My Sassy Appetite

chiffonade
[shihf-uh-NAHD, shihf-uh-NAYD]
Literally translated, this French phrase means "made of rags." Culinary, it refers to thin strips or shreds of vegetables (basil, sorrel and lettuce), either lightly sautéed or used raw to garnish soups.

The gnocchi class literally made us giddy with excitement. Cooking was going to feed into my obsessive compulsive behaviors. I could not get enough, I wanted and needed more. Julie continued to sign us up for classes making us experts in pizza, lemoncello, pasta, lemoncello, biscotti and oh yes lemoncello!

Taking a little jog south found us in a Spanish cooking class learning how to make paella where I first met Chef Wayne Johnson, Executive Chef of Andaluca. I was so taken with his drive and passion for food; the pure ingredients, the varied textures, the amazing smells and unforgettable flavors.

Julie and I paired up and we were assigned our task of gathering ingredients for the paella. First we read through the recipe. Of course this is what all experts do… Julie has her BA in Finance and has a natural sense of order just as all of her numbers do. When Julie gathers and prepares, every utensil and ingredient has its place. It’s like she’s Martha’s sister from another mother. I on the other hand do not command so much order. I am happy with all of my ingredients in front of me like a concert audience. Can you see where this is going? We continued to read the recipe, looking up at each other at exactly the same time. "Chiffonade?" What’s that," Julie asked? We immediately turned back to our workspace, picked up every package, box, bag and container disrupting any sense of order. We could not find a chiffonade! We reread the recipe and had an ‘aha’ moment. It was basil chiffonade! Clear as mud!

Chef Wayne was working his way through the students giving direction and explanations. We both felt a pang of panic…we still hadn’t found the basil chiffonade! We confessed to Chef Wayne that there was an item missing. With the very slightest upturn to the corner of his mouth he told us he would be happy to show us. He gently pulled off several tender basil leaves, laid each one on top of the other then rolled them like a cigar. He picked up the knife and cut diagonally across the basil, leaving us with beautiful aromatic confetti. He moved on to the next students while Julie and I nearly laughed ourselves into tears.

It’s been seven years since that first class with Chef Wayne and many things have happened, including culinary school. Since then I have attended many other classes with him and have been fortunate enough to work along side him at several charity events, the last one just a few weeks ago for the March of Dimes. While helping to make a risotto for the event I had an opportunity to show Chef Wayne my ‘chiffonade’ skills! I reminded him of that first class oh so long ago. Thank you Chef Wayne. Reservations next week at Andaluca…until our next meal, roux the day!

1 Sassy Tomato