Hello Everyone,
As is often the case during the summers here in The Valley, there is not a lot out-of-the-ordinary going on here at ACI, so I do not have a ton to report in this July edition of the ACI newsletter. Like all of you in the culinary world, we are definitely in heat-training mode in the kitchens. The lovely feel of sweating through our paper chef-instructor hats, the feel of damp chef uniforms the entire time you’re in the kitchen, drinking quart after quart of water but sweating it out as quickly as you consume it…..truly a unique experience! At this point though, we all know when it’s coming, we endure, and then it goes away for 8 months and we are rewarded with perfect weather for the rest of the year. BUT, knowing that sure doesn’t make it suck any less while it’s here. Stay strong and stay hydrated my friends!
Next open house is Saturday, August 4th. Chef Santos will be hosting a class on Garde Manger and the fine art of fruit and vegetable carving. Have you folks ever seen that man in action?!? He’s amazing. His expertise in that form of culinary arts is truly breath-taking. If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at it, call the school and sign up. Remember, our open house extracurricular classes are available for current students AND graduates. We don’t forget about you guys once you leave us! You’re always welcome back.
Chef Sedig will be teaching our Veteran Culinary Bootcamp class this time, and to align with the weather, she’ll be showing her class the finer points of Ice Cream making. In addition, you know we’ll have food, fun, and tours going on as well, so stop by!
The only other little teaser I have for you is this: the Tilted Earth Festival dinner that we helped with last month at Page Springs Cellars went really well. After all these years of nurturing the relationship between PSC and ACI, there is a POSSIBILITY that we may or may not be working on developing a wine curriculum with Eric Glomski, owner of Page Springs Cellars, that may or may not include an immersive wine education experience AT the vineyard/winery exclusively offered to ACI students and graduates. It’s still in development. Meetings are happening. Ideas are floating around. I don’t know…..we’ll see :o). But, if something was to come of this, I think it could be pretty special. Catch ya later!
Chef Christopher Wolf, ccc, cce, csw, cpi
Executive Chef, Arizona Culinary Institute