World Famous Chefs Visit Tufts May 1, 2011

This Tuesday, May 3rd, Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud, and Dan Barber will be stepping onto Tufts’ campus for a panel discussion and brunch! Tickets for the brunch sold out within an hour of going on sale (clearly these chefs have a lot of fans on campus) but the panel discussion is open to all of Tufts community and does not require a ticket.

Photo courtesy of Yuri Chang. Pictured: a few members of TCS e-board (Yuri, Andrea, Alix, Lai Hau, and Jon) with Daniel Boulud.

Come listen and meet the chefs:
The panel discussion will start promptly at 11am in Barnum 008. Get there early to get a seat!

More details about the event, presented by Tufts Culinary Society, can be found here: Click here for the facebook event.
Sponsored by Tufts Culinary Society, Tufts Dining, The Experimental College and Tufts Programming Board.

Thank you to Alix Boulud for working so hard to make this event happen!

Bhakti Yoga Club Indian Cooking Lessons April 14, 2011

Every other Thursday night this semester, Tufts students can get a refreshing look into Indian cooking through a free class offered by Bhakti Yoga Club with support and promotional help from Tufts Culinary Society. Taught by a couple who enjoying sharing what they have learned about healthy, wholesome eating and living, the “BEST cooking classes” teach students how to properly wash and prepare delicious vegetarian meals. After cooking, everyone eats together and often enjoy and engaging discussion. The next session is tonight! Check out the BYC email describing tonight’s class:

A dish from last time's event (Thanks to Lily Black for the iphone photos!)

The Tufts Culinary Society and Bhakti Yoga Club at Tufts jointly present the next session of  BEST cooking class on Apr 14 (THURSDAY).

The theme for this session is North Indian. The menu comprises the following:

* Tapioca pulao
* Mango lassi (a delicious yoghurt drink)

Venue: Carmichael Hall Kitchen
Time: 7:15pm

This is a FREE event. To help us organize the event better, we would appreciate if you could simply reply to this email with subject “Register for Cooking Class” or submit your information using the following link:

http://ase.tufts.edu/bhakti-yoga/index_files/Page422.htm

Brunch Today with the Fox Den Breakfast Club February 27, 2011

Photo by Louise Blavet (as seen on the FDBC website)

I had the fun of joining Tufts Juniors Luke and Quin today for brunch at the Fox Den Breakfast Club. Luke and Quin host 8 Tufts students for a fantastic morning of food and conversation each week in their home. Alix Boulud, founder of Tufts Culinary Society, introduced me to the “underground restaurant” (which materializes every Sunday at 11:30am this semester) during a recent TCS e- board meeting.  Alix and Alex attended a brunch two weeks ago and came back with glowing reviews. Luke and Quin did not disappoint. Thanks for a great brunch!

Today’s Menu
Homemade yogurt with fennel seeds, mango, and a hint of caramel
Freshly baked banana and toasted coconut muffins
Scrambled eggs with local homemade chorizo
Plantain and black bean hash
Ginger and tamarind sorbet

Get a taste for the Fox Den Breakfast Club, see photos and past menus, and make plans to visit yourself. Check out their website here.

Welcome! September 11, 2010

When you think of “healthy food” what are the flavors that come to mind? When you think of “unhealthy food” what tastes do you envision?  For the longest time the sweetest, most savory and decadent flavors I could imagine fell tragically into the “unhealthy” category. It’s not that I disliked healthy foods or ate lots of junk at any point that I can remember (don’t worry Mom, I loved all of the healthy home-cooked meals that I grew up on), but I still most looked forward to the “treats.”  I have now, however,  just begun to discover just how much flavor can be born of herbs and spices instead of butter and salt and my entire perspective on food has changed.

The language we use to categorize our food sends often self-fulfilling suggestions to our taste buds; A creamy Belgium double chocolate layer cake by any other name does not taste as sweet. If you’ve ever had a really bad chocolate chip cookie and allowed yourself to look past the preconceived notion that a cookie should taste good, you’ll be able to relate to the moment that it dawned on me that the crumbly, cardboard-like, pastry in my hand was certainly no “treat.” When I think about a poorly done dessert (usually for me this is the packaged kind that has a shelf-life of about 500x the lifespan of something I could bake) that is caloric and yet virtually flavorless, and then think about a piece of cold, ripe, juicy summer watermelon, packed with both flavor and nutrients, it is obvious which is the real treat and which is the pretender.

This blog is devoted to rich, complex, and wonderful flavors of real food. My goal is to erase the neurological pathways that exist erroneously in our minds to suggest that “healthy” and “bland” are synonymous. Any recipes, articles, and comments you would like to share to help me reach this goal are welcomed. Dig in!