Dirty Hands Make Good Cooks

"I don't like salads," one young man announced at the beginning of class when he learned about the menu for lunch that day.

I'd signed up to take a class called "Kids Cooking at Side Yard Farm" with my nephew, a first-grader. I wanted to do something together that would be fun and interesting for both of us, and this class looked like just the ticket. Plus, though he's a good, if not adventurous, eater, I hoped that it might expand his culinary horizons a bit, too.

Talking, tasting, reacting—not always positively!

Joanna Sooper, an elementary school teacher and founder of Turnip the Heat Cooking School, said that helping kids discover new tastes and flavors and teaching them how to cook with fresh, healthy ingredients was an idea she'd been dreaming about for several years. During the fall and winter months  she offers classes for toddlers to teens at various locations around town, focusing on cooking delicious food from scratch with whole ingredients. But when the growing season rolls around she often partners with area urban farmers to offer classes on their farms, where kids can actually go out into the field and pick their ingredients themselves, then make a meal that they'll share together.

Making pesto.

This class was held at The Side Yard Farm, Stacey Givens's acre-sized plot in the Cully neighborhood of Northeast Portland. Long rows of raised beds bursting with herbs, vegetables and fruit that Givens and her crew sell to local restaurants proved irresistible to the five kids who'd signed up for the class. As Sooper led them on a tour through the rows, she talked to them about the five tastes—salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami—and how each was represented in the plants growing on the farm. Then she had each child wander the rows and stand next to a plant they'd never seen before, helping them figure out what it was and what it might be used for.

Salad with flowers.

Then it was time to start harvesting ingredients for lunch, which was going to consist of a salad with a creamy fruit dressing, pesto for pasta and, for dessert, a peach hand pie. After discussing what might be good things to put in a salad, the kids were unleashed to gather ingredients and bring them back to the table under the outdoor arbor. With much tearing of leaves, chopping of vegetables—yes, there are knives that the kids are taught how to use safely—and assembling of the salad, Sooper then described the history and ingredients that make a pesto, and the kids were sent out to gather those among the beds, too.

Peach hand pies: hands-down favorite.

When the pesto was made, it was time to assemble the hand pies that would bake while the students were eating lunch, and there may have been some sampling of the peaches during the cutting and stirring to make the dough and filling. Sooper and her students then set the table—napkins folded, silverware in its proper positions—and sat down to lunch, talking about what they'd learned and discovered, what they liked and didn't.

The hand pies? Hands down the favorite among most. And the boy who hated salads? He said the salad they'd made together was the best he'd ever had and, yes, he'd definitely have it again.

At the time, my nephew, a rather quiet sort, said it was fun and he wouldn't be opposed to doing another class like it. But I heard from his parents that, in the next few days, he'd mentioned that there was such a thing as purple basil, and it tasted just like regular basil. Oh, and that you can make salad dressing from a squished peach and it was really good.

There are lots of cooking classes for kids being offered in town, so check the calendar on the left for dates and times.

Cook Your Way Through China, Region by Region

Growing up in Central Oregon, there wasn't much of a dining scene outside of steaks, burgers and baked potatoes. The one shining light for me was Stockton's New China Café, where my parents would take us occasionally. Looking back on it, the menu was no doubt Americanized to fit the tastes of small-town America. But to me, the fried rice, chow mein, chop suey and egg foo young were wondrously exotic, tastes and textures that came from far beyond the boundaries of my small world.

From that initial taste of broader culinary horizons, I've had ample opportunity to sample other Chinese regional specialties, but I've never been comfortable enough, or felt my pantry was stocked well enough, to really dive into making genuine Chinese delicacies here at home. But now my chance may have come in a series of classes being offered by the Northwest China Council.

As part of its 2015 program on “Food in China,” the China Council is teaming up with Susana Holloway of Portland’s Culinary Workshop to offer a series of quarterly cooking classes, each featuring the specialties of China's four main culinary regions. Even better, each of these hands-on classes will be followed by a dinner featuring the dishes the class has made.

Beijing and Northern Regions

Sun., April 12, 3-6 pm

Pork and spiced vegetable dumplings with a vinegar/soy dipping sauce

Lotus root and ginger salad

Fish braised in rice wine and black mushrooms

Warm silken tofu in a sweet ginger syrup

Shanghai and Eastern Regions

Sun., July 12, 3-6 pm

Pork stuffed bitter melon with black bean sauce

Prawns stir-fried in green tea

Chinese broccoli (Gai Lan) with bamboo shoots

Red bean sesame balls

Sichuan and Western Regions

Sun., Oct. 11, 3-6 pm

Garlic chive cakes

Spiced pork and mung bean noodles

Long Beans with shredded bamboo in chili oil

Fried wonton stuffed with sweetened Asian pear

Guangzhou and Southern Regions

Sun., Jan. 10, 3-6 pm

Stir-fried minced duck in lettuce cups

Chilled chicken and egg noodle salad with a tangy peanut dressing

Congee with Pork, herbs and egg

Coconut and lemon pudding

Details: Food in China: Four Regional Cuisines of China is a series of hands-on cooking classes sponsored by the NW China Council. $80 per class with preregistration. Classes held at Portland's Culinary Workshop, 807 N. Russel St. 503-512-0447.

Great Gifting: Mad Skills

My son is a really good cook. Not dependent on recipes, he makes what pleases him and follows his palate, throwing together flavors from different cuisines in an international melting pot of his own creation, with delicious results. So for the last few holidays when a present is required, instead of trying to come up with some new gadget or game, I've given him gift certificates for hands-on cooking classes where he can pick up some new skills or find out more about a cuisine he's interested in.

Portland's Culinary Workshop: Whether it's honing basic knife skills or learning butchery or making Chinese soup dumplings (left), Melinda and Susana (top photo) make it not just informative, but fun. Their prices are more than reasonable for the lifelong skills they teach and I don't know anyplace else that covers such a wide range of topics. Almost all of their classes are open to kids under 12 for a reduced price, and they have special classes for couples, too—a gift that would cross off two birds on your list with one pen-stroke! Portland's Culinary Workshop, 807 N Russell St. 503-512-0447.

Ramsay's Dram: If you have someone on your list who appreciates sipping fine whiskeys, there is no person better to sip them with than Stuart Ramsay, writer, teacher and whiskey aficionado extraordinaire. This Scotsman calls Portland home, but he's known worldwide for his dedication to sharing the history and joys of fine spirits, as well as the pleasures of beer and wine. Imagine listening to his lovely burr extolling the virtues of a decades-old whiskey, and I think you'll agree it's a gift worth giving. Schedule of classes to be announced, gift certificates can be purchased by contacting him via e-mail.

Cocktail Classes at Raven & Rose: One of the most brilliant gifts I ever gave Dave was a basic cocktail class. He learned to wield a cocktail shaker and muddler like a pro, and I have benefitted immensely ever since. Many bars in Portland are beginning to offer classes worth checking into…from personal experience, the ones given by master mixologist Dave Shenaut will more than satisfy any thirst for knowledge your giftee may have. Cheers! Raven and Rose, 1331 SW Broadway. E-mail Natalia Toral for certificates.

Read the other posts in this year's Great Gifting series: Gifts That Give Back, Kids Stuff, Bookin' It and Good Eatin'.

Class Cut-Up

When my neighbor Susana first announced that she and a friend were going to start a cooking school, I was understandably excited. After all, both women are professional chefs with years of experience teaching at two of Portland's best culinary schools. Knowing them, I expected they'd offer a bit more than the run-of-the-mill, watch-and-nosh classes you find locally, maybe even allowing folks to (gasp) actually get their hands dirty.

I should have known better.

In their first month of operation the newly launched Portland's Culinary Workshop offered classes on sushi, Brazilian cuisine, knife skills, Asian dumplings, how to break down a chicken, making meals with raw foods, making baby food, pastas and sauces, as well as butchering pig and lamb. And that's just for starters. These gals are bent on having fun with class titles like "Mind Your Meat Mistress," "Gettin' Saucy in the Kitchen" and "Sexy Couples Class." With side trips that include watching your instructor debone a chicken. Blindfolded. How cool is that?

Melinda Casady (top photo), the mistress in the title of the meat class and no slouch with a meat saw, led a recent class on breaking down a whole lamb into its component parts. I was a little disappointed it came without the head on (upper left), but when Melinda had us grab knives and hack saws and have a go at the carcass (taking turns, of course), I was all in (right).

In approximately 90 minutes we had dismembered…I mean butchered…the entire lamb (left), learning how to debone the leg roasts, whack some fine shanks, pare out the ribs into lovely lamby lollipops and save all the meaty scraps for ground lamb and stew.

Not bad for a couple of hours on a Saturday, especially considering we got to divvy up the meat we'd just butchered and bring it home for some mighty fine eating (and bragging).

Details: Portland's Culinary Workshop, 807 N Russell St. 503-512-0447.