Food & Wine Classic: The chefs show how it’s done at the sold-out seminars
Special to The Aspen Times
You’ve watched them on TV, eaten at their restaurants and collected their cookbooks. Now’s your chance to catch them in person as they teach, inspire, entertain and share recipes in seminars at the Food & Wine Classic (in Aspen, no less). Here’s the who, what and where of our insider picks.
Mastering Pasta with
Anne Burrell and Dana Cowin
Saturday, 3:45 to 4:40 p.m.
On her Twitter profile (194,475 followers and counting), Anne Burrell’s tag reads “chef, food network personality, bon vivant, perpetual optimist and spreader of sparkles and smiles!”
When she takes the stage for her first-ever Food & Wine Classic in Aspen seminar, “Mastering Pasta,” on Saturday at The St. Regis, her signature spiky hair, hearty laugh and pointed commentary will further inform her rapid rise to celebrity on shows like “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef” and “Worst Cooks in America.”
All of that flamboyance will be tempered by the casual charm and easy smile of Dana Cowin, with whom Burrell is partnering for what promises to be a most entertaining — and educational — seminar. Coming off a 21-year tenure as editor of Food & Wine magazine, and now creative director of Chefs Club USA, Cowin knows her way around the kitchen stage as a host. But as a cook? Well, not so much.
Cowin’s admitted lack of skill in the kitchen is the subject of her book, “Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen,” in which she enlisted her chef buddies to show her where she’s gone wrong (and teach her how to do things right).
About her seminar with Burrell, Cowin says, “I am learning to cook a simple Italian dinner with Anne, … making pasta from scratch. I’ve tried many times before and never succeeded. But she swears she can teach me, and I can’t wait to learn.”
On the mini
menu:
Tagliatelle with
prosciutto and grilled
asparagus with
poached egg and
Parmesan.
FRIDAY
10 to 10:45 a.m.,
Jacques and Claudine Pépin
Heart & Soul in
the Kitchen
Isn’t that really what it’s all about? Inspired by legendary French chef Jacque Pépin’s popular “Heart & Soul” TV series and cookbook, which highlight his 60 years in the kitchen, this sure-to-be-touching seminar with his daughter, Claudine, will feature dishes they cook for friends and family at home.
2 to 2:45 p.m., Chris Cosentino
The New Style Surf
and Turf
Lamb and clams? Pork belly and lobster? Expect nothing less than creative riffs on the classic combos from this “Top Chef Master,” who turns out dishes like pigskin carbonara and beef heart tartare at his San Francisco restaurant, Cockscomb.
3:45 to 4:30 p.m., Tim Love
Backyard BBQ
That mouthwatering, nose-tickling smoke wafting from the Cooking Tent? It’s a sure sign that Tim Love has fired up the grill for another of his signature seminars. Take what you learn to your backyard, on your next camping trip or to a tailgate party down the road.
SATURDAY
10 to 10:45 a.m., Hugh Acheson
The Ultimate Grain Bowl
Hugh Acheson, Top Chef judge, Atlanta chef-restaurateur and James Beard Award-winning author of “A New Turn in the South,” pairs two timely trends — whole grains and one-dish meals, touted simply as “bowls” — in this tasty, educational seminar.
2 to 2:45 p.m., Andrew Zimmern
Culinary Literacy: China
He who will eat anything (at least once), as he demonstrates regularly on his Travel Channel series, “Bizarre Foods,” will share recipes for “Cook and Sell” Siu Mai Dumplings and Sichuan rabbit with chiles and fermented black beans.
3:45 to 4:30 p.m.,
Jose Garces
The Best of
Spanish Cuisine
Another newcomer to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen lineup, Garces is coming off the opening of the Battery Park (New York City) outpost of his popular Philadelphia-based restaurant, Amada, where traditional Andalusian tapas mix with signature dishes like whole roasted suckling pig.
SUNDAY
10:30 to 11:15 a.m.
Classic Cook-Off
It’s a wild time as chefs Anne Burrell and Tim Love pair with celebrity sous chefs in a battle to reign supreme in this annual cook-off, MC’d by “Classic Cook-Off” veteran host Sissy Biggers. Winners are named via an audience vote. Be there!
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