Tip of the Day: Ditch the Sponge

We are two days from taking our Food Safety certification exam, the ServSafe test. Not only do chefs need to be talented cooks, but we need to know how to run clean, safe kitchens as well.

Today's tip doesn't have to do with cooking, but rather food safety. Because the average kitchen sponge is dirtier than your toilet, use a wire brush or a thin, green scrubber pad instead when washing dishes. The thick, foam structure of a sponge is to bacteria what Cancun is to drunken spring breakers: party time. No matter how often you run your sponge through hot water or where you store it, the sponge is just too dirty to be used for cleaning food items.

The wire brushes and thin, green scrubber pads will dry much faster and have less porous surface area, making them less hospitable environments for bacterial growth.

While I prefer to stay away from scare-tactic tips, I couldn't keep the "sponge-is-dirtier-than-your-toilet" image to myself. Don't let this stop you from cooking at home; just cook clean!

The Root of the Word "Avocado"

Avocados are a hallmark of Californian cuisine and I love them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But ever wonder where we got the name?

The word avocado comes from the Central American language Nahuatl, spoken by ancient Aztecs and some indigenous Mexicans today. Referring to the avocado's pear-like shape and its bumpy skin surface, the Nahuatl root word ahuacatl literally means "testicle."

Sorry for being juvenile, but I'm never gonna eat an avocado again without chuckling a little inside.

Tip of the Day: Avoid Sticky Pasta with Lemon Juice

Despite the low-carb madness of recent years, I love pasta. No matter the dish- linguini with cream sauce, spaghetti and meatballs, ravioli, capellini primavera, I love them all- the most important element is how you actually cook the pasta. How frustrating is it when you cook spaghetti but then it turns into that sticky tangle in the strainer?

Two cooking techniques to avoid sticky pasta: 1. Use lots of water (5 quarts of water to every pound of pasta) to dilute the starch released during cooking and to keep the noodles separated.

2. Add a little lemon juice to the boiling water. Most municipal water companies add calcium and magnesium to tap water (giving it a mineral taste frequently called "hard water") to prevent pipe corrosion. While this treated city tap water is fine to drink, the alkaline pH of the water breaks down the noodle surface much faster than neutral or slightly acidic water. Lemon juice balances out the pH of the water and reduces stickiness.

If you're not going to eat the pasta immediately, you can also toss the noodles with olive oil to prevent sticking.

Culinary School Photos

Maui onions, cipollinis, pearl onions, green onions, leeks, and gingers for our root vegetable tasting. Our chef instructor had us chop these up and caramelize them to taste their differences.








The lunchtime dessert table, which is fully stocked everyday with truffles, cakes, pies, and tarts from the Baking and Pastry classes. INSANE.






Citrus Tasting in our Product Knowledge class. We try Minneola oranges, blood oranges, Meyer lemons, Persian lemons, key limes, Rangpur limes, kumquats, pomelos, ruby grapefruit, I can't even remember them all. We do this tasting for every subcategory of produce (lettuces, root vegetables, apples and pears, cabbages, spices). Definitely beats regular lecture classes.

Germinating Seeds

I joined the garden club, and I'm learning heaps. Here Deborah and I prepare trays for cucumber seeds. When they sprout, we'll transfer them outside to the garden. When they're fully grown, we'll sell our produce at the St Helena Farmers Market!