In the local news!
4 Marhttp://northfieldnews.com/content/carleton-cooking-club-hosts-culinary-competition
tututuuu..INVITATION TO Spreads n’ Breads BRUNCH WORKSHOP
14 FebHey guys.
Whaddup.
Prematurely we want to wish you happy valentines and we hope your term is going well. We wish you will cook a three course dinner for your special friend tomorrow night. Please do it. For us.
We also want to invite you the no.1 MEGA SUPER ULTIMATE NANO MILLI MEGA COOKING EVENT tu-tututututu(sound) on SATURDAY!
The event is called spreads n breads and evolves around the concept of an European brunch. We have reached out to Culinary house and this will be a joint FireBellies/Culinary house event. Yes, Culinary house could not hide from the cooking radar anymore! Our stealth drone attack forced them to surrender and – by collaborating with us – live up to their obligations.
So… here’s the deal.
Let’s meet and make three different kick ass breads as well a vast arrange of spreads from different parts of the world, as well as cool, healthy drinks and more. Take the chance to learn some useful, quick and delicious recipes that you will never forget. In fact, you will probably use them for the rest of your life.
For those of you interested in COOKING and LEARNING: We will start at 11am at Culinary house. We will make all the food and hopefully we are done by 1PM, which is when the event opens to the public. The public is welcome to pop by and taste our creations until we close around 2:30-3pm. Tell your friends to come!! SPREAD THE WORD!
If you just want to stop by, please just stop by. But do so between 1-3pm.
If you want to cook, email me before Friday night. Remember, this is the chance of your life. You will learn how to make coconut crepes, feta cheese-almond pesto, white bean hummus, french baugette, among other things. And you will get the recipes after the workshop.
There are 10 cooking spots. Again, we meet at 11am at JEWETT HOUSE now on SATURDAY.
STAY HUNGRY
Tomato.Potato
IN THE LOCAL NEWS!
20 Dec Written in the Northfield Patch by Anna Sheir
“Eat local, but go global.”
It’s Vayu Maini Rekdal’s motto, but it could just as easily be his biography.
At 19, the Carleton College freshman and aspiring chef has traveled the world, started his own small business and worked under renown New York chef and Top Chef Masters winner Marcus Samuelsson.
Now, the Stockholm native is bringing his international take on local cooking to the kitchens of Northfield.
From Norway to Northfield
Rekdal has Norwegian heritage and grew up spending every summer on a family farm in rural Norway, so it’s not surprising that he’s chosen Northfield as his home away from home.
“When I visited, I just fell in love with the place,” said Rekdal.
In his first term at Carleton, Rekdal started “Firebellies,” a cooking club centered on understanding different cultures through the universal language of food. One term into its creation, the club already has 40 members, due in part to Rekdal’s strong leadership.
“He’ll be able to have a directive as to what he wants to cook and then get everyone involved in it,” said Henri Sandifer, a Carleton student who has participated in Firebellies events.
Events include dinner parties and a competition called “Top Chef Dining Hall,” where students attempt to create delectable dishes made from ingredients available in Carleton’s dining halls.
But Rekdal has his sights set higher than cafeteria competitions.
“Essentially, what we have to do if we really want to make a change in society is to educate the next generation in healthy and sustainable cooking and make cooking a part of their lives,” said Rekdal.
Rekdal is already working to educate Northfield’s next generation. He teaches free cooking classes for Growing Up Healthy, a local nonprofit dedicated to increasing community connections for marginalized families with children under 5 years of age.
International food, international chef
Rekdal’s interest in teaching is nothing new.
At age 16, fueled by frustration with what he considered a sub-par high school home economics program, he founded a cooking company called MatRätt with two friends. The trio taught cooking classes to their peers.
“I really, really, really enjoyed teaching people how to cook and sharing my knowledge,” said Rekdal.
Despite his lack of professional training, Rekdal was quite knowledgeable about cooking, having been raised in a family united by food.
“I was always surrounded by cooking,” said Rekdal.
Rekdal has Indian, Kenyan, Cuban and Norwegian heritage. He explained that all of these diverse cultures share a love of food. From an early age, Rekdal’s mother encouraged his enthusiasm for cooking.
His passion for local eating also began with his family, on those summers in rural Norway, where he would spend days picking mushrooms and going fishing, literally living off the land.
After high school, Rekdal left his Scandinavian roots behind and spent a gap year working in New York City. During his time in New York, Rekdal started YoungNYChefs. Half blog, half entrepreneurial endeavor, Rekdal curated a website with recipes while holding cooking classes at colleges across the East Coast.
It was during his time in New York that Rekdal got his first taste of the restaurant world. He was hired as a prep cook for Marcus Samuelsson, an acquaintance of his father’s, at Samuelsson’s restaurant, Red Rooster Harlem. Under Samuelsson, Rekdal gained technical expertise.
While working at Red Rooster Harlem, Rekdal made a major discovery about himself as a chef.
“I think the most important insight I got there in that kitchen was that my true passion is not cooking for other people,” said Rekdal. “It’s cooking with other people.”
Cooking with Northfield
Firebellies and the Growing Up Healthy classes are only the beginning of what Rekdal hopes to accomplish in the Northfield community.
He is currently applying for a Northfield Healthy Community Initiative grant to start a cooking project with Northfield youth, which would cultivate empowerment and inspiration through cooking. Rekdal is also in talks with Northfield Middle School about potentially teaching cooking classes. He is in the process of launching a Northfield branch of YoungNYChefs as well.
In March, Rekdal will speak at Just Food Co-op where he will discuss sustainable cooking and the importance of intergenerational culinary education.
Rekdal has a full plate, to be sure. But who could complain when everything he’s serving up is locally grown, internationally flavored and, undoubtedly, delicious?
Related Topics: Carleton College, Firebellies, Growing Up Healthy, Healthy Community Initiative, Henri Sandifer, Just Food Co-op, Marcus Samuelsson, Northfield Middle School, Red Rooster Harlem, and Vayu Maini Rekdal
Inspiration of the day: Phoenix Redwood
14 Dechttp://soundcloud.com/phoenixredwood/sets/phoenix-redwood
Check it out!
Founded by singer songwriter and my dear friend from Paris, Henri Sandifer, this band finds its place in the intersection between music and food. Art is the name of its location. Phoenix Redwood is the name of the band.
MexicAsian goes Northfield!
13 DecCheck out tonight’s dinner, hosted by Kelly Scheuerman in Northfield, MN!
More info will be up soon.
Thank you. This was so amazing
