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Taught by Brooklyn Brainery




We've all cooked chicken or beef or pork, but beyond some vague idea of "this came from a cow!" do we really have a handle on what really makes up meat?

We'll learn about the animals the meat comes from: There's a lot of talk out there these days about grain- vs. grass-fed animals, we'll figure that one out. Can you differentiate between different breeds of the same species? And when it comes to wild animals, what the hell does "gamey" actually mean? We'll take a look at more obscure animals like rabbit, deer, horse and dog (YES I SAID IT) and see what roles they play in the culinary world.

Then we'll get to the meat itself: Help old ladies out at the supermarket by differentiating between a porterhouse, a flank steak and a short loin steak (cooks illustrated helps us out here). Different cuts of beef, pork, etc - I promise I will bring red chalk and draw you diagrams. Learn the theory behind boning poultry and fish!

And finally there's eating it: we'll cover different cooking methods and why to do each: braising, pan-frying, baking, all of that. What's the difference between testing for doneness with your eyes, your nose, your fingers or a meat thermometer? There's also a whole world of salted, dried or otherwise preserved meat out there, and it varies like mad from region to region. Have you ever had beef jerky from Chinatown? It sure ain't Appalachia's.

Oh, and fake meat! Soy and the like. We'll do that one. I'll tell you right now I can make a pretty mean mock duck.

THE DIFFERENCE between this class and classes at a real live cooking place is that this is all about theory. We aren't going to sit around in class watching a man push ground meat into sausage casings. We'll definitely be bringing things to class to eat, but I just want to make sure you don't think we're going to be whipping out the knives and reenacting that pig-death scene from Lord of the Flies.

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