THE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF CULINARY ARTS

Plan B!

By CHRISTINE LIU

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The Mass-Ave-facing façade of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts is a formidable sight: huge glass windows revealing classrooms of forward-facing desks with gleaming industrial kitchens. In addition to professional and certificate programs in chef and pastry curricula, the school hosts a bevy of recreational classes from "Techniques of Baking and Knife Skills" to "Winging It!" and "Stuff with Puff."

I went on a Saturday morning to learn how to make sushi. Hong Xue, our instructor, opened on a broad note, asking "what is sushi?" before outlining the ingredients and tools we'd be using to create everything--from spicy tuna rolls to coconut and chocolate nigiri. My last incident with a bamboo mat was memorably painful. Ball of nerves, here.

Each of us were responsible for prepping one of the recipes, basically a go-to-it kind of taskwork with any required assistance provided by Xue. I handled seasoning the rice as well as cutting and blanching an assortment of vegetables--and my soon-sore wrist (and daredevil fingertips) made the knife skills class sound pretty tempting. Around noon, with my hands deep in sticky rice and the lovely smell of fresh ingredients drifting in from all directions, my hunger was getting a little insane. Instead of sneaking a bit of sliced tuna, I dutifully focused on keeping my fleshy digits intact. I learned some awesome tips, including the easiest way to cut an avocado, how to prep tempura without a batter (hint: use eggs and a shitload of panko), and how best to chop and weigh chocolate. "I love doing shortcuts," Xue divulged with a mischievous grin.

After a jubilant--yet oftentimes, harrowing--session of spreading, stuffing and rolling, the platters of sushi were colorfully complete. Any shreds of evidence of burst or otherwise mauled pieces were hushly swallowed. We removed our aprons, compiled our creations and collectively dug in. It was rewarding to devour our tasty toils, and it was intriguingly odd to share sushi (a food I associate with intimacy) with people I had only met hours ago. Despite a few awkward pauses, we were collectively satisfied.

An unexpected perk of concurrent classes occurring in other kitchens meant gourmet barter: We traded some makizushi for a plateful of fried calamari from the next room; meanwhile, Xue poked around to see if we could score a cake from the baking class.

Learning, cooking, eating ... this could get addictive--provided I don't lop off a hand.

[2020 Mass. Ave., Porter Sq., Cambridge. 617.354.2020. cambridgeculinary.com]