Want a foolproof recipe for a fantastic evening of food and fun?
Take a dozen eager food lovers, marinate with some glasses of wine or bottles of local brew, and toss with a delicious array of local artisan cheese. Then, guide them around an international market full of exciting ingredients to draw out their creativity, cover with crisp white aprons, and set them in a professional kitchen to boil, bake, sauté and otherwise cook up a complete dinner. Serve with a generous helping of instant camaraderie.
Tapping Your Inner Iron Chef
Cooking the Market is unlike any cooking class you will find elsewhere. There are no theme menus, pre-chosen recipes, or lectures on technique, and that's exactly how Molly Herrmann wanted it when she launched this unique course at the Midtown Global Market (MGM) in June. As a personal chef and owner of Tastebud Catering, Molly shares Kitchen in the Market, a commercial-grade cooking space at MGM, with nine other culinary businesses and the idea of holding classes there came quite naturally. Wanting to offer more than the usual watch-and-learn format, she drew inspiration from the kitchen’s singular location to come up with a curriculum that is equal parts cooking instruction, dinner party, and Iron Chef episode.
Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending this monthly class. The evening began with a relaxed mingling of participants over sips of wine as Molly revealed what was in store: a tour around Midtown Global Market to acquaint ourselves with the myriad local and imported foods, followed by the formation of teams. On the spot, each team would come up with a dish using ingredients from the Market; then, with a $25 budget, they would buy the ingredients and cook their dish for the entire group. The prospect elicited a nervous, excited twitter among us, whose cooking experiences ranged from kitchen newbies to a culinary pro, but Molly was confident we were up to the challenge. “I think it’s a great way to encourage novices and experienced cooks alike to trust their instincts and be creative,” she later explained about the premise. “It’s great to go grocery shopping with a plan, but it’s fun to let your imagination take over, challenge yourself, and work as a team.”
Now, every adventure needs provisions, so before heading on our market quest, Vicki Potts of Grassroots Gourmet introduced a sampling of European-style cheeses, all sourced within a 75-mile radius. There was the delightfully oozy, creamy Granite Ridge goat cheese from Donnay Dairy, pungent blue cheese from Northern Lights in St. Paul, and the popular Cumin Gouda made by Marieke Penterman of Holland’s Family Cheese. Well fortified, we set off to discover the flavors of the market and draw inspiration for our dishes.
Because of the improvisational nature of the class, Molly noted that none of the dishes created in the previous four sessions have been the same. It was easy to understand why as she led us through shops filled with a seemingly infinite variety of food. At Cosecha Imports, she pointed out a wall of spices used in Latin and South American cuisine, then moved on to the Italian fare at Jakeeno’s Trattoria and Holy Land Grocery’s jars of harissa, bottles of orange blossom syrup and a case full of fresh olives and blocks of feta cheese. At local food purveyors Grassroots Gourmet and The Produce Exchange, my teammates Jim, Erin and I found our key ingredients: quail eggs and wild rice. As the teams returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner, Molly met with each to refine the dishes and offer suggestions for flavors and presentation.
Cooking Up Friendship
As we bustled around the kitchen under Molly’s guidance and with help from assistants Anna Jane and Mary, it was amazing to see the easy camaraderie developing between people who were strangers an hour before but were now cooking with and for each other. Judging by the jovial banter and cooperation, it seemed that nothing else brings folks close quite like chopping vegetables or painstakingly peeling two dozen quail eggs together.
Food has a way of forging deep personal bonds and it was quite evident between the participants who came together. The class was a birthday gift to cooking enthusiast Erin from husband Jim, and was one way for the couple to explore their new city after moving here from California. Nicole revealed that the evening was a surprise date arranged by her companion Charlie; while Shannon was delighted that close friend Natalie talked her into joining the fun. Even Molly’s husband Keith, attended for the first time since she started the venture.
Soon enough, our dishes were ready to be served: Raw Beet Salad with Dill; delicate Dolmades stuffed with couscous, dried fruits and pistachios; Quinoa with Roasted Root Vegetables and Harissa; Corn-filled Falafels; Beef Roulade with Bulgarian Feta, and Sesame Wild Rice with Roasted Green Beans and Quail Eggs. As we enjoyed the lovely meal we prepared for each other, there was a sense of pride at what was accomplished in a few hours, no matter the level of culinary experience each of us brought to the kitchen. If participants left that evening with newfound enthusiasm for cooking, then Molly considers it mission accomplished.
“I hope they take home some new ideas and thoughts about what real food can mean in your everyday life – using new ingredients, buying what’s in season and grown locally. All of these thing are easier to do at home than most people think,” she said. “Maybe the most important take away is to trust yourself and become more confident in your own kitchen.”
Whether you bring a partner or come one your own, it’s certain that you’ll make great food and new friends when you’re Cooking the Market.
Cooking the Market with Molly Herrmann is currently being offered at the Midtown Global Market once a month on Saturday evenings. The next class will be held August 14. Space is limited to 12 participants and the cost is $50 per person. For registration and additional information, please contact Kim Hanna at 612-872-4041, ext. 10.
Tracey Paska, a student at the University of Minnesota, is pursuing a self-designed degree in food studies, which combines coursework in anthropology, history and sociology as they pertain to the foods we eat. She was born in the Philippines, but now lives in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. When she's not composing research papers, she writes about the complex, confusing and fascinating connections between food, culture, and society on her blog Tangled Noodle. Her last post for Simple, Good and Tasty was Gardens of Good Eating: New Arboretum Exhibit Celebrates Homegrown Food.
