHING we made today was so delicious, it really blew me away!
Finally time for lunch! Lunch was a massive salad spread with our garden soup. This doesn't sound delicious but the kitchen here has a way of making it delightful. The soup was what we made in class, and I really don't like these raw soups usually, but today's was SO GOOD. At every lunch, there is a sweet touch - we all hold hands around the buffet spread and feast our eyes on it. We say a big family prayer together and celebrate EVERYTHING! And then we eat. No doubt, this is a fully fledged woo woo school.
The afternoon was spent on learning to use our knives, practicing good knife etiquette and also learning the techniques of cutting various fruits & veggies. All the stuff we were cutting/dicing/juliening/chiffonading eventually went into our own sushi rolls, which we would then eat later in something Gastronomy Lab, which marks the end of each day. During this time, we are quiet and reverent with the food that we've just made, and eat our food with deep consciousness and intensity, paying really close attention to what we are tasting - the 5 different tastes, the effects of the textures, the effect of each different vegetable in the roll, where the different tastes occur in the mouth... it was so overwhelming that I could not begin to think of how I'd balance the food better, because I was just taken aback by how much was going on in my mouth as I consciously chewed and tasted my food. New dimensions indeed.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Day 2 @ Living Light
Excerpt from my journal
...
Being at Living Light has been an incredible experience - and its only day 2 (the last day of FUNdamentals). So much has been happening, and so fast. People's lives have been unfolding in front of me, rich with experiences and diversity. All I can do is listen, ears and eyes wide open.
Tonight, Isaac and Mary brought Kelly, Evana, the other Isaac and Mary and myself to a beach spot behind some dunes, a spot probably only the local boys of Fort Bragg know. Isaac is local - he's the AV coordinator for Living Light - he built a huge bonfire in about 2 minutes flat!
...
...
Being at Living Light has been an incredible experience - and its only day 2 (the last day of FUNdamentals). So much has been happening, and so fast. People's lives have been unfolding in front of me, rich with experiences and diversity. All I can do is listen, ears and eyes wide open.
Tonight, Isaac and Mary brought Kelly, Evana, the other Isaac and Mary and myself to a beach spot behind some dunes, a spot probably only the local boys of Fort Bragg know. Isaac is local - he's the AV coordinator for Living Light - he built a huge bonfire in about 2 minutes flat!
...
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Day 1 @ Living Light
Bits of an email to my Da Jie
...
Today's class was fantastic! Even I can't believe how good the food is!
....
Today's classes were mostly on sprouting, juicing and fermentation - Living Light considers sprouting and fermentation to be the pillars of the raw food diet, and after eating today's foods I can see why! I had my first taste of Rejuvelac and herbed almond cheese - absolutely delicious! It tasted nothing as I'd imagined, a beautifully smooth, mild tasting cheese, alot like buffala mozzarella. The foods were unbelievably good! SERIOUSLY!!! They stuffed us with food today, continuously loading us with snacks and sample portions, in addition to sprouted buckwheat granola & almond milk breakfast and an incredibly tasty salad spread for lunch. I mean, I've already been a raw food convert and I still can't believe how delicious today's food was. And I find I don't have to eat as much to be satisfied! I think fermentation really adds a dimension of raw food that's very necessary that's been missing from my life thus far. And its easy!!! I already can't wait to come back and start setting up what I've learnt today.
The instructors are great - you can really tune into each one and feel how much love and passion they have for what they're doing. Some of them can really talk for forever, but they have so much ENERGY, it is infectious.
....
...
Today's class was fantastic! Even I can't believe how good the food is!
....
Today's classes were mostly on sprouting, juicing and fermentation - Living Light considers sprouting and fermentation to be the pillars of the raw food diet, and after eating today's foods I can see why! I had my first taste of Rejuvelac and herbed almond cheese - absolutely delicious! It tasted nothing as I'd imagined, a beautifully smooth, mild tasting cheese, alot like buffala mozzarella. The foods were unbelievably good! SERIOUSLY!!! They stuffed us with food today, continuously loading us with snacks and sample portions, in addition to sprouted buckwheat granola & almond milk breakfast and an incredibly tasty salad spread for lunch. I mean, I've already been a raw food convert and I still can't believe how delicious today's food was. And I find I don't have to eat as much to be satisfied! I think fermentation really adds a dimension of raw food that's very necessary that's been missing from my life thus far. And its easy!!! I already can't wait to come back and start setting up what I've learnt today.
The instructors are great - you can really tune into each one and feel how much love and passion they have for what they're doing. Some of them can really talk for forever, but they have so much ENERGY, it is infectious.
....
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
No more gym
Yesterday's gym session was particularly depressing because it seems that I've grown weaker! Getting on the scale today reveals that I have lost more weight and in fact, I'm lighter than I've ever been at 62.4 kg. What the heck?
No doubt I've only been working out for 3 weeks, but I didn't expect to LOSE weight!
Taking a step back, I don't think the gym is a form of exercise that works for me though - lifting heavy weights really drains me and the result is that I'm more sedentary at every other time. I'm going to go back to what used to work - running, biking, blading, swimming and yoga.
No doubt I've only been working out for 3 weeks, but I didn't expect to LOSE weight!
Taking a step back, I don't think the gym is a form of exercise that works for me though - lifting heavy weights really drains me and the result is that I'm more sedentary at every other time. I'm going to go back to what used to work - running, biking, blading, swimming and yoga.
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