Culinary school best advice so far: 'Taste, don't eat'

One can see wisdom in Executive Chef Tim Grable's warning -- "Taste, don't eat" -- about weight gain when studying at the California Culinary Academy.

Chef Grable (left) offered the advice in an orientation session the week before classes started. He said watching your weight can be a problem when you find yourself eating your homework and your in-class assignments, literally.

In school's first three weeks, we culinary students have made: butter-heavy béchamel sauce; a butter-laden brown roux for espagnole sauce; pasta and tomato sauce topped with Parmesan cheese; hollandaise sauce, full of butter; mayonnaise, with a cup of oil.

Granted, we had only small tastings of those delicious items, but it's easy to see how when we get to the preparation of foods that those creations become accompaniments of, the potential problem will be at the fore.

For the record: I have lost two pounds since school started.

Further for the record: We did start off with low-cal healthy stuff: learning to cut vegetables including spinach, tomato, carrot, onion and garlic.

But next comes some tempting carnivorous offerings as we learn the basic techniques of braising, sauteing, poaching, grilling and roasting. All accompanied, of course, by those sauces.

Wonder what the pastry and baking students are making?

Does this chef's jacket make me look fat?

Many young people find when they begin college -- away from home, eating on their own, perhaps less healthy foods -- they gain weight. It's been called the "Freshman 15," meaning a 15-pound weight gain in freshman year.

At culinary school, it's a potentially bigger problem, because students are literally eating their homework and their in-class work.

"I affectionately refer to that here as  the 'Freshman 65'," Executive Chef Tim Grable said today at the California Culinary Academy. Grable is director of the Academy's Pastry and Baking program, and he discussed the weight-gain issue during an orientation discussion for students -- including me -- who start classes next week at the San Francisco school.

   "Be careful," Grable advised. "It's not so much weight or vanity, but health. Yes, you probably will gain a little more weight (as a culinary student) than you would otherwise."

   His suggestion for staying trim while learning culinary arts and how to bake and make pastries:

   "Taste, don't eat."

   (Photo credit: www.fabulousfatbrothers.com)