Not just another summer cooking class from Heny Sison

Is there a proper way of deep frying a potato? "Yes, there is," says chef Jane Paredes of the Heny Sison Cooking School. "The common practice is to just cut the potatoes and fry them until crispy. But the proper way takes two steps. First, you blanch the potato sticks in oil, then set aside and allow to cool down, before frying again in oil that’s heated to the right temperature."

And what is the right temperature for deep frying potatoes?

You can learn this if you enroll at Heny Sison’s "The Essential Cooking Series" – 17-days hands-on classes, to be held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., from April 26 to June 1.

"I noticed that the market is now ready for this type of cooking series," says culinary expert Heny Sison. She received many inquiries about long-term classes, other than lifestyle one-day courses for which she is well-known, such as cake decorating and baking.

Heny trained extensively in various aspects of the culinary arts in a number of prestigious schools abroad, the recent being on Italian cooking at the Giuliano Bugiallia School in Florence, Italy last September 2001. She takes pride in being the first student to pay and enrol at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, where she learned French pastries and bread making. She also studied at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Tante Marie’s Cooking School and Draeger’s Culinary Center, both in California, Wilton School of Cake Decorating and Confectionery in Illinois, Maid of Scandinavia in Minneapolis, and Home Chef Kitchen Store and Cooking School in California, among others.

"In the Essential Cooking Series, we will start from the basics, including knife skills, like the proper way of cutting vegetables, to food sanitation and even marketing," Heny explains.

There will be field trips to wet markets, where the students can learn first hand how to choose fresh fish, for example.

Tips will also be given on proper food storage. For example, do you know which you should put first in your freezer – the dressed chicken, which you just bought, or the gallon of ice-cream?

"If the chicken is left out too long, bacteria will start multiplying," Heny says. "And you should never put your fish next to your pastries."

"Our students will learn how to prepare a complete meal, from appetizer to dessert," she explains. "They will also learn how to make different kinds of stock, such as vegetable stock and fish stock."

Depending on the way you prepare the stock, you can get either a white or brown chicken stock.

"To make brown chicken stock, you first roast the bones, so it will become dark," Jane advises.

Another important lesson that the student will learn from the essential cooking series is the importance of knives, the most basic of kitchen tools.

"We chefs really take care of our knife," Heny intimates. "That’s our weapon. And yet, there are those who use knives as can openers."

"Some people might think we are obsessive-compulsive about our knife," Jane interjects. "When it becomes dull, we sharpen it ourselves. This is important. People think a sharp knife can cause accidents. On the contrary, you are more prone to accidents with a dull knife, since you exert more pressure when cutting. With a sharp knife, the work is easier and faster."

There is also the matter of the size of the knife.

"The standard chef’s knife is 10-inches long," says Jane. "But since the hands of Filipinos are small, an 8-inch knife would be more suitable."

The tuition of P 50,000 includes a starter set of knives, which include a paring knife, serrated knife, carving fork, chef’s knife, scissors, and sharpening steel. Also included is the full course manual, recipes, all the ingredients that will be used, a chef’s jacket and apron.

"It’s very reasonable, value for money, considering how much more expensive it would cost if you studied abroad," Jane points out. "A five-day course in a premium cooking school could easily cost about $600, not including board and housing. And then, when you come back, you are not able to apply what you learned immediately. The available ingredients are different. The Filipino taste is different. So here, we’ve modified. We will be teaching the building blocks, which are modified according to the Philippine setting."

Jane attended the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York, where she took comprehensive cooking courses, as well as the Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School, where she enrolled in the French cooking techniques program. She is the owner of Café Cornucopia in Glorietta 1 and operates the canteen at the French and German schools in Parañaque. Besides teaching at Heny’s school, she also assists Heny in her TV show A Taste of Life with Heny Sison, which airs on Channel 13 every Sunday from 11 a.m. to noon.

"The Essential Cooking Series will include lessons on basic cooking techniques, such as braising, steaming, poaching, boiling, grilling, broiling, roasting, frying and sautéing," says chef Jill Sandique, who will also be teaching some of the classes in the series.

Like Jane, Jill studied at Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School, which is now known as the Institute of Culinary Education. She also studied at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in California and in New York.

"Jill was my student in my baking class before she went on to study abroad," Heny reveals. "After she came back, I asked her to help me in my school, where she has been teaching since 1994."

Heny Sison started her school at her home in 1985 with just a handful of students. It has since grown through the years and is well-known for baking and cake-decorating classes. She is now ready to expand her school, which she has rechristened the Heny Sison Cooking School to include the whole range of culinary arts.

"More and more people seem to be interested in the culinary arts, especially the young ones, not only females but also males. Many are well-traveled. There is the Internet and also the Lifestyle channel on cable TV," Heny observes. "I noticed that almost all rich kids now want to be a chef, because a lot of restaurants are opening. But it’s not that. They might have the money. They can study abroad. But when they come back, are they willing to mop the floor? Are they willing to wash the dishes? We hear this common complaint. These kids have maids at home who do these things for them. But if you are really dedicated, you cannot choose. It’s not that easy. It’s not all glamour. A good student must be willing to work, to do hard jobs."

"They must also be open-minded and willing to learn," adds Jane who, like Jill, took the Stagere program at Peter Kump’s, where they got involved in back-of-the-house work, which includes cleaning up. "They should be able to work as a team because in the kitchen, you get to work with people who come from different places, different schools. You must know how to be a team player."

"It’s very hard to find people with whom you can work well," Heny remarks, referring to Jane and Jill, "people who have the dedication and the maturity to be able to handle the stress. There should also be the willingness to share what they know. There are good chefs, but not necessarily good chef- teachers."

"We will not only give recipes, because you can always get that from a bookstore. But we will also teach the proper combination of ingredients and flavors and how and why certain ingredients work together," Heny elaborates. "They will learn how to choose the right ingredients and even enjoy the hunt for the right ingredients and develop a friendly relationship with their butcher and fishmonger."

"By teaching the proper techniques, the students will learn to follow recipes and make their own simplified versions or apply them to other recipes," Jill adds. "They will learn everything, from the very basic proper way to hold a knife to how to clean and sanitize their work space."

"In the end, they will not only know how to cook but they will have a complete understanding of what they’re doing," Jane concludes. "You don’t have to become a professional to have this kind of knowledge. We want to give the lessons also to ordinary housewives, homemakers, food enthusiasts, as well as teenagers, and yes, aspiring chefs, caterers, professionals and even, teachers."

On their graduation day, the students will cook for their friends and invited guests. Well-known in the food business personalities will be invited to give inspirational talks.

Aside from the certificate which each of the successful graduates will receive, Heny also gives this assurance: "I’m sure, if you are a housewife and you enrolled in this course, sasarap yung luto mo at lalo kang mamahalin ng iyong asawa!"

For inquiries and reservations, call 726-53-16 or 412-77-92.