by Mark Baratelli
TheDailyCity.com Celebrity Chef Watcher
Right before I pulled into Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando, Florida for the invite-only two hour Vegan cooking demonstration February 3, 2010 with Vegan Chef Tal Ronnen (who catered for Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi's meatless wedding and Oprah Winfrey's 21-day vegan cleanse), I had a Kids Meal at Chik Fil A in the Sand Turkey District.
But while watching his demonstration during which, among many things, he showed the kitchen classroom full of white-suited chefs-to-be in white doo-rag style hats (and their Chef teachers in the more pointy traditional paper ones) how to make a cream sauce using cashews and water, I briefly thought about going Vegan. Then I got into my car afterwards and ate a 2-hour old waffle fry and disregarded the idea.
Chef Tal Ronen opened the class giving facts about animal consumption's destructive effects on the planet through a self-narrated slide show on the back wall of the rectangular mostly-natural-lit room. He wasn't all gung-ho passionate about us changing into married lesbian vegans. He could give two fatted calfs whether we turned or not. He just wanted us to know why he cooked Vegan. Boom. Or Bam?
The kitchen/classroom had a stove with 3 pots on it, none of them non-stick. Instead of pans coated with the non-stick stuff, he advised using stainless steel, tossing some salt on and then turning the heat up. The salt makes the steel's pores (or whatever) close up, creating a very slick surface. He read about a woman who left a non-stick pan on an "on" oven, and left the room. When she returned, her bird was dead. Bam.
He cut up a celery root and turned it into a dough, turned cashews into a cream sauce, says he does not use soy mike and told us he sells his own line of meatless meat, available at Publix and Whole Foods. I tasted a soup he made (from the cashew juice) and a filler for the ravioli (made from I think the celery root) and both were lovely. I hope they invite me back!
Vegan Chef Tal Ronnen
The man beside Chef Ronen is a Chef and Teacher at the school. He proved several times during the course of the class that he can tell you where any product is in Publix. It was pretty incredible.
What he made
Some students helped make the ravioli
Part of his slide show
Cut up Celery root
You know these two people are real Chefs because they have the hats.
Part of the room filled with Chef Teachers and Chefs-to-be
TheDailyCity.com Celebrity Chef Watcher
Right before I pulled into Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando, Florida for the invite-only two hour Vegan cooking demonstration February 3, 2010 with Vegan Chef Tal Ronnen (who catered for Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi's meatless wedding and Oprah Winfrey's 21-day vegan cleanse), I had a Kids Meal at Chik Fil A in the Sand Turkey District.
But while watching his demonstration during which, among many things, he showed the kitchen classroom full of white-suited chefs-to-be in white doo-rag style hats (and their Chef teachers in the more pointy traditional paper ones) how to make a cream sauce using cashews and water, I briefly thought about going Vegan. Then I got into my car afterwards and ate a 2-hour old waffle fry and disregarded the idea.
Chef Tal Ronen opened the class giving facts about animal consumption's destructive effects on the planet through a self-narrated slide show on the back wall of the rectangular mostly-natural-lit room. He wasn't all gung-ho passionate about us changing into married lesbian vegans. He could give two fatted calfs whether we turned or not. He just wanted us to know why he cooked Vegan. Boom. Or Bam?
The kitchen/classroom had a stove with 3 pots on it, none of them non-stick. Instead of pans coated with the non-stick stuff, he advised using stainless steel, tossing some salt on and then turning the heat up. The salt makes the steel's pores (or whatever) close up, creating a very slick surface. He read about a woman who left a non-stick pan on an "on" oven, and left the room. When she returned, her bird was dead. Bam.
He cut up a celery root and turned it into a dough, turned cashews into a cream sauce, says he does not use soy mike and told us he sells his own line of meatless meat, available at Publix and Whole Foods. I tasted a soup he made (from the cashew juice) and a filler for the ravioli (made from I think the celery root) and both were lovely. I hope they invite me back!
Vegan Chef Tal Ronnen
The man beside Chef Ronen is a Chef and Teacher at the school. He proved several times during the course of the class that he can tell you where any product is in Publix. It was pretty incredible.
What he made
Some students helped make the ravioli
Part of his slide show
Cut up Celery root
You know these two people are real Chefs because they have the hats.
Part of the room filled with Chef Teachers and Chefs-to-be