I teach an American Cooking Class, Plumbing Problems and Shopping!
Originally Posted in “www.frenchrivieralife.com” March 5, 2008
So last night was my first “American Cooking” class in March. (I’ll be doing 3 more this month and then one or two more in April.) Why did I do it? (Besides the fact that Alain goaded me into, I mean?) Because there is a misconception among some people that all Americans eat are hamburgers and hot dogs and that we eat at fast food restaurants more nights than we fix meals at home. I teach at the largest cultural center here in Toulon, at Le Relais Peiresc. It’s housed inside the College Peiresc, which I think is a great idea – because they’re getting twice the utilization from the same space. Basically the way it works is, when the kids leave school at five, the adults come in and have access to some amazing classes – languages, cooking, art, painting, scrapbooking, dancing, choral music, musical instruments, singing – just about anything you might be interested in. And then they also offer different workshops and seminars. And they have an art gallery where they exhibit the work of local artsists – for free – throughout the year.
So, getting back to my cooking class, I guess in a way I did it because I’m an American, I’m proud of my country and the wonderful and infinite variety of dishes that come from so many nationalities and people and customs in the states.
And that’s another question I get asked a lot: “What is ‘THE’ American dish? And after thinking about it, I realized that there isn’t “ONE” dish.
I think it’s because we are the ultimate melting pot when it comes to people and nationalities and – food. People who live in America have brought their family recipes with them – and they’ve been handed down and changed and adjusted – and we’ve got a country-sized gourmet cookbook of delicious recipes.
So what I did was to look at the different regions of America, and choose dishes from each region – and when I did it that way, it got easier – and harder. Because there are some things – Navajo tacos, New York Cheesecake, Pumpkin pie…that are staples. And yet, there are an almost infinite number of additional recipes to choose from. (In fact, feel free to post yours here if you’ve got a family favorite – and I’ll share it with my class.)
So last night I taught them how to make Navajo tacos – with a recipe from a friend of mine, who learned it from her mother, who learned it from her mother, who learned it from…well, you get the idea. And we made it the traditional way – without exact measurements, and pinching the dough to see if it was “right”…because the recipes were handed down orally, and they call for a “pinch of salt” a “handful of flour”…etc.
On the homefront, we also had plumbing problems – our toilet got plugged up again (that’s what happens when you have a plumbing system that’s almost 200 years old!) We called a plumber who told us to call a “specialist” who came and tried and said it was hopless…and suggested we replace the system. (Which we were understandably reluctant to do.) So, he called a friend and they agreed to “try” – the problem is that we’ve had this exact same problem 4 times now in the last three years. So, they took the toilet off…and discovered too many problems to fix. The sub-floor has to be replaced, a hole has to be cut into the old pipe and all new pipework must be added and there’s cement “stuff” and of course all the tiles have to be replaced. (They’re also almost two hundred years old and are the original hexigon-shaped Mediterranean red tiles that came with the house.)
The good news? I get to go shopping for new tiles and will wind up with a beautiful new “toilet room.” (In case you didn’t know, toilets are put in their own “room” and the bathroom is something else again.)
Since we’re replacing the tiles on the floor, I want to also put tiles on the walls. (Which is currently covered with a white wallpaper that’s sort of velvety in texture and totally unsuitable in a bathroom!) And I’m going to have it repainted again, which it also needs.
Yippee! I’ve got visions of color schemes and tile patterns running in my head and one day this week we’ll go and choose the new stuff. So…although having this mess could be seen as a bad thing, it can also been turned around as a positive! I’ll choose the paint after I choose the tiles, so that it will coordinate. I actually got some great ideas while we were in the Alsace area of France – they have beautiful tiles there. And I have a few pictures from Austria, where again, I got some great ideas for remodeling.
Tags:American Cooking Class,Cultural Center,Le Relais Pereisc,Toulon
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