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by Benay Bernstein
Jim, who never lifted a knife in the kitchen, insisted that he must bone the fish. Fred was particularly pleased with the presentation of his stuffed fish fillets and Shelly's chopping produced more consistent sized morsels than those of his wife… to his great satisfaction. Somehow the smugness of being experienced cooks we women felt as we entered Chef Frédéric Tempereau's fabulous brand new kitchen melted away. It was clear we were all on a level playing field in the creation of our gourmet feast. Couples cooked together. Everyone was a chef. No one was a sous chef.
 Located in the Loire Valley among the vineyards of Savennieres, overlooking verdant woods and a brook, lies the Atelier Culinaire, Master Chef Frédéric Tempereau’s conception of an organized culinary workshop. Being in this environment, anticipating an excellent meal and challenged to perform well among friends, we couldn't wait to start. Chef Tempereau greeted us and presented a folder with our menu and recipes - Roast asparagus with cress and poached eggs; Daurade stuffed with vegetables; and Mango tart with mango sorbet. Then he directed us to put paperwork aside. Learning in this kitchen took place by imitation. If he could do it, so could we. And we did.
First we familiarized ourselves with the kitchen. Each couple had a station fully equipped as if in our own kitchen. Everything was state of the art and beautiful down to our red Kitchen Aid mixers and cone shaped food mills.
Demonstrating how to cut vegetables in preparation for dicing, Chef explained how each vegetable is prepared separately so that it's unique flavor remains even when harmonizing with other vegetables. He prefers to sauté vegetables in a little oil in the Spanish way, using just a touch of Moroccan Gargan oil, rather than to steam or boil. Diced zucchini enhanced with a touch of cumin, red and green pepper, and onion, became the stuffing for a local fish Daurade, and a salsa garnish for the appetizer plate. As we cooked we placed our used bowls and pots in the sinks adjacent to each station. Miraculously, the pots disappeared and reappeared clean and ready for additional use. I was impressed with the smooth system. Our time  was spent cooking and not cleaning. At one hundred dollars a person, that made sense.
Never in my life have I tweezed bones out of a fish. Each Daurade fillet had about six or seven bones which we located by touch. Using tweezers the size of a man's finger we pulled the hidden bones out. Then we positioned one fillet skin side down and piled on the combined, drained, seasoned vegetables. After placing another fillet atop the vegetables, skin side up, we carefully tied each serving with long, softened chives. With little effort we created such masterpieces. Chef removed them to the oven to bake and blended a simple sauce of arrugula, shallot and chicken stock to line the dinner plates.
 In individual tart pans on a bed of Caramel, made by melting sugar with a little bit of lemon, adding cream to stop the cooking and bits of butter to enhance the richness, we wedged slices of mango. Chef had prepared a dough for the crust which we tucked around the mango. This too was whisked off to the oven. Such a simple and elegant dessert befitted our meal.
Last in preparation was the appetizer which was comprised of a poached egg and four spears of roasted asparagus on a bed of green sauce made of rocket - a rather strong cress-like green - boiled potato and olive oil, and partially covered with a crisp. Making crisps was a new experience. Between silicone baking sheets we placed thin slices of buttered and oiled bread. Once baked, we realized that crisps are very delicious French crackers. Buying crackers makes no sense when you can make your own in this manner.
I learned two new ways to poach an egg in this class. My standard way is to use a  teaspoon of white vinegar in the boiling water to keep the egg together. It was interesting to see that merely spinning the water to form a whirlpool nestles the egg sufficiently to keep it together. The other method of poaching seemed made for kitchen klutzes: place a piece of saran wrap in a small bowl. Break the egg into the bowl. Gather the wrap and twist it at the top then gently ease the packet into boiling water leaning the wrap against the side of the pot so it does not fall open.
For the most part our class did not suffer from competition or too much testosterone. The results of each couple's efforts were admirable. Sitting down to a feast of our own creation, fortified with wine paired excellently to each course; we savored a meal of champions.
© September 2007 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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