Over the Moon and Beyond Basics

We’ve always said that our Very Basics and Beyond Basics Series are the heart of Culinary Underground’s program. But somehow, the focus is always on Very Basics. And why not? It’s where you learn techniques, and that’s what gets people so excited. Once you’ve learned basic cooking techniques, you have the confidence to try most anything, right?

We love to think about the content of our series – what you’ll enjoy, what we think you should learn, how best to teach it. In the case of Beyond Basics (BB), there is so much to choose from! Going beyond basic techniques, building on the experience you already have, expanding your knowledge of ingredients and flavor profiles is exciting and challenging. Beyond Basics is where you become an accomplished cook.

It’s hard to describe BB classes because there is something that happens when you’re cooking with a group of other dedicated and enthusiastic cooks. And, of course, students bring their own sets of experiences and preferences, so it’s always different.

We can say that in each session we include information on the more unusual flavors and ingredients, the skill of composing meals and menus, and approaches to plating and garnishing.

We can say that moving beyond salt, pepper, and parsley is a sign of serious cookery and the first BB session is a festival of herbs and spices – where to get them, how to use them. We can say that the appetizers in session two are not your everyday selections – they’re delicious works of art.

We can say that you will become familiar with selecting and preparing whole fish, oysters, calamari, and lobster, with cooking poultry in more sophisticated ways, and learn to bone, butterfly, and ballotine.

We can say that we believe vegetables and grains can and should be the stars of the meal and in our classes we’ll prove it.

But really, it’s more than all that. Beyond Basics is where it all comes together: flavor profiles, new ingredients, even more techniques, more sophisticated cooking, but most of all, participants who love to be in the kitchen. It’s an unbeatable combination!