How to Pull Mozzarella with Samin Nosrat



Home Ec: Cooking Basics with Samin Nosrat

Have you been wondering what that hand-pulled mozzarella on every restaurant menu is all about? Have you noticed that it's impossibly tender, better than even the most expensive imported Italian mozzarella?

Come spend an afternoon with chef Samin Nosrat for a delicious and demystifying hands-on cheese-pulling class. Put your mozzarella-making skills in practice and get ready for the arrival of tomato season!

Samin will talk and walk you through the intricacies of pulling the perfect ball of fresh mozzarella, and then it'll be your turn! Everyone will then get to pull several balls of mozzarella (it takes a while to get a hang of it!) under her guidance. You'll even get to try your hand at making a creamy burrata mozzarella!

Each student will take home his/her mozzarella, as well as a recipe book with ideas for cooking with your fresh mozzarella, step-by-step instructions for pulling mozzarella, and a list of trusted cheese purveyors and resources.

You'll leave empowered and informed, knowing how to make delicate, tender fresh mozzarella for the perfect salad, pizza or antipasto plate.

WHAT
How to Pull Mozzarella with Samin Nosrat

WHEN
May 1
4 pm- 6:30 pm

WHERE
4629 Martin Luther King Junior Way
(At the corner of 47th and MLK)
Oakland, CA 94609

TICKETS
$55
To Enroll: Visit the event page at Brown Paper Tickets
There are two scholarship positions available at a reduced price. Scholarship students are responsible for minimal help with class set-up and breakdown. Please contact Samin directly at saminnosrat@yahoo.com for details.


CLASS SIZE
18 students max.
Each student will pull and take home several balls of his/her own fresh mozzarella and a recipe guide.

ABOUT SAMIN NOSRAT
A professional cook and freelance writer, Samin Nosrat looks to tradition, culture and history for inspiration. Trained in the Chez Panisse kitchen, she cooked there for several years before moving to Italy, where she worked closely with the Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini and chef Benedetta Vitali for nearly two years. She spent five years as the sous chef and "farmwife" at Eccolo restaurant, butchering, brining, and preserving nearly everything in an effort to make the restaurant as self-sustaining as possible. Her writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Meatpaper, and Edible San Francisco, as well as on her blog, Ciao Samin.
chris and me at pop-up general store :: march, 2010
(photo by melissa schneider)


chris and i fight about almost everything. for extended periods of time. it's sort of like a two-old-curmudgeons-sitting-on-the-front-porch dynamic.

so the fact that we came up with the name "pop-up general store" in under ten minutes is basically a miracle.

and, the fact that the general store has taken off so quickly is an even bigger miracle.

so much of having a restaurant is about compromise, or at least it was that way for us. it's exhausting. we sort of can't believe that we've figured out a way to make the things we love to cook and eat and get them out to people who can really appreciate it.

it's rare that cooks ever get to interact with the people who are eating our food. but chris and i are so community and family centered that we crave that connection--it's why we were always sneaking behind the bar at the restaurant to talk to customers and ask them how their food was.

we've structured the pop-up so that the cooks who make the food have to represent themselves on market days, and you know what? people love being about to meet and talk the people who've cooked for them. it's probably one of the most special parts of the whole thing.

i love that.

rabbit statement

both novella and i have received many impassioned emails in response to last week's article. my first instinct was to ignore it, but since the number of responses seems to be increasing each day, i feel it's appropriate to post a statement clarifying our intention and methodology.

there are several recurring themes in all of these messages, and some nearly identical language, which leads me to believe that these letters have been solicited by the leaders of some sort of rabbit-defense society. i'll attempt to address each of the main points below:


1. first of all, the entire reason why we teach these classes is to plant the seeds for a more sustainable food system. we are educating and empowering people to return to age-old methods of feeding themselves and their families, with the ultimate goals of:
  • preserving our environmental resources,
  • helping people create healthier eating patterns,
  • and, by encouraging a shift toward the consumption of home-raised, -slaughtered, -butchered, and -cooked meat, reducing the demand for and consumption of factory-farmed meat.
we also believe that such practices will help reduce the consumption of meat in general, regardless of how it is raised. once a person sees how much work, time and care goes into thoughtfully raising one animal for its meat, how could she ever look at a plastic-wrapped packaged of chicken breasts at the grocery store in the same way again?

2. much of the mail suggests that these classes are unnecessary because there is plenty of meat available for people to buy at the local supermarket. why would we encourage anyone to harm or kill defenseless rabbits when you can just go to safeway and buy some meat that's already dead?

what makes these rabbits any more defenseless than the chickens, pigs, beef cattle, turkeys and other animals raised in CAFOs that end up as anonymous meat in practically every grocery store in this country and around the world?

as a conscientious eater, cook, writer and teacher, i make it a point to know the provenance of every piece of meat i eat or cook. i have taken the time to research how the meat animals at every single farm whose meat i will eat are raised. in many cases, i have visited these farms in person, and am on a first-name basis with the person (or people) who raises the animals. when novella invites me over for dinner, i have very likely petted, fed, slaughtered, plucked, dressed, or chased (!), the animal whose meat we eat--that's a pretty short food chain, made even shorter when the animal in question is rabbit, which is considered the most environmentally sustainable meat choice.

in my cooking, writing, and teaching, i emphasize the importance of knowing where the food we eat comes from, and understanding exactly what it takes to get that food to the table. by demonstrating how to raise, kill, butcher and cook meat animals ourselves, novella and i are giving people an affordable, sustainable alternative to supporting the institutionalized animal cruelty practiced in CAFOs on a daily basis.

3. on the subject of cruelty and violence perpetrated against the rabbits, many of the letters have accused me of both. to the contrary, novella and i have gone to great lengths to teach the act of slaughter in these classes using foolproof, humane methods involving as little violence as possible. we stress that the act of killing should never be done in vain, and do our best to ensure that our students understand and respect the gravity of death. we want the students to understand that for every meal involving meat, one or more animals had to die.

by creating a connection for our students between the act of death and the meat we eat, we hope to increase in each of their minds the value and preciousness of all meats, leading them to carefully consider which and how much meat they choose to eat.

as far as cruelty during their lives, in all but one class we've taught, the animals were raised on novella's farm or another local backyard farm, where they were fed vegetarian diets consisting mostly of fresh vegetables, given plenty of space to roam (certainly more than most caged pet rabbits), and treated with love and respect throughout their lives. in new york, we went to great lengths to find rabbits raised by a farmer known for humane husbandry practices and top-quality meat.

4. many of the letters seem to be written by people who own rabbits as pets and are disgusted at the thought of anyone eating an animal they consider part of the family.

to this, i ask: do you eat beef? in india, cattle are considered sacred. do you eat chicken? across the world, chickens are kept as pets. what about fish? practically every child in america has a pet goldfish at some point or another. unless you are a vegetarian (and even then, you must carefully consider where your dairy products are coming from) or a vegan, consider that the same atrocities you're accusing us of committing are being committed in your name to animals of other species and breeds every single day. even a vegan diet, on one level or another, affects the welfare or quality of life of some living thing.

under what conditions are these pet rabbits bred, raised, and sold? how are they treated once adopted?

furthermore, rabbit meat has been a common food for humans on every single continent (except antarctica) since ancient roman times. contrary to what is being argued, promoting the human consumption of rabbit is not a novel idea (sorry, but novella and i aren't that creative). however, promoting the consumption of backyard rabbits as an alternative to factory-farmed meat that travels across the country, or even world, is somewhat new (though we won't even take credit for that).

____________________________________________________________________
p.s. as an empath to the core, i know more than anyone what it's like to be impassioned about a cause, and i appreciate the feeling with which these letters were written (it's also why i'm not actually that upset about any of these personal attacks). but i also try not to forget that there are millions of people (particularly in countries such as haiti and chile, both struck recently by terrible natural disasters) affected by tragedy and who need the help of their fellow humans. as novella said, sitting here debating rabbits demonstrates the relative life of luxury we lead as americans.


Introducing Home Ec, a series of basic cooking classes...




Home Ec: Cooking Basics with Samin Nosrat

Come spend an afternoon with Alexis Koefoed of Soul Food Farm and Chef Samin Nosrat for a hands-on butchering and cooking class.

In the first half-hour, Alexis will describe her chicken husbandry practices at Soul Food Farm, where she raises exquisite pastured chickens for some of the Bay Area's finest restaurants, including Chez Panisse, Camino, Coi and Frances. She'll talk about how she got into the chicken and egg business, as well as answer any questions you might have about backyard birds.

Next, we'll move into the kitchen where Samin will show you the ins and outs of butchering a chicken, including how to truss it for roasting. In 2008, Diablo Magazine called Samin's technique for spit-roasting chicken "masterful," and she will share with you all of her tips on roasting, spit-roasting and frying up delicious chicken every single time. You'll also receive a recipe book with tips on making stock, brodo and a few simple chicken dishes.

The class will end with some hands-on work: each student will receive a Soul Food Farm pastured chicken to break down into primal cuts under Samin's guidance.

You'll leave empowered and encouraged to start buying whole chickens at the market, knowing how to economically and deliciously use every part of the bird!

WHAT
A chicken butchery and cooking class with Samin Nosrat

WHEN
March 20
4 pm- 6:30 pm

WHERE
4629 Martin Luther King Junior Way
(At the corner of 47th and MLK)
Oakland, CA 94609

TICKETS
$99
To Enroll: Visit the event page at Brown Paper Tickets


CLASS SIZE
15 students max.
Each student will butcher and take home his/her chicken and a butchery and recipe guide.

ABOUT SAMIN NOSRAT
A professional cook and freelance writer, Samin Nosrat looks to tradition, culture and history for inspiration. Trained in the Chez Panisse kitchen, she cooked there for several years before moving to Italy, where she worked closely with the Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini and chef Benedetta Vitali for nearly two years. She spent five years as the sous chef and "farmwife" at Eccolo restaurant, butchering, brining, and preserving nearly everything in an effort to make the restaurant as self-sustaining as possible. Her writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Meatpaper, and Edible San Francisco, as well as on her blog, Ciao Samin.


yarn at purl soho :: april, 2009

forgive me, peeps, for being MIA. i've been running around like a chicken lady for weeks (months?) doing all sorts of ridiculous things:
  • teaching cooking lessons and classes
  • pretending to write
  • spending time with MMC in san diego, where i ate an obscene amount of frozen yogurt and discovered my new love, the açai bowl.
  • starting Pop-Up General Store with chris lee. we (and some of our friends) are making and selling the foods we love to cook and eat directly to the public every few weeks--things like ravioli, soups, sausages, porchetta, mole, english muffins, sweets and more. if you want to be added to the email list to find out more and order from us, send me an email at popupgeneralstore {at} gmail {dot} com.
  • wondering how i will find a talented graphic designer willing to barter with me. i need someone to help me with some web design and identity work (maybe i should call a therapist?). if you are or know someone who can help me out, please email me at saminnosrat {at} yahoo
  • dreaming up ways to change the world with charlie, OPEN, john friend, and the many wonderful peeps in my universe
i'm working on stuff, friends...bear with me, ok?

photo by juliana tou


i'm also thrilled to say that the rabbit course sold out in less than three days!

my next class is going to be a two-part marmalade class at 18 reasons in early march. it should be up on the calendar sometime soon, so check it out!

on saturday, april 3rd, i'll be teaching a handmade pasta class at soul food farm, followed by lunch in the shade of the olive trees. to sign up, email alexis at soulfoodfarm{at}aol{dot}com

i have a couple of other exciting plans for classes up my sleeve as well--coming soon...
***edited to add: i will read, but no longer publicly post angry comments about this class, or eating rabbits in general. i have posted a statement about why i teach this class here, which you are welcome to read. if you still feel compelled to reach out, then go ahead and leave a comment on that post, but if you are hostile or it's obvious that you didn't bother to read or think about what i wrote there, i will not publish your comment. i do not wish to engage in an angry, unproductive dialogue with people who refuse to consider my point of view.***

i'm thrilled to announce The Rabbit Course, a class i'll be teaching in a few weeks as part of Rabbit Week West, in collaboration with meatpaper, bar tartine and pizzaiolo!

(p.s. the photo on the cover of issue ten was taken at the rabbit class novella and i taught in brooklyn in november)
The Rabbit Course

Rabbits are the new chicken. As one of the most sustainable meat choices available, rabbit is quickly becoming a favorite for conscientious home cooks. Come spend an afternoon with Mark Pasternak of Devil's Gulch Ranch and Chef Samin Nosrat for a hands-on butchering and cooking class.

In the first half-hour, Mark will describe his rabbit husbandry practices at Devil's Gulch Ranch, where he raises rabbits for some of the Bay Area's finest restaurants, including Chez Panisse, Zuni Cafe, Quince Restaurant and The French Laundry.

Next, we'll move into the kitchen where Samin will show you the ins and outs of butchering a rabbit—then it'll be your turn: each student will receive a rabbit to break down into primal cuts. The class will end with a cooking demonstration of how to extract the most flavor from your rabbit, with recipes for a rich stock, kidney and liver paste, Tuscan rabbit ragu and tips on how to best season, grill and braise rabbit meat.

WHAT
A rabbit butchery and cooking class with Samin Nosrat

WHEN
February 20
4 pm- 6:30 pm

WHERE
4629 Martin Luther King Junior Way
(At the corner of 47th and MLK)
Oakland, CA 94609

TICKETS
$99
To Enroll: Visit the event page at Brown Paper Tickets


CLASS SIZE
12 students max.
Each student will butcher and take home his/her rabbit and a butchery and recipe guide.

ABOUT SAMIN NOSRAT
A professional cook and freelance writer, Samin Nosrat looks to tradition, culture and history for inspiration. Trained in the Chez Panisse kitchen, she cooked there for several years before moving to Italy, where she worked closely with the Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini and chef Benedetta Vitali for nearly two years. She spent five years as the sous chef and "farmwife" at Eccolo restaurant, butchering, brining, and preserving nearly everything in an effort to make the restaurant as self-sustaining as possible. Her writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Meatpaper, and Edible San Francisco, as well as on her blog, Ciao Samin.


bakesale for haiti


Cupcakes!, originally uploaded by *snapdragon.

bakesale for haiti

what: bringing our food community together to raise lots of money for Partners-in-Health, an incredible organization that's been doing great work in Haiti for many, many years. they already have a strong infrastructure in place to get help out to the people who need it most.
when: saturday, january 23rd from 10 am-2 pm
where: we now have three locations!!
Oakland: Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley: Gioia Pizzeria
1586 Hopkins St.
San Francisco: Bi-Rite Market
3639 18th Street at Guererro
how: it's easy! come spend a little money on something sweet (or savory). in fact, come prepared to spend a lot! we'll have baked goods from all of your favorite bay area bakeries, as well as many generous and talented home bakers from throughout the community! we'll also have a few non-sweets for sale, such as handmade canned goods and lovingly knitted scarves and hats!

we want to make big bucks for our brothers and sisters in haiti, so our fundraising goal is $10,000. can one little bakesale help make a difference? we think so!!!

all of the money we raise will be donated to dr. paul farmer's partners-in-health (PIH).

please check out partners-in-health, oxfam international, and doctors without borders for more information!

send an email to saminnosrat {at} yahoo {dot} come if you'd like to bake something or help out in some other way, such as manning or womanning one of the tables.

and please spread the word! send the invitation to everyone you know!
see you there!!

more great news:
i talked to charlie today and he said that pizzaiolo will donate 100% of all proceeds from baked goods sold at the restaurant on saturday 1/23 to help our bakesale reach our fundraising goal of $10,000!!!

even more great news:
john friend, the founder of the style of yoga i practice called Anusara, has generously offered to match funds up to $5,000 for all who come and mention "Anusara" or "John Friend!"

local.sustainable.handmade.creative: a gift guide for december 2009

here are my picks for lovely gifts in all price ranges. to qualify for this list, each item had to meet at least 2 of the following 3 requirements:

-be produced in the bay area and therefore its purchase will help sustain our local economy
-be handmade by a small producer
-be produced by sustainable methods with little to no carbon footprint

in addition, i felt that most of these gifts are either inspirational, creative, community-building, or just plain fun.

all of them are beautiful.

enjoy!

memberships & subscriptions


a gift membership to
($100 deposit)


a gift membership to mav's card society (from $17)


a gift certificate to the january session of mondo beyondo ($99)


a gift membership to 18 reasons ($40)


stationery & calendars






($35 and sadly sold out, but maybe she'll print more!)








art & craft


"marlow" or any of the beautiful prints from the simply photo pop up shop ($20).
i'm a bit partial to this one, obvs, after my trip to brooklyn.


our greatest glory gocco print by lisa congdon ($8)




trust your instincts print by ashley goldberg ($20)


($180, and check out her beautiful guide to roma!)


plus, you can check out these craft fairs:

&


food, etc.


i can't admit how many of these i ate at the meatpaper party in brooklyn. ($4)


june taylor's christmas cake ($46)


Spooning With Lot's Wife, originally uploaded by Prestidigitizer.
maldon sea salt (available at any specialty grocer, $5)

katz organic december's new oil ($24)
(i tasted some last week and have never before been
so impressed with a californian olio nuovo.)


photos by eric wolfinger
from chad robertson at tartine bakery, a loaf of the best bread in this country. ($7)


hosted by forage oakland (free)
on december 20th in oakland


custom-made organic cookies and caramels from ebcb (east bay cookie baker)
caramels: bay, lavender, honey and fleur de sel caramels
10 oz. decorative bag $14
cookies: salty chocolate cookies, molasses-ginger chews,
or candied tangerine and almond biscott
$12.50 per dozen
email chelsea at ebcb.sweets {at} gmail dot com to place an order.
she is local and may be able to meet you. otherwise, she is happy
to send your treats wherever you'd like them to go!





spatula tote bag by small screen designs ($14)


handmade sausages (boudin blanc, sweet italian, or spicy fennel),
cassoulet toulousain & ravioli from chris lee and me
(pre-order for pickup on december 23rd and 24th at pizzaiolo:
oldfashionedbutcher {at} gmail dot com. more details coming soon!)


my favorite local chocolates.




housewares




heath ceramics two cup set ($58)


The Complete Rabbit


The Complete Rabbit, originally uploaded by meatpaper.

that's my left hand (recognize the scar?). the pic is from the butchery half of novella's and my class, the complete rabbit, in brooklyn earlier this month. marlow & daughters was kind enough to let us take over the shop at the end of the night, and adam the (fantastic) butcher stayed late to observe and then got pulled into the madness when i mentioned that a rabbit carcass without legs or shoulders is somewhat analogous to the carcass of nearly any four-legged mammal, such as a pig or lamb.

he jumped at the opportunity to pull out this half of a pig and together we pointed out the different cuts and described their uses. it was pretty fantastic--a majorly special treat for the students.

you can check out the rest of the photos, all by sasha wizansky of meatpaper, here.

i'm in the midst of an existential crisis. not a huge one, but one nonetheless. and i've found that talking about it, and trying to remain somewhat calm are two of the best things i can do as i initiate strolls down so many different paths trying to find the best one.

not long ago, i remember saying to a friend that there are a million NOs before there is one right YES! and i think that i'm on number 247 or something like that. so i'm trying to be patient, and to remember that all of these NOs are going to eventually add up to a YES. and i'm grateful that at this point, most of the NOs are coming from me, not from anyone else. i'm feeling things out, and beginning to understand what's going to work for me.

even when things are hard or don't turn out how i'd like, i'm choosing to view it as an opportunity to learn. and the rest of the time, i am thankful for such abundance in my life.




psst...

have you heard of scribe winery?

(it's the next big thing.)

aside from being one of the sweetest people i've met in a long time, mariani is a gifted young winemaker with a fantastic taste in fonts. check out his lovely new website here.

chris kronner will be dreaming up some special dishes to eat while you sip andrew's wines at bar tartine on december 3rd. it will surely be raucous and delicate all at once. i'd hoped to go (if for no other reason than to eat half a loaf of chad's bread), but i'll be out of town. if you make it over, please eat some bread pudding on my behalf.




loving this



boa sorte by vanessa de mata and ben harper



boa sorte means good luck in portuguese, which is pretty much my anthem these days. i arrived in nyc this afternoon. shortly thereafter i lost my wallet. thanks to philip, i stayed mostly calm and tried to think of ways to get an ID before i have to fly back next week. we cancelled my cards and came back to nick's apartment, where he'd made us a lovely dinner.

in my wallet were my moo cards with my email address, so i was secretly hoping someone would email me saying they'd found the wallet. philip was certain it would happen, and sure enough, after dinner, someone emailed me telling me they had my wallet for me.

boa sorte in nyc. for sure.

per your request

things you can give me for my birthday which will make me very happy:

a cd with 'don't stop believing' on it, or other cds with music you think i'd like (i have boniveritis and i have to get some new tunes soon, or else!)
some krishna das music
an itunes gift certificate
flo braker's the simple art of perfect baking
a gift certificate to omnivore books
a yoga mat bag
a couple of yoga blocks


and if you are feeling really generous:
aletha soule ceramics
the big il bisonte bag i've always dreamt of

thank you and good night.