Master Class
I might be the only person who understands the title reference – Master Class is a movie based on a play about a fictionalized master class, where trained opera singers would sing and get critiqued by, well, masters. In the movie/play, the diva teacher is Maria Callas. She does not take kindly to the young singers in training.
The cooking class/demonstration I attended tonight was absolutely NOTHING like that. It was held by my all-time favorite Top Chef, Carla Hall.
Amazing chef and teacher
The demo was just rocking. Carla, if possible, has more personality in real life than she did on TV. She is super tall and poised and has more presence than anyone I’ve ever seen before. But she was personable and down-to-earth. She talked to everyone, and made each of us feel super special just for being near her. Although she doesn’t drink, she had her business partner do wine pairings for each of the (delicious) courses and he was super knowledgeable and the wines were great.
And the food? I’m surprised she gave us the recipes. She made a delicious roasted pumpkin soup (I’ll be making it), a mushroom lasagna (I and a friend who I went with hate mushrooms and we basically licked our plates), braised pork belly with wilted collards and brussels sprouts leaves (I would make those greens this moment if I had collards in my fridge, that’s how good they are), and banana pudding. Which I love. And she gave me a second tasting portion. (Thanks to Twitter. Boo on everyone who ever said social media wasn’t good for the world!)
But aside from being delicious, the food was accessible. She was great about sharing what mistakes she’d made, what ingredients we could sub, how we could make these recipes on our own. We walked into the room as Carla fans, we left full, happy, and in love.
Also, Top Chef All-Stars starts tomorrow night on Bravo. I know who I’m rooting for!
HOOTIE HOO!!
