texasmesquite

Chef dishes out cooking advice

Nadeesha Surasinha - Advance Titan, University of Wisconsin


Chef Denis Hoffman said in order to ensure the freshest fish possible people should avoid foods labeled, “farm-raised,” “twice frozen,” or generally any products from China during a cooking lesson in the Crescent Café Monday.

Hoffman, a Blackhawk Commons chef presented a quick lesson on the basics of cooking, which looked at everything from the essential tools that should be included in every pantry, to the safety of the foods available in today’s markets.

Hoffman suggested keeping an instant-reading thermometer in the fridge and said inside temperature should always be less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit since bacteria only grow in a temperature higher than that.
Nursing major and senior Rabiah Buser was surprised to learn this fact.
“It was something that I never knew, but I’ll make a note to tell that to patients in the future.”

Chef Hoffman began his career in the culinary arts while he was a sophomore in high school. He worked at a local bakery and was drawn towards bread and baking – the two areas that he now specializes in.
Later he joined the Navy as a cook and said he fondly remembered that it was the first time he had eaten snails. He was stationed in Athens, and as a result was exposed to a wide range of food from Turkey, Italy and France.

He said he loves Mediterranean style food but prefers, “anything good” and would never say no to barbecue, French or Southwestern food.
Hoffman used to teach classes at Moraine Park, a culinary institute in Fond du Lac, but is now doing outreach classes in Berlin and Ripon, Wis.

First, he discussed how to choose the right knife. He said a small knife that people are comfortable using should always be the knife that is selected. A way to find this out is to see if a person’s knuckles rap on the cutting board while chopping leaves. Knives with air pockets are an additional bonus. The science behind this theory is that the pockets trap air so the knife won’t stick to whatever item a person is cutting, Hoffman said. He said a knife with an air pocket would not stick to anything while cutting. There are several knives that every chef should carry with them including: a paring and a chef knife, a knife for slicing (either serrated or long), a cleaver for pounding meat, and a flexible boning knife that removes animal bones. Other gadgets to have in ones’ kitchen are a juicer, corkscrew and possibly a decorating tool for arranging a lemon peel in an artistic manner, Hoffman said.

When it comes to poultry, any meat with the words “natural,” “Amish,” “organic” or “free range,” would culminate the best of the stock. For poultry and fish, Chef Hoffman has one common piece of advice and that is to buy from a reputable food dealer. Poultry when put in solution, should always be avoided, Hoffman said. “That tastes like rubber,” Hoffman said. “And since you’re buying by the pound, you’ll be paying for the salt water that’s included too.” When the opportunity for questions from students arose, one matter that Hoffman addressed was choosing between the wide varieties of available fish. He stated that any fish with labels such as “farm-raised,” “twice frozen,” or generally any products from China should be avoided. Hoffman said that labeled wild-caught fish, especially from Alaska or Seattle are the best to eat, because fish caught in these areas are immediately processed on the boat itself. Hoffmann also included several pieces of random advice. Good salmon will always have a bright red color, and fish should never be bought on Mondays since shoppers will be buying from Friday’s stock, he said.

He also recommended several cookbooks that should be in every kitchen, which included: the Culinary Institute of America’s New Professional Chef and the Master Dictionary of Food and Wine.

At the end of the lesson, he prepared a dish of chicken and pasta. His intention was to show students that an edible meal could be cooked in less than 10 minutes if using the proper ingredients. After tasting the final product, he looked unhappy and admitted that it lacks just one ingredient.
“Needs some white wine, but they frowned upon me brining it in.”
Samples of the dish were passed around, and most people were glad to take second and third helpings.

The audience compromised of people who 20 around five were male. One student attendee was social work major and sophomore Jackie Schiller who said that she loved to cook and came to learn more about it.