Gourmet’s Adventures with Ruth

Blackberry Farm, Tennessee — Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 5:30 pm
In the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Blackberry Farm embodies the heritage of American cooking that is informing the fresh and simple way we want to cook right now. Join Ruth and Academy Award winner Frances McDormand at this culinary resort as they roll up their sleeves and harvest their own dinner, as well as slide into waders to fly-fish for rainbow trout.

Jon Rowley’s Seattle — Saturday, January 2, 2010, at 5:30 pm
No one knows more about fish than Jon Rowley. Julia Child dubbed him “the fish missionary,” and he teaches chefs across the country how to properly handle seafood. Ruth arrives just in time for the start of the Copper River salmon season, and Rowley catches and brings back the best Alaska has to offer for a lesson on how to fillet a 40-pound fish. Then on Seattle’s Totten Inlet, Rowley shows Ruth and actor Tom Skerritt how to forage for clams and wild greens and how to prepare a meal right on the beach. Ruth also gets tips from chef Greg Atkinson of Canlis Restaurant on complementing the flavor of fish and discovers the stunning differences between good and bad seafood at the market.

The Bertinet Kitchen, Bath
Bath, England, is the orderly city of Jane Austen novels and a town surrounded by a complete fantasy of what life is like in the English countryside. Here, renowned teacher and baker Richard Bertinet introduces Ruth and Academy-Award winner and novice breadmaker Dianne Wiest to his uniquely beautiful bread-making process. He also demonstrates how he puts his own French spin on recipes that make the most of local treasures—a walled garden bursting with heirloom produce, an
old-fashioned mill with a different flour for every need, and an extraordinary dairy that makes classic clotted cream.

Enrica Rocca’s Venice — Saturday, January 9, 2010, at 5:30 pm
Jump into a gondola with Ruth and Academy-Award winning actress Dianne Wiest as they learn how to cook and eat like true Venetians from Enrica Rocca, an Italian countess. Rocca leads them through the Rialto market, where they get to shop with the locals, and then bring back their finds to the Rocca family’s 16th century palazzo for cooking lessons in high Venetian style. But it’s not all work; the curriculum also calls for a traditional Venetian prosecco spritz break at 11 a.m. and a
chocolate-tasting adventure.

Cocinar Mexicano
In the mountains south of Mexico City, Tepoztlán stands guard over a wealth of traditional recipes and local specialties. At Cocinar Mexicano, classes are taught by local women whose knowledge and skills have been passed down through generations of their ancestors. Here, Ruth and Gourmet food editor Ian Knauer commune with all the many forms corn takes on—by milling ancient strains of corn for masa, stuffing squash-blossom tamales and mastering the tricky art of tortilla-making.

Peggy Markel’s Morocco
From the heady aroma of a spice shop in the market to the fresh air of a Kasbah in the Atlas Mountains high above the city, Marrakech offers food that awakens all your senses. Join Ruth and Academy Award-nominated actress Lorraine Bracco as they learn from local cooks how to make the most of all the vibrant ingredients found at this cultural crossroads. They get their hands dirty rolling couscous from scratch and preparing flavorful tagines, and learn the importance of taking your time
when cooking something really meaningful.

Yara Roberts’ Brazil
Ruth and food writer John “Doc” Willoughby discover the flavors and charms of Paraty, Brazil, a perfectly preserved colonial village between Rio De Janiero and Sao Paolo. Cookbook author and teacher Yara Roberts shows them how the country’s most delicious dishes are the result of centuries of history — a blending of the traditions of the native Brazilians, Africans and Portueguese. Stand back as Ruth wields a machete to harvest hearts of palm, and raise a glass with Doc as
he uncovers the tradition of cachaça.

The Tamarind School, Laos — Saturday, January 16, 2010, at 5:30 pm
To discover the food of Laos, Ruth Reichl had to visit the country. There’s really no other way to experience its strange and exotic cuisine. At the Tamarind Cooking School owned by native Joy Ngueamboupha and his wife Caroline Gaylard, she tries food that bites back, a salad with live red ants and their eggs, and learns the cultural and economic reasons behind the cuisine’s big, spicy flavors. In the school’s beautiful open-air classroom, Ruth tastes all the sour, the bitter, and the
textural components that make Laotian food worth the trip.

The Yangshuo School, China — Saturday, January 23, 2010, at 5:30 pm
Ruth sets out to learn the intricacies of Chinese cooking in the most beautiful part of the country — the Southern province of Yangshuo. With its location bordering Vietnam comes an interesting mix of Canton, Hunan, and Vietnamese culinary traditions. Joined by acclaimed Dallas chef Dean Fearing, Ruth slurps springy Guilin noodles, harvests snails from muddy banks of the Li River, and bikes through the region’s unique hills. At the Yangshuo Cooking School, they learn the art of simple dishes — how an enormous amount of flavor can come from just a few ingredients when carefully prepared.

Julie Sahni’s New York — Saturday, January 30, 2010, at 5:30 pm
In New York, you don’t have to travel far to get all of the flavors of the world. Ruth Reichl and actor Jeffrey Wright get a guided tour of Queens from Indian cooking authority Julie Sahni. Explore a little slice of India hidden away in Queens, New York, with supermarkets filled with otherworldly vegetables and street food vendors selling spice-packed paan. Then, Sahni invites us to her Brooklyn apartment to learn how to bring the flavors of India home—wherever you may live.