Cuisine-nera In America: Me Eat Mock Meat

Give it to the cenobites of ancient Europe to concoct some kind of creative culinary prowess and you either get wine or beer. And they have them secretly in their cellars or brewing in their basements away from the public eye. That’s how our alcohol industry was created many centuries ago. (and you think they were saints!!!)

On the other side of the globe, trust the Buddhist monks to be equally imaginative when they have vowed to a life of poverty which included not eating animal flesh....and you either have the tofu, the tempeh (a more sophisticated kind of tofu) and finally the mock meat known as SEITAN.

So yesterday, to quell my curiosity about this talked about substitute, I enrolled in the class by Peter Berley ( http://peterberley.com/about/ ) .

My cousin always asks me why I take classes when I can get tons of information out of google search. True, but nothing comes better than meeting new friends and learning more than just reading into it. Besides, hands-on is so much fun, and we really wouldn’t know if we are doing the process right.

So with about a dozen students and four assistants, the kitchen area assigned to us at the Natural Gourmet Institute was buzzing with activity.

Upon arrival, we were asked to hang our coats at the closet provided, then we were given aprons, a rag and some notes that we would use in class. While waiting for all the students to arrive, we could partake of some snacks set on a table that consisted of crackers, hummus, and olives. Tea and lemon flavored water were also provided.

Peter , our teacher went right into demonstrating how we should make seitan and then we had a hands-on follow up. Resting the dough is one of the key factor in making seitan. While our ‘mock meat’ was resting, Peter then started the lecture and continued on until we were ready to do the proper recipes. Each recipe had at least 2 students working on it. And by the end of the evening, we had completed a buffet of : seitan wrapped burdock, leek and carrot rolls ; braised chickpea stew with seitan chorizo and fennel; pan seared seitan steak with chimichurri, savory seitan-stuffed summer squash provencal, eggplant and seitan falafel and gluten puffs with sweet and sour sauce.

After taking this class, I had dispelled my skepticism on substituting the real meat. Instead, it had challenged me to be more creative and take this gustatory knowledge into a new level of awareness. After 2 glasses of wine and a sumptuous vegetarian meal, I went home excited, eager to test my new found culinary knowledge---and my first victim for a taste test----my hubby.