EPICURIOUS.COM is my go-to website for culinary questions and inspiration. If I am trying to figure out what to do with a bumper crop of zucchini or to read more about important culinary figures like Edna Lewis this is my first stop.
On February 7 they launched INSIDE THE CIA, a video series about life inside the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park. I was hooked after the first episode. They were able to convey exactly that feeling of complete chaos and panic that ensues on the first day of cooking school. It brought back great memories.
Tanya Wenman Steel, Editor-in-Chief of Epicurious.com, was kind enough to answer the Culinary Muse’s burning questions about this entertaining new series.
CM: What was the inspiration for the series?
TWS: I've always wanted to know what it's truly like to be behind those hallowed halls, in the kitchens, really sweating it out to become a true top chef and so last fall, the title came to me, we approached the school and it all fell into place.
CM: Did you go to cooking school?
TWS: I've taken lots of cooking classes in my 20 years in the food publishing world, but I've never had the luxury of being able to immerse myself in months or years of training.
CM: Episode one brought back vivid memories of my first day in cooking school. I thought you did a great job of conveying the overall state of confusion that reigns in a production class in the first few days. My only comment is that the episode was too short. Will they be longer as the series goes on?
TWS: We have so much good material for each week as the four students are actually shooting every day, in and out of class, it's so hard to choose from amongst all the great footage. We do realize that people can't sit in front of the computer watching for very long so we try to keep to the industry standard of about three-minutes long or so.
CM: There seems to be almost no interaction with the chefs. Is this on purpose? Episode three has one of my favorite instructors from my cooking school days in it (Skebikie). As he asks Marco about his plate presentation it occurred to me that potential culinary students could really benefit from seeing this chef up close and personal. He is intense, serious and a wonderful instructor. Also scary as anything on the first few days of production.
TWS: In the future, we will definitely feature more of the chefs. We do, however, have to keep a balance between all four students, in and out of class, so it's hard to fit everyone in there.
CM: About the demographics of the students selected. Does this pretty much mirror the demographics of the CIA - 75% 19 year olds, 25% 25 year olds?
TWS: I'm not sure. I can check with the CIA. We chose those students because they were talented, articulate and interesting. We sought a balance between the programs and a balance in gender.
CM: What surprised you the most about the series once you started shooting?
TWS: I guess just how grueling their schedules really are. They are in class for about 8 hours a day, plus some of them do other things on the side, as well as enter competitions etc. It's a very hectic, demanding schedule.
CM: Any embarrassing/worst moments you would care to share with us?
TWS: I think there was some funny footage of Markos with a fan club of girls that we ended up taking out--only because we ran out of time. It was funny with them all fawning over him.
CM: What do you hope to convey to your viewers about cooking school?
TWS: I think the millions of users who come to Epicurious are as fascinated by what it really takes to become a chef or pastry chef as I am and the whole point of this project is for them to get a real birds-eye view of how strenuous, demanding, and at the same time, incredibly fun, attending the CIA is.
CM: Will you be doing a follow up series with the same students once they graduate? I know that there is a big gap between what culinary students are paying for an education these days and what they can hope to earn once they graduate. Any plan to address this?
TWS: We have talked about doing an Epi-logue. We haven't finalized anything yet.
CM: What kind of feedback are you getting from viewers?
TWS: So far the feedback has been very positive. There is even an Inside the CIA page on FAN POP, so that's very cool!
