Cheese
            Cheese is a very good food. Cheese is added into a lot of foods. There are so many different kinds of chesses. There are even cheeses that we don’t know of but actually exist. Cheese is one of the most popular side dishes added into different recipes. For example pasta doesn’t need any cheese to make it taste better but people put parmesan cheese or mozzarella on their pasta to make it taste better. One of my favorite cheeses that I like is the blue cheese. The blue cheese has a very strong taste to it, which many people do not like. Blue cheese is good with crackers and the wet blue cheese is very good with Buffalo wings. The spiciness of the Buffalo wings makes the blue cheese fit right in. Most cheeses are made of mold. Yes, that stuff that grows on your bread after not being touched for a long time is mold and that is what cheese is. The most popular cheese used in the most dishes and recipes is the mozzarella cheese. The mozzarella cheese is the most popular because you can add it into almost anything to make it have that strong blend that actually tastes good. You can add any kind of cheese into any sort of food you like. Cheese is a type of food that can be added into anything because of the way it tastes. Not for nothing cheese is actually healthy for you. There was a study just a couple years back where cheese actually is good for your teeth due to the high calcium in it. Another study done a few years back was that cheese gives nightmares when you are sleeping. About 200 people took a cheese and the study was that certain cheeses gave nightmares when you are sleeping. Cheese also increases salvia flow. 

Tristan P

Our new unit was all about pork. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to
like this unit because I'm not really a fan of pork, but it turned out to be
reallyyy delicious! We made a maple glazed pork loin wrapped in bacon! It
wasn't very difficult to make. We had to make two different types of
marinades and a bryne for the pork. We let the pork soak in the bryne over
night to let all of the flavors really soak into the pork loin. Then, the
next day we poured one of the sauces over the pork and wrapped it in a few
slices of bacon. After letting it cook for a little while, we took it out
and drizzled the maple glaze over it the bacon wrapped pork. On the side, we
made sweet potato mashed potatoes. In the mixture we put marshmallows, brown
sugar, and ALOT of butter. On the top of the cassarole, we also added more
brown sugar covered marshmallows so it would be nice and gooey! The pork was delicious and tender and had an amazing flavor and the potatoes were so good
with all of the brown sugar and butter mixed it. The marshmallows were my favorite part. I think this was one of our best dishes!

 -JB

Streetfoods

I have learned so much this year in culinary. I am especially excited about our last few weeks because we are doing food from different countries. I can’t wait to create food from different places and learn how these different countries season and cook their food. Our sushi unit was fun as well. It was interesting to see how everyone was given access to the same ingredients and yet no two groups made the same type of sushi. I enjoyed the sushi unit because it has such a variety, we were able to put whatever we wanted in our own sushi. This year I have learned about all the different techniques and it gives me a whole new appreciation for the food that I receive when I go out to dinner. We have also started to worked on plating and the presentation of the plates that we put out and this also gives me appreciation for all the work that goes into each plate that a restaurant produces as well as the time that they are given to put out this quality work. I know that time has often been an issue for my group and that is only when have to make and plate one serving.

                                                                                                            -Matt B

As soon as I walked through the intimidating double doors that lead to the enormous room of The Cheesecake Factory at the Danbury Fair Mall, I was immediately struck by the sheer size of the place. Even though there were so many tables in there, every single one was occupied, and there was even a thirty-five minute wait for a table of three. That should have been, my first indication of what was to come, but even when it did it still came as a shock.

            Once we sat down, I realized that the menu was a lot like the rest of the building; mammoth. It was novel sized, and it took me an eternity just to narrow down my possible options. It was difficult to read and really overwhelming. If you find it hard to make a decision on a regular basis, I would not recommend trying to file through that menu. After what seemed to hours of struggle, I decided on the Smokehouse BBQ Burger, which was listed under the “Glam Burgers”. It was a charbroiled burger with melted cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, crispy onion rings, and BBQ sauce on top.

            After splitting a basket of pretty standard fried calamari and another standard fresh Caesar salad, I felt overwhelmed once again when the burger arrived because the portion was humungous. But as soon as I took my first bite I was hooked. The combination of toppings was over the top, but all of the ingredients surprisingly worked together. The smokiness of the bacon, crunch from the onion rings, and sharpness of the cheddar sent your taste buds into overdrive.  After two bites I was stuffed, but I still fought through the rest of the first half so I could feel somewhat victorious with my meal. The rest I had to bring home. Even though it was hard for me to enjoy my burger because of that heavy feeling in my stomach growing deeper and deeper with every bite, the burger was delicious. With crispy sweet potato fries the whole meal was enough to send me over the edge.

            And then, just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, the dessert menu came out. The chocolate mouse cheesecake was decided upon at my table, and of course I could not resist stealing a few bites even in my overstuffed condition. Let this be known, I am not a big cheesecake person -in fact I hardly ever even taste it- but that cheesecake, man oh man I could eat a billion. It was so light and creamy, all in one deliciously delightful bite. If you are looking for a little Italian Trattoria, keep driving past exit three to the Danbury Fair Mall, they do not offer what you are looking for. But if you want a family-friendly restaurant with good food and relatively fair prices, try The Cheesecake Factory. But remember, if you go you have to try the cheesecake.

What is food?

Is it that that drives us, gives us sustenance, no.

Not all that we consume deserves this title so high.

Food is more Food is prepared not made. Any one can fry potatoes, boil Spaghetti, Grill a burger. Food does not come out of a box, Can, or bag.

Food requires grace. it has an elegance that can't be matched. you know when you eat it but you cant describe it.

It has this unintangible essence that leaves you with more that satisfied, it leaves you with the merest hint of a smile.

It brings humanity together and is one of the few things on earth that every person can understand. Some say music is the great communicator, but really its food.

So I ask you what is food? Only you can answer that.

Jon V.

I was flipping through the channels while watching television when a cooking competition came on. Two teams of professional chefs went toe to toe in a timed cook-off. I was very surprised at how well their dishes came out in such limited time, but the judges still criticized them for their many mistakes. These mistakes were ones of which they would not have been making if not under a time limit. That’s when it sparked. I realized that chefs cannot be rushed. Customers should walk into a restaurant knowing that their food will take a while to serve because the chef must take his/her time. Only the best quality comes out when the cook does not feel rushed or pressured. In this case the professionals wouldn’t be criticized. Cooking is like art, a painter is not rushed to finish his work, because people understand it is a careful, precise job. As in the kitchen, every person has their own roles to perfect in order to come out with the beautiful piece of work others look for. If you walk into a restaurant and complain on the food service because it takes too long, you are taking paint away from the painter. Unless it takes a long time and still the food lacks quality, then something is wrong. But do not rush a chef when making food for you, its taste will get better the longer you wait. Wyatt Depuy

When I first heard we were making sushi, I was worried, unsure, and nervous as to what the results and procedure would be like. The sushi I’ve seen in restaurants or at grocery stores seemed nearly impossible to produce. The complexity and caliber at which the sushi appeared to be at seemed unreachable. In addition to just the appearance, what the sushi was composed of was also surprising. Since I had no prior relation with sushi, I assumed there were all sorts of Japanese fish, spices, and sauces that I had never dealt with before that needed to be added. However, I was wrong when I discovered that there was no typical sushi and that in reality, there aren’t limits to what you put in sushi. In our sushi, my group and I included rice, carrots, smoked salmon, cucumbers, and breadcrumbs. These ingredients were rather unique, but Ricky Ruot, the informal taste tester, complimented our group and said ours was his favorite. When everything was all finished, and the rolls were cut, I was shocked to see that our product looked rather similar to what is sold at restaurants. I was expecting a modified version of sushi in the sense that it would be less professional. Overall, I was pleased with our outcome and was surprised when I found out that the procedure was relatively quick and easy. -Matthew M.