Celebrating "50" at Boot Camp
by Jason Bernstein
My CIA adventure began a few years ago when my wife and I were in the Napa Valley. We discovered the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant at the California campus, and as we dined, somebody mentioned that the CIA offered a full schedule of continuing education courses. I thought that a Boot Camp would make a great adventure for when I turned 50, and since that day, I dreamed of enrolling.
Going to a CIA Boot Camp was an ideal way to celebrate my birthday, as it combined my love of cooking with my need for recharging my mental batteries away from the normal pressures of practicing law. Juggling cooking with my work as a patent and trademark attorney at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Atlanta is occasionally a challenge, but the two activities are not as different as one might think. Protecting my client's inventions and brands requires a lot of mental organization and learning new technologies; cooking requires organization and learning new dishes. Both involve a lot of creativity and being able to interpret what is in front of me.
After some cajoling, my brother Ron came with me to Boot Camp in Hyde Park. I also asked my close friend Dan, who has joined me at local cooking classes in the past. Dan was there to sharpen his skills to keep pace in the kitchen with his wife, who is a gourmet cook.
The 12 students in our class were divided into teams of three. Ron, Dan, and I were on different teams (by design), but we frequently went over to each other's station to compare notes and lend a hand. Boot Camp was intense, as advertised. It didn't leave much social time, but dinners at the campus restaurants allowed us to relax and get to know everyone.
The most rewarding aspect of Boot Camp was getting a solid base in cooking techniques. One of the most important skills I learned was mise en place, or, getting everything organized before you start cooking. The toughest part was unlearning bad knife skills habits. My favorite dish was the roast beef tenderloin. It came out great because our team learned to fix a mistake—we initially added way too much ground pepper to the port wine mushroom sauce but we were able to strain it out through a fine sieve. This gave all three of us a great feeling of relief.
I've unquestionably improved my cooking skills as a result of Boot Camp and I use them frequently. These days, my specialty is creating new dinners that my wife and three sons will eat. I make sure they contain healthy ingredients—and occasionally I sneak in some new flavors. I was a pretty adventurous tinkerer in the kitchen before; now I have more confidence in my technique and the dishes show it. I also have more confidence to deviate from the recipe. I plan to come back someday to attend another course, probably the Advanced Training.
For people interested in the Boot Camp experience, I have some helpful advice. Wear comfortable shoes; you'll be on your feet a lot. Be prepared to work hard; you will be pretty tired by the end of the day. And be prepared to let go of your bad culinary habits. Chef DeShetler will show you a better way, with a smile. Most of all, you will have a lot of fun.
