Cook the Book: Mastering the Art of French Cooking
$165 per person
Instructor
Our Cook the Book classes celebrate some of our favorite chefs and restaurants through their cookbooks. We select a signature dish from their cookbook, adapt it for the home kitchen, and build a menu around it to bring the book to life. These events are less instruction-based than our other cooking classes and make for an enjoyable night out.
What You'll Learn
By the end of the class, you will:
- Understand the basics of French cooking, striking a balance between the complexities of the cuisine and the practicalities of the American home cook
- Know how to adapt classical techniques wherever possible to recipes in all other French cookbooks and modern American cooking
- Learn how to reproduce the taste and texture of French ingredients, using products available locally, for example the appropriate fish for poaching versus a bouillabaisse and the right potatoes for mashing or a gratin
About This Class
Mastering the Art of French Cooking is for both seasoned cooks and beginners who love good food and long to reproduce at home the savory delights of the classic French cuisine. The focus will be on Coq au Vin, Julia’s famous recipe that employs so many core techniques of French cookery. Using many seasonal ingredients, we’ll round out our menu by adapting some classical techniques to more modern American conventions. After all, foundation and excellence of French cooking (and of good cooking in general) is due more to cooking techniques than to anything else!
We will demystify the splendor and glory of French sauces, explain how to poach and saute so that food cooks perfectly without losing its flavor, and conquer the epitome of French cooking, the souffle by learning how to fold beaten egg whites into a batter to retain maximum volume.
Menu
Galettes Au Fromage (Cheese Wafers), French Bistro Salad, Coq au Vin, Gratin Dauphinois, Haricots Verts a la d’Hotel, and Chocolate Souffle
Details
- Wine included
- Full meal served in class
- Work in teams
- Ages 18+
FAQ
All students must show proof of vaccine before entering school and will be required to wear a mask unless eating/drinking.
We understand and respect that lifestyle decisions during Covid are an individual choice. If you test positive for Covid while the class is in session, you will be asked to send a friend in your place until you have a negative test. Classes will not be rescheduled, credited or cancelled. Once the class session starts the class is non-refundable. This was our policy pre-Covid and continues to be our policy today. We hope you find this policy acceptable and understand that this policy is required for a small school like SFCS to operate and open our kitchens for great food experiences.
The average duration of our current cooking classes is 4 hours, which is predominately hands-on work. You will be standing for the majority of class, cooking at your work station as your instructor demonstrates techniques and walks around providing individual feedback. Most of the time you’ll be working with a partner or small group on a few different recipes.
Doors will open 10 minutes prior to class starting and we will begin promptly on time. Students will be asked to queue up outside the door of the school to have their vaccine cards checked the first week of class (these will only need to be checked once).
Please arrive at the school with your own mask on. New, disposable masks are available should you need to replace yours while in class.
Wear comfortable clothes and close-toed shoes (remember, you’ll be on your feet cooking). The kitchens at SFCS are fully equipped with everything else you need, including clean aprons.
You will sit down with your classmates to eat what you’ve all prepared, along with some wine. We do suggest you have a small snack before class as dinner does happen towards the end of each session.
Wear casual clothing you can easily move around in, and comfortable close-toed shoes. Long hair must be pulled back and masks are required while in the building.
Cancellation Policy
Margie Kriebel
After earning a professional culinary certificate from San Francisco Cooking School, Margie founded Local Flavor, a personal chef company providing small event catering services, in-home cooking classes, and recipe testing & development. When she is not in the kitchen cooking, she can be found with local farmers, ranchers, and fisherman learning about their craft and products or cultivating her backyard vegetable and fruit garden. In addition to teaching cooking classes, Margie also helps in the vegetable garden at the local homeless shelter.
Christine Gallary
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, Christine moved to Boston to test recipes at Cook’s Illustrated / America’s Test Kitchen, to teach children how to cook, and to work for Chef Barbara Lynch at her newly opened demonstration kitchen, Stir. Upon a return to California, Christine became a food editor in the test kitchen at CHOW.com. She is now the food editor at The Kitchn and loves the process of cooking as much as she enjoys eating the finished product.