New Dean of Cuisine in Pasadena – Chef Farid Zadi Helps Culinary Students open their Minds to the World of Gastronomy At a Small Culinary School that Opens This Month
By Terry Miller
Published: Thursday, October 7th, 2010
By Terry Miller
Ecole De Cuisine’s Dean of Culinary Arts, Chef Farid Zadi,
believes students shouldn’t go into crippling debt as they start in the culinary field and therefore he and his wife Susan Park started a little culinary school, with an appropriately French name – Ecole de Cuisine.
Ecole de Cuisine’s mission, if you will, is to deliver exemplary culinary training with a strong foundation in French International technique through individual attention with small classes no larger than 18 persons.
Courses will be offered during weekday evenings to accommodate working professionals who might not otherwise be able to pursue a new career, or hone their culinary skills.
Ecole de Cuisine’s program director is the charming and talented Susan Park who told us that
for years many students interested in culinary arts education were limited to rather expensive and long courses that didn’t necessarily address their specific interest. The long courses often lead the aspiring chef into some sort of organic oblivion complete with a rather heavy loan to repay.
Ecole de Cuisine’s model is to keep it simple, and affordable as well as tailored to the student’s specific career goals. With the incorporation of business studies and long range plans, students may be better prepared to get into a specialty like pastries rather than a general, overall cuisine caveat.
Born in Lyon, France, Dean of Ecole De Cuisine Chef Farid Zadi began his culinary education as a teenager working at the renowned Castel de Valrose, just north of Lyon in the village of Montmerle sur Saone . He graduated from École Hôtelier Auguste Escoffier.
Always eager to expand his knowledge outside of Europe, the energetic Chef Zadi traveled to Seoul, Korea where his client list included Ambassadors, diplomats and heads of multi- national corporations. During his time on the Pacific Rim, he earned a reputation for transforming poorly performing restaurants into highly profitable ventures.
In 2000, Zadi began his career as a chef consultant and culinary educator. In the past decade, Zadi has taught everything from beginning basics to master classes at Sur La Table, Whole Foods Market, Central Market, Epicurean, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Nutrition Network, culinary team building classes for major corporations and Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.
He is a California state certified culinary instructor with something extra – a great sense of humor and patience with his students. He believes deeply in respect for his fellow man and it is evident in those with whom he works.
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On Monday, I was privileged to see direct Chef’s talent in the preparation and serving of one of the French dishes so often done sloppily: Bouillabaisse
Witnessing every cut of Chef’s knives on the ingredients was a show unto its own: Remarkable how potatoes and garlic becomes works of art in skilled hands and with the surgical precision of a highly trained chef’s cut.
The fresh ingredients for the Bouillabaisse: Red Snapper, Black Mussels, Shrimp, Clams, Squid, Fish Stock, Fennel, Tomatoes, Russet, Potatoes Leeks, Onions, Garlic, Saffron, Sea Salt and Black Pepper, 1 baguette, Rouille Cooked russet potato, Roasted red pepper,
Garlic2, red bell peppers, Aioli, garlic, olive oil and egg yolks.
As Chef Farid Zadi cleaned and prepared each surface, he explained why you have to clean between cuts of each ingredient and the importance of correctly cutting fruits and vegetables. Believe me, this is an art in itself that could take months to describe and years to learn.
He even removed a bitter part of the garlic clove (slightly green) with surgical meticulousness and said that part of the garlic clove was too bitter for his Bouillabaisse.
The4 tomatoes used for the Bouillabaisse were slightly steamed and peeled and, again, precisely cut while actually removing the seeds and center part of the tomato – Chef say’s the seeds interfere with the overall effect of the Bouillabaisse.
I could go on for hours about how Chef prepared the dish but would rather keep you reading and enjoying the fact that the end result was nothing short of alimentaire incroyablement délicieux!
A food preparation and consumption thereof evolves, many in this complex and continuously competitive industry see good culinary arts education as a vital part of the success of any restaurant or food preparation business. There’s an emergent demand for detail oriented, highly trained gastronomic professionals and this may be one of the most affordable new places for a chef to start.
Chef Farid Zadi is currently writing several cookbooks about Algerian and French cuisines, and butchery. He is the executive chef for The Couscous Festival which is fast approaching.
The 3000 sq.foot building now houses Ecole de Cuisine has been assisted by Episcopal Housing Alliance which was created by the Diocese of Los Angeles in order to provide local communities with small business kitchen incubators and job training cafes which help people establish their own food based enterprises and acquire the necessary skills beyond those of the culinary kind.
The brainchild behind this operation is Joe Colletti. Joseph Colletti, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Institute for Urban Research and Development. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. Much of his experience focuses around the issues of housing, economic development, homelessness and fair housing. He has written numerous reports for local government and local organizations concerning the above issues. He is also a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and has written several reports concerning social issues for the Diocese as well.
The classes have low instructor to student ratios: 1 chef instructor for 12-13 students or 1 instructor and 1 teacher’s aide for classes with 14-18 students.
Chef instructors have years of experience teaching at professional schools and working as executive chefs. Guest instructors are recognized experts in specialist fields.
Ecole de Cuisine’s director, Susan Park, is a food historian and recognized expert in French, North African and Northeast Asian cuisines. She wrote three articles for Greenwood’s World Food Cultures Encyclopedia, which will be used in ECP’s International Course. She is Project Leader of Green Algeria for Algerian Competences Association.
Her industry experience includes working as a sous chef and pastry chef at a French bistro; teaching; sourcing, consulting and staff training; product and cooking demonstrations at trade shows; gourmet food product development from concept to branding; sales to high end national chains and boutiques; and public relations.
Head of Research and Development- Jeff Tafoya is a graduate of The California School of Culinary Arts. He worked in research and development at IHOP corporate. He recently returned to Los Angeles after two years in Lagos, Nigeria working as Executive Sous Chef for General Foods & Sweets Manufacturing.
As of this month students have another choice to consider when it comes to culinary education. Bon chance et Bon Appeite. For futher information and enrollment please call (818)641-6899 or visit their website at: www. ecoledecuisine.com
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thanks for coming by terry, can you believe i finally have to time to send thank you notes! ecolecuisine.com is doing really well! we are growing!