Howdy, Kossack Culinarians!
This is a brief introductory and welcome diary to a new group named Culinary Kos. Whether you're a professional chef, home chef, have a love for cooking, or simply enjoy talking about cooking, I (soon to be "we") hope you find a home here at Culinary Kos.
While there will certainly be some sharing of recipes (and hopefully some crossover with other food/cooking groups here at Daily Kos), the primary focus of Culinary Kos is...
...just as it's outlined in the group profile:
"...discussions relating to the fundamentals of classical cooking concepts, theories, terminology and techniques."
So, for example, while a "
What's For Dinner?" diary might focus on a recipe that calls for the addition of a roux, here at
Culinary Kos we will focus on things like:
What's a roux? Are there different kinds of roux? Are there different ways to cook a roux? How do you properly incorporate a roux into the dish you're cooking?
And so on.
Our focus here at Culinary Kos will largely be elementary cooking education with an eye toward the practical application of that knowledge in production of a given recipe.
So, how did Culinary Kos come to be?
In large part I've decided to start Culinary Kos, to be quite honest and frank, for somewhat selfish reasons. As a new student of the Culinary Arts (I'm in my very first quarter at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale), I want to gain as much practice and knowledge as I possibly can. One way of doing this, for me, is to regurgitate (did I just use that word in a cooking diary?!) in some way the information that I've ingested in studies so as to help me digest it fully. (What am I, The Fly?!)
As a bonus: In bringing it back up here at Culinary Kos, it will also help to share the knowledge and education I'm receiving with others. And the hope is that others will provide feedback in a continuous loop, with each of us learning from each other.
That's basically it in a nut shell: I want to help myself by helping others who might help me.
As a result, we all fatten up on cooking knowledge.
If that sounds like something you'd be into, be sure to stop back for the next Culinary Kos diary (which will be considered the first diary in the series) where we'll look to start with "The Basics of Knives". In that diary, we'll discuss parts of the knife, different knives and their uses, basic knife cuts and skills, and proper handling of and care for knives.
I hope you're ready and willing to be a part. For now...
how about some discussion in the comments about ideas for, critiques or criticisms of the group and its focus?