CulinaryCorps now recruiting for September 2007 trip

June 2007 Group in NOLA

Looking for a way to jump start your holiday season with a whole lot of good will?

CulinaryCorps is looking for three more culinary professionals/students to join us on our upcoming outreach trip to New Orleans, LA: September 14 - 21, 2007.

The trip itinerary includes:

Friday, September 14th: Tour of impact area led by Share Our Strength, Welcome Dinner at opening night of the iconic Dooky Chase

Saturday, September 15th: Cooking Demonstrations and Cake Decorating Cook-Off at the First Annual Mississippi Slow Food Festival, BBQ Heaven at The Shed

Sunday, September 16th: Brunch and Dinner Creation at Emergency Communities in the Lower 9th Ward

Monday, September 17th: Kitchen Mentoring and Meal Creation at Habitat for Humanity's Camp Hope

Tuesday, September 18th: Visit to Crescent City Farmers Market, Lunch at Bayona, Food Tour of the French Quarter, Dinner, music and bowling at Rock n' Bowl

Wednesday, September 19th: Cooking and student mentoring at Café Reconcile event – "Bistrot Reconciler: A Thank You to Our Sponsors"

Thursday, September 20th: Volunteer Day with Edible Schoolyard New Orleans, Farewell Dinner with Chef Chris Debarr of Delachaise

This is a fantastic opportunity to put your culinary skills to work in the community that needs your support. but don't take our word for it, e-mail culinarycorps@gmail.com today and ask to get in touch with a former member…they're ready to share their stories with you! For trip details, please see below or go to our CulinaryCorps website.

In the words of writer Elbert Hubbard, "Don't make excuses, make good."

See you in September!

The CulinaryCorps Team

Pass Christian, MS - Inside an Oyster Packing Plant

It's easy to forget that New Orleans wasn't the only city affected by Hurricane Katrina, or "the storm" as it is often referred to by locals.  In Pass Christian, a fishing port along the gulf coast of Mississippi, upwards of 30 feet of water came and went, like a tsunami, virtually lifting entire neighborhoods off their foundations and setting houses adrift. 

At the Crystal Seas Oyster Packing Plant, less than a mile away from the shore, owner Jennifer Williams discovered two homes in the parking lot.  One she recognized as originally being from across the street, but the other's origin was a mystery.  After a month of being unclaimed, they eventually got rid of it.  It was a very different type of devastation experienced in the gulf than that in the Lower 9th Ward.

Jennifer invited us into the packing plant to show us how it operates.  Crystal Seas is the leading supplier of hand-shucked oysters to restaurants such as Red Lobster and Emeril's in New Orleans.  Since it was the off season, there were only about 25 shuckers working, but in the season's peak there can be up to a hundred.

The shuckers are mostly immigrant Vietnamese and Mexican workers.  Most are on 10-month state-issued work grants where they are provided housing and allowed to work a certain number of hours a day.  They are compensated by a combination of the number of hours worked and weight of oyster meat shucked.

We timed some of the shuckers and they were averaging 8-10 oysters a minute using a pick and hammer to crack open the shells.  As they shuck, the empty shells get tossed onto a conveyor belt and are collected, then planted back into the gulf at the beginning of oyster season.  The used shells become the new home of the next seasons' oyster spawn.

Once a shucker fills their bucket with oyster meat, they grab their individually assigned tag and hand the bucket over for a rinse and weigh.  After the total weight of that person's bucket is recorded, the oysters are triple-rinsed with minimal handling and finally portioned out into six pound buckets before getting flash frozen and shipped throughout the region.

CulinaryCorps Website
CulinaryCorps posts on foodite

NOLA - Crawfish Boil with Joey Fonseca

While down in New Orleans again for another CulinaryCorps culanthropy trip, we were graced with the company of Bayou fisherman and alligator hunter Joey Fonseca of Des Allemands - exclusive supplier of crawfish, alligator, and wild catfish to many of New Orleans' top restaurants. 

Joey brought along with him two sacks (40 pounds each) of enormous late-season crawfish, which he prepared in two separate boils - one spicy and one even spicier.  They came with some very tasty andouille sausage and a couple boiled potatoes.  It was a messy and convivial night of twisting, sucking, pinching, and pulling!

NOLA - Signs of Progress in the Lower 9th

Signs of progress in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans - slow, but progress nonetheless.  The top picture was taken on a trip I took to New Orleans back in March and the bottom taken from the exact same spot just eight weeks later.

CulinaryCorps in the Times-Picayune

Before I get to some posts from my recent trip across the pond, check out this article published on the front page of the Living Section in the Times-Picayune (the local paper of New Orleans) about the March CulinaryCorps trip.

Stirred to action

Call it culanthropy: Mixing culinary skills with philanthropy, volunteers come here to cook. And in some cases, they plan to come back to stay.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

By Judy Walker

Full text from NOLA.com here

NOLA Day 6: The Savvy Gourmet with Frank Brigtsen

Here are shots from the final event of the CulinaryCorps trip to New Orleans, a farewell dinner with the incomparable Chef Frank Brigtsen of Brigtsen's Restaurant at The Savvy Gourmet on Magazine Street.

NOLA Day 6: Edible Schoolyard New Orleans (ESYNOLA)

On the morning of Day 6, the group headed to Edible Schoolyard New Orleans (ESYNOLA) at Samuel Green Charter School to cook a garden lunch for third grade kids and to facilitate an Iron Chef-style competition with seventh grade kids. 

Edible Schoolyard is an organization founded by Chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse originally at MLK Jr. High in Berkeley, CA in 1995 with a mission to bring sustainable and organic gardens to urban public schools and incorporate all aspects of it into the school's curriculum.

ESYNOLA was founded shortly after Katrina and is the only other Edible Schoolyard in the country.

NOLA Day 5: Trailing at Cochon Restaurant

Day 5 was a free day.  Some decided to take the time to chill out and relax in the French Quarter, while others took the opportunity to explore New Orleans even further.  Three of us had decided before the trip that we wanted to take advantage of a pre-arranged restaurant trail setup by CulinaryCorps.  Our trail was at Donald Link (of Herbsaint) and Steven Stryjewski's Cochon.

Besides the typical tasks you would do as a trail, like pick herbs, prep vegetables, and slice things - Chef Steven Stryjewski was gracious enough to show us and even let us help in butchering a 160+ pound whole hog - hacksaw, machete, and all.  Cochon butchers a whole hog every 2-3 days.

We also got to watch the line and sample practically the entire menu from the Fried Oyster Sandwich to the Spicy Ribs with Pickled Watermelon Rind and Boucherie plate.  Everything was absolutely delicious and the whole staff was really inviting and hospitable to the three of us.

I want to advise you that the following pictures are either going to be really disturbing or really fascinating, hopefully it's the latter, so be prepared.  You have been warned!

NOLA Day 3 & 4: Cooking at Emergency Communities

Here is a photo essay from our two days cooking at the Goin' Home Cafe, the community kitchen of Emergency Communities in the Lower 9th Ward, which feeds residents, volunteers, and anyone in need of a warm meal.

NOLA Day 2: Video on Cyworld

Check out the video posted by CulinaryCorps sponsor Cyworld from the day at the farmer's market.  Enjoy.

NOLA Day 2: Dairy-licious - St. James Cheese and The Creole Creamery

A long Day 2 ended with a short drive to Uptown NOLA to visit a cheese and an ice cream shop on Prytania Street.

St. James Cheese Company is a post-Katrina business opened by husband and wife Richard and Danielle Sutton.  Richard is a banker-turned-cheesemonger who went to school in New Orleans, but was living in London at the time of the hurricane working at the 200 year old cheese shop Paxton & Whitfield.  After Katrina, he and his wife decided to move back and in November 2006 opened St. James Cheese Company.

Just down the block is The Creole Creamery, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor operated by David Bergeron, owner, and childhood friend Bryan Gilmore, ice cream Chef.  After Katrina, The Creole Creamery lost 320 gallons of ice cream and 13 of 15 staffers were displaced. 

Owner David had one of the most dramatic Katrina stories we heard on the trip - one that involved being stranded on his rooftop while high waters rushed down his street.  It was unbelievable, but the crowds of kids in his store that night is a testament to the work they've done in revitalizing and rebuilding.

Bryan let us sample fresh batches of Mascarpone Lemon Zest and Sweet Corn, Cracked Pepper, and Raspberry Coulis ice creams - both wildly inventive and delicious flavors among many others like Strawberry Jalapeno Cheesecake and Cayenne Lime Butter.

I can't recommend both of these Uptown places enough, not just for their delicious dairy goods, but also for their awe inspiring stories.

St. James Cheese Company
5004 Prytania Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
Phone: (504) 899-4737

The Creole Creamery
4924 Prytania Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
Phone: (504) 894-8680

NOLA Day 2: Bayona Restaurant

After a full morning at the CCFM, we headed into the French Quarter for lunch at Chef Susan Spicer's Bayona Restaurant.  The cuisine is creative and international with Cajun and Creole influences.  For lunch, you can get your fill of 3 courses from a huge selection of savory and sweet for only $20.

Here's just a short selection of some of the dishes we ordered - though with a group as big as ours we basically ordered the entire menu.  My favorites were the fried oyster salad and crawfish mac and cheese.  The drum fish with harissa was also particularly good... and very spicy.

Fried Oyster Salad with Tomatoes, Endive, and Green Goddess Dressing

Crawfish Mac 'n Cheese with Poblano Cream, Corn, and Mirliton

Grilled Drum Fish with Spicy Cous Cous, Harissa Broth, and Saffron Aioli

Shrimp with Garlic, Pimenton, and Garlic Crouton

Black and White Boudin with Quince Mostarda, Apples, and Onions

Bayona Restaurant
Chef: Susan Spicer
430 Dauphine St
New Orleans, LA 70112
French Quarter
Phone (504) 525-4455

Lorin Gaudin, New Orleanian Food Writer

New Orleanian food writer and radio show host Lorin Gaudin joined us for dinner at Jazzy Po' Boys to talk about the role of food media in the restaurant recovery of New Orleans - with topics including creole tomatoes, neighborhood restaurants, Donald Link and Steven Stryjewski's Cochon (nominee for JBF Best New Restaurant 2007!!!), St. Joseph's Day Altars, and Italian-Creole food.  Enjoy!

All Over Food on WRNO 99.5 FM
New Orleans Magazine Food Section

NOLA Day 1: 9th Ward Tour and Jazzy Po' Boys

The first day of the CulinaryCorps trip led us on a tour of the 9th ward.  After over 18 months, the 9th ward is still in the re-building process.

After the tour, we had a fantastic evening of music and Po' Boys hosted by the Seedco Financial Restaurant Recovery Initiative and Chef Kevin Parker of Jazzy Po-Boys in the 9th ward.  Jazzy Po' Boys had been open just months before Katrina hit and has made an amazing recovery, but restaurants like it and others in the neighborhood are still aching for business.

Seedco Financial Restaurant Recovery Initiative
"Back in the Neighborhood" on NOLA.com

Jazzy Po' Boys
1700 Port St
9th Ward, New Orleans, LA
Phone: 504-943-0678

CulinaryCorps Photos

I didn't get a chance to blog during the trip, but I did take a couple ton of photos.  Check out the flickr group where you'll see CulinaryCorps members:

Partying at Jazzy Po' Boys
Working at the Saturday Crescent City Farmer's Market
Wandering the French Quarter
Lunching at Bayona with Chef Susan Spicer
Serving meals to 600 residents who are rebuilding in the 9th Ward
Butchering a whole pig with Chef Steven Stryjewski of Cochon Restaurant
Cooking with the 3rd and 7th graders of the Edible Schoolyard NOLA
Watching Chef Frank Brigtsen's of Brigtsen's Restaurant cook at The Savvy Gourmet

... and doing many other things in between.

flickr set
CulinaryCorps website

Q&A with Christine Carroll - Executive Director of CulinaryCorps

I met this amazingly ambitious, motivated, and driven woman while attending The French Culinary Institute.  She is the reason why almost 20 other culinary professionals, students, and enthusiasts will be spending the next couple days cooking, eating, and making a difference in New Orleans.  Here is the Q&A with her that I promised.

Name:
Christine Carroll

Location:
Manhattan

Occupation:
Executive Director, CulinaryCorps

In one sentence, CulinaryCorps is what? 
The Peace Corps… for cooks.

What inspired you to create CulinaryCorps?  My first sip of chicory coffee and sugar-dusted beignets.  Hot rice calas oozy with cheese.  Shrimp cornbread drenched in smoked corn butter.  The olive spread ubiquitous in any good Muffaletta.  For the less gluttonous version, click here.

You have a lot of fond food memories of New Orleans, tell us about some foods you'd rather forget.
Salty cotton candy at a Midsummer Fair in Cambridge, England.  It was a childhood favorite gone horribly awry.

Sounds awful!  How about the most memorable food... that's not from New Orleans.
Pork fat “butter” with cracklings in Krakow, Poland.  You slather it on really crusty bread and then pass-out with joy.

Pork, fat, and butter all in the same sentence, sounds absurdly delicious!  What are some of your other guilty food pleasures?
Too Many!