at a flatbush storefront classroom, aspiring chefs crack eggs, not books, for kingsborough summer coursework.

by randi sherman
staff writer

the scent of schmaltz dances through the air as the pan begins to crackle. tap the egg gently on the steel table, enough pressure to break it without egg spattering everywhere. part the shell with one hand, transfer the egg into a glass and check for spots before beating.

today is egg day and the students of the center for kosher culinary arts summer training program are making omelets.

this is the inaugural semester for the center’s professional training program in kosher culinary arts, which will give its 13 students the skills necessary to work in a professional culinary environment that follows the laws of kashrut. it is the first such program in the u.s. to be accredited by a college, specifically

kingsborough community college’s continuing education school. the nine women and five men will learn knife skills, cooking methods from sautéing to pickling, food service and nutrition and much more over the course of six weeks, for $4,500, a comparatively low fee given the amount of hours and the cost of similar programs.

the course, offering up to 12 credits, has attracted a wide-ranging group of individuals, including two 16-year-old yeshiva students, a grandmother from soho and a mother of seven from toronto with small-screen dreams.
the center is the brainchild of elka pinson, a lubavitcher from crown heights who opened the school in the upper floor of her husband’s houseware shop, happy home on coney island avenue in flatbush. she found her school’s director, jesse blonder, a former brooklynite himself, through a craig’s list ad. they began running one-time recreational cooking classes last october, and were ready to bring the school to a new level.

“we wanted something bigger for the summer,” blonder said. “why not a professional training program? there’s nothing else like it in the states for chefs who keep kosher.” both he and students note the difficulties of attending any professional programs through the culinary institute of america or le cordon bleu, where a kosher chef can prepare to her heart’s content but not sample any of her own work.
“there is a place in jerusalem, but i didn’t want to uproot my whole life,” said sarah belman, a 24-year-old participant living in crown heights. “this was the best foot into the food industry, you can taste what you’re making.” belman, who prefers baking to cooking, will use this course to prepare for her next career move, to return to her native california. “i want to open a kosher bakery and help my community grow.”

sitting next to her is dolores wine, the soho grandmother who prepares meals and organizes larger events for her shul. cooking has been a constant in her life, she said. “when i was 23, julia child’s book came out and it opened up a whole world for me.”
after a morning lecture about eggs, their components and nutrition, chef mark d’alessandro demonstrates for the group how to make restaurant-quality french, country and italian omelets as well as hard-boiled eggs. then the class splits into teams of two or three to try their hands at each. the room becomes a flurry of movement as portable gas burners are pulled out and chairs fold away. some stumble to get a french omelet folded, while others expertly flip their italian tomato and basil frittatas.
yechiel friedman, a 16-year-old from cedarhurst, slides his frittata onto a plate to ease the flipping process. “i’ve spent previous summers doing absolutely nothing,” he said. this program offered a much-desired break from that pattern, and a peek into a possible career. he’s a member of the cooking club at the hebrew academy of long beach’s davis renov stahler yeshiva high school for boys and enjoys helping his mother prepare shabbat meals. some of his favorite dishes to prepare are sautéed potatoes with red onion, garlic and mushrooms, pasta and spinach.

nearby, avi roth is displaying his own skilled flipping. “i do a lot of entertaining, and i find cooking relaxing,” said the 36-year-old from flatbush. during the school year he runs the spark development center in lynbrook for students with learning disabilities. the slow summer months “give [him] a chance to learn the skill behind [what he does in the kitchen].” he loves to cook anything, as long as it has “the wow factor.”
the students present their work to d’alessandro, and though no one managed to avoid a little browning on the french omelets, he is pleased with their work. everyone digs in before another round of demonstrations, this time poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.
the chef cracks an egg, checks it for spots and then transfers it to a ramekin. he lowers the ceramic bowl into the water, letting the water rush in before tilting the egg into the pot with vinegar and salt, which keep the yoke from breaking and splitting the egg.
“this is what makes food good,” he tells his students. “do it and do it the right way.” he’s already prepared the hollandaise sauce, teaching students about the “ribbon stage,” a sign that your sauce is finished.

before students bolt for their burners once more, he assigns them another task. splitting the group roughly in half, he reads off a list of ingredients. one half of the table will make a consommé for later use; the other must devise a side dish using already-prepared mashed potatoes. they decide on mashed potato latkes. the sautéed onions perfume the air as shainy blau mixes them into the giant bowl of mashed potatoes by hand. around her, eggs are cracked and carrots peeled.

once the latkes are shaped and moved to the ovens to cook, and the consommé has been left to bubble, everyone returns to prepare the poached eggs and hollandaise, which proves to be the trickiest mission of the day. very few groups can seem to get it right. amid cries of “where is the schmaltz?” and “who has the oil?” the chef surveys the sauces.

 “your omelets were scrambled eggs and now your hollandaise is scrambled eggs,” he said to one group. “at least you’re consistent.”

over at one corner of the table, itka dalfen and jordana hirschel’s hollandaise is beyond repair. the chef tells them there aren’t enough eggs to start over, but dalfen won’t take no for an answer. she speaks to blonder, the school director, who dispatches an assistant to purchase an additional carton of eggs. coming all the way from toronto to participate, she’s going to make sure she can do this, and do it right, even if she doesn’t like hollandaise sauce.

with the eggs on their way, the chef urges her on. “itka, you have seven kids at home, you’ll make hollandaise to feed the whole house,” he said.

“no, i won’t,” she retorts. “they won’t eat it.”

dalfen just began teaching basic cooking classes at her local jcc, and saw this program as an opportunity to hone the professional skills and knowledge necessary to answer her students’ questions. she is subletting an apartment for the summer and taking the bus home for shabbat. she’s also hoping the course will lead her to fame.
“there are more than a half dozen italian cooking shows on the food network, but no jewish cooking show,” she said. “i want to have a show called kugel talk, a positive view jewish cooking show. i’ve even written up a proposal.” her partner in the course, hirschel, a 29-year-old with her own personal chef business in cedarhurst called blue ladle, wants to work on the production end of the show, and even has connections at the food network, dalfen said.

when everyone is finished and all the leftover raw ingredients are cleared away, the afternoon meal is laid out and the group sits down together. chatting and munching away, the kitchen feels no longer like a workstation, more a meeting ground for friends. the tension of learning is replaced by compliments handed out all around, and talk of what the weekend brings.

registration for the culinary arts summer program is closed, but day and evening classes are planned for the fall. information is at kosherculinaryartsDOTCOM

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