Sushi Chef Jose Garcia

The Somerville Arts Council is teaming up with Homemade Modern Co. (formerly  City Chicks) and Kitchen Inc. in Union Square to launch a new series of  cooking classes.  Here is your chance to take a culinary spin around the  globe by learning how to craft beautiful sushi, make a traditional  Nepali meal and whip up a batch of orecchiette stuffed with homemade  mozzarella— right here in Somerville. These classes—part cooking  tutorial, part community feast—will have distinct artistic and/ or  cultural angles.

Food of the Americas cooking class with Ryan Redmond
Sunday, January 27, 3-7pm
One of the things that really interests me, as a chef trained at the  Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, is the history of food. I’m not  particularly interested in authenticity as it relates to cuisine, but I  am curious to know where foods come from and the story of how they  travel and change. The Columbian Exchange – the global transfer of  crops, animals, people, ideas, and diseases that came about after the  voyages of Christopher Columbus in the 1490s – stands as a major episode of food history. Many foods now found in many corners of the world – potatoes, tomatoes, chiles, corn, squash, peanuts, chocolate and much  more – have their origins in the Americas. This “Foods of the Americas” cooking class highlights a number of those pre-Colombian American  ingredients. We’ll prepare a roasted winter squash soup garnished with  hazelnuts and parsley; blue corn flatbread; seared cod glazed with a  maple syrup-mustard sauce topped with a carrot, dried cranberry, pecan  salad; and a roasted winter squash, wild rice salad.

Sushi Class with Sushi Chef Jose Garcia
Tuesday, January 29, 6:30-8:30pm
Learn the art of crafting delicious and exquisite sushi and rolls with sushi  chef and Ebi Sushi owner, Jose Garcia. Trained for 8 years with Japanese sushi chefs, Jose is well equipped to teach students how to prepare the rice, cut the fish, assemble sushi and make accompanying accoutrements  like wasabi and pickled ginger. You will make your own California roll  and the more complex avocado roll. Jose will also show you how to make  nigiris (more commonly known as sushis) and the rainbow roll—a  California roll with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, shrimp and avocado on  top. You also will learn how to eat sushi while Jose shares his deep  knowledge of sushi evolution and customs and explores the differences  between Japan and American sushi traditions.

Nepali Meal with Bimala Thapa
Wednesday, March 6, 6:30-8:30pm
Katmandu native and Union Square resident will teach attendees to make a  complete Nepali meal. Dishes include Golbheda Ko Achar with Timur and  Dhaniya (a tomato-based chutney seasoned with timur), Pulao (Nepali rice with nuts and Cardamom), a traditional curry—and for dessert, jeri  (deep-fried wheat flour served with a sweet syrup). Once our feast is  ready, we will sit down on the floor, Nepali-style, to eat together and  learn more about Nepali culinary and cultural traditions.

An Evening of Pasta & Cheese with Lourdes Smith and Valeria Amato
Wednesday, March 13, 6:30-9:30pm
Lourdes, owner of Fiore di Nonno, and Valeria, Somerville resident, are both  Italian Americans with roots in Hoboken, NJ where both of their families immigrated to from Italy.  In the 20th century, many Italians  immigrated to Hoboken to start a new life. Italians brought along their  hometown recipes, foods, and traditions.  Lourdes’s grandfather opened  his own shop, Fiore, which is still open today and selling what many  still name the #1 mozzarella around.  Valeria’s family, who are also  regulars at Fiore’s, made it a point to keep their food traditions  alive, including pasta and foccacia making.

This class will cover two great loves of Italy: mozzarella and  pasta.  Lourdes will teach you how to make your own delicious  mozzarella. Valeria will show you how to make orecchiette, an ear-shaped pasta from the region of Puglia, where her family is from.  Once we’re  done cooking, we’ll sit down and enjoy a delicious meal together.   You’ll also leave with recipes to make at home.

All classes will take place at Union Square’s thriving kitchen  incubator, Kitchen Inc.,201 Somerville Ave. which is specially outfitted for teaching  culinary classes.

For more information visit www.somervilleartscouncil.org