Community cooking with Chef Eric

By Coben Scott

In January, Eric Lustig, who heads up the Patriot High School Culinary Arts and Hospitality program, started a community cooking course. The course takes place once a month at the Patriot High School kitchen. Falcon residents are already familiar with the culinary program. Students plan and cook meals for the Senior Services group every month at the school. And Lustig and his team have cooked for other events, such as the Exchange Club’s February Murder Mystery Dinner. Lustig’s goal is to bring an affordable and simple cooking program to the area; the first two classes sold out within hours after posting the opportunity to social media.

I attended two of the classes.

As people file into the classes, Lustig makes his rounds talking to everyone, oftentimes cracking jokes or telling humorous stories. He then begins to prep the attendees for cooking, which might include a short PowerPoint presentation before handing out aprons and hairnets.

Patrons prepare a main dish and a dessert, based on the month’s regional theme. When time is needed for a dish to either brine or cool, attendees will make their way back to their seats to finish watching a PowerPoint lesson, which consists of the history of the food and the region’s background.

I first attended on Feb. 22, when the theme was Mexican. Lustig said, as a member of several foodie Facebook groups, there are always people asking for authentic Mexican food in the area, and he said there is always someone from border states arguing about what “real authentic Mexican food” is. Lustig said the idea of “authentic Mexican cuisine” itself is hard to pin down as each region of Mexico has a variety of food choices.

The menu for this class was Tacos Al Pastor and Arroz con Leche. Tacos Al Pastor has primarily Lebanese roots with shawarma (roasted meat mostly sliced); Arroz con Leche (rice with milk) incorporates rice as the primary ingredient. Lustig presented a lesson on Mexican meals and culture via a slide show before we went to the kitchen to begin cooking the meals. After the cooking lessons, we could either pack up our food or eat there. Many patrons stayed a little while after to chat with Lustig, while enjoying their meals.

The next class was March 22, and the theme was Indigenous America. Indigenous American cuisines included Three Sister Stew and P’ske Pa. Three Sisters can be found all over North America, from the Haudenosaunee of the Northeast to the Ancestral Puebloans of the Southwest. The three sisters are corn, squash and beans, which make up a large part of the diet of Native Americans. We made a stew version of Three Sisters, which included sunflower seeds, kale, mint, garlic, green onion and maple syrup — a vegetarian meal. Lustig wanted to show that vegetarian meals can taste great. P’ske Pa was the dessert of the day. It is a Shawnee food similar to that of a dumpling or mochi, a small flour/sugar ball boiled in grape juice that pairs exceptionally well with ice cream. Once again, attendees were taken aback by how delicious the food tasted. The March class had fewer attendees, most likely because of technical issues on Facebook’s end. Although it was a smaller class, patrons were happy there were more leftovers to take home.

To be part of Chef Eric’s monthly cooking classes, keep an eye on the Patriot High School Facebook page where the signup is posted. Classes are $10 per person and typically last about two hours When asked what he hopes people take away from the classes, Lustig said, “We want people to learn to cook at home. Not only is it going to save you money, but also it’ll taste so much better.”