Boot Camp: The Perfect Honeymoon for Foodies
by Jill and Rob Hoppin
Jill and Rob Hoppin of Alexandria, VA first met six years ago, when they were both working in Washington, DC. He was on the payroll of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and she was a staff member for Sen. John Warner (R-VA). After dating for five years and becoming engaged, they had the wedding of their dreams on October 3, 2009. The next day, Rob and Jill drove north to Hyde Park for their honeymoon at CIA Boot Camp.
Rob: We initially got the idea from a CBS Sunday Morning piece on cooking schools in Italy. So that was one of the ideas we were always batting around for our honeymoon. We did some research and decided that the CIA was the right place because of its reputation: it's the best in the world. My experience with taking cooking classes elsewhere is that you get stuck with a chef who tells you to peel a head of garlic but doesn't give you any more information. At the CIA, the class is a lot more substantive and intensive.
Jill: We both were foodies before we met, but when we got together we probably took it to the next level. I'm more of the sous chef and Rob takes the lead in creating dishes and trying out new recipes. We cook a lot together and we love the whole experience of cooking – and drinking wine and having cheese at the same time. It's the joy of it, really. Working together in the kitchen is great, because it's nice to share the same interests with someone else. In the kitchen there's a lot of "will you hand me this, will you do that." It's communication and teamwork.
Rob: It's a fun thing to do. You come home from work and it's something you can immediately start to do together. That for us is unwinding.
Jill: We get a lot of our recipes from Cook's Illustrated and we own a lot of CIA cookbooks.
Rob: We didn't have any concerns about Boot Camp at first, but then we found out that class started on Monday at 6 a.m. and ended at about 4:30 p.m., and then there was dinner at one of the campus restaurants from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. So our initial thought was, "Oh, my gosh! What have we gotten ourselves into? That's a 16-hour day." We were initially concerned, but it turned out okay.
Jill: It was difficult at first to find my way around the classroom kitchen. And then there were some of the recipes, which I had never made before.
Rob: We came here without a lot of the cooking fundamentals, and that structural understanding, so we had to follow the recipes. In Boot Camp you are encouraged to improvise, and that was sort of hard for us to let go and just enjoy it. Chef D definitely pushes you to do that. You're not here to read recipes; you're here to learn how to cook. The way he teaches helps you to do that.
Jill: The dish I was most proud of making this week was a fruit tart galette.
Rob: Mine was a saffron risotto with prosciutto. While I do risottos at home, this was the best one I've made.
Jill: We were not on the same team. The chef separated us. He does that, he said, so that when we go home we have that much more knowledge because we're cooking different menus.
Rob: But our workstations were right next to each other [laughs].
Jill: The Boot Camp skill that I'll bring home with me is knife skills: chopping and learning how to properly slice fruits and vegetables. I also picked up some of the tricks of the trade, like heating up the spices before making the marinade so the protein will absorb it better.
Rob: CIA Boot Camp is in line with vacations we have taken in the past. We've gone to the Food and Wine Festival in Aspen with friends several times. It's an interest we share and that interest and knowledge has certainly grown with our relationship. For those considering Boot Camp, you've really got to love it and be prepared to work hard. But it's a huge payoff. My advice is to take the next week off [laughs].
