Arancini

When I first started teaching the learning unit on pasta, grains, and legumes I was excited. For the majority of my career I leaned heavily on the French influence of cooking as it was a truly formative experience for me to learn and work with that cuisine for the early part of my career. However, I was more and more getting interested into learning about the nuances of Italian cuisine. However, it was difficult at the time to give students enough opportunity to practice all of the different techniques as the underclassmen were only helping to support the student lunch program at the time and there was no opportunity for them to branch out.

Upon moving into the newly built kitchen at Grasso in 2019, and the subsequent decision to expand the production activities afforded to the underclassmen, I was able to really look at each part of the curriculum and design new lessons so the students could get the kind of hands on experience they expect and deserve upon enrolling in a school such as ours.

One of the coolest things that came out of this was a way to have every student get the opportunity to make a risotto. Without a way to use it, this activity is sometimes overlooked. However, by cooling offering it as a fried appetizer, arancini, we get more food into the students' hands and everyone benefits, even our customers who look forward to this offering each year.

One of my first jobs upon graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1997 was working lunch at Spago Palo Alto, owned by one of the most famous chefs of the 80's and 90's Wolfgang Puck. I love telling students the story of the day that he was standing over me during a busy lunch service, staring at me, as I was swamped with orders... "in the weeds" as they say. I was working the pasta station, which was the busiest station at lunch, and all of a sudden... as I have multiple saute pans on the fire and a half a dozen different fresh pastas cooking away in the large boiler... he moves closer to me and starts pounding his open hand on the counter yelling "C,mon, c'mon, let's go, let's go... these people have come here to eat, not to see you spinning around.... they are hungry, let's go!"

I was mortified but just kept my head down and plowed ahead, cooking and plating to the best of my ability. It WAS an open kitchen (meaning that we were all simply behind a counter in full view of the restaurant patrons sitting at their tables). However, as I gained experience, and understood the business a little better, I bet that after giving me a little jab like that, he probably just turned around to whomever he was standing with and giggled, not thinking much of it at all. We all need a little push every now and then and I myself laugh at the memory now that I have a more mature and experienced perspective.