I try to make Dr. Gourmet recipes easier and create just as many that take less cooking time and use less equipment. (This week’s Chicken Vindaloo is a good example.) A lot of times those of us who like to cook don’t think so much about the amount of equipment we use, because 1. we have it, and 2. the clean up seems worth it. Lately I’ve been learning just what a challenge it is for those who have limited kitchen equipment.
We are working on a program to build a teaching kitchen at the medical school (pie in the sky, for sure). This idea grew out of a Grand Rounds by Dr. David Eisenberg of the Osher Research Center at Harvard Medical School: “Novel Strategies to Address Obesity: What if Medical Schools Partnered with Culinary Schools to Create Teaching Kitchens?”
Dr. Eisenberg is a very cool guy who loves food and understands the link between our country’s expanding waistline and the fact that a lot of young people simply don’t know how to cook. The idea is that if we teach medical students and physicians how to cook and eat, they’ll be more effective with their patients. It’s a bit of an uphill push, but there are a lot of people interested.
He also proposes that we not only put teaching kitchens in medical schools but communal kitchens in dorms at our universities and colleges. Interestingly, we have those already at Tulane. As part of a student wellness program for the undergrads at Tulane I’ve been teaching students about food, nutrition, and last night – how to cook. Last night’s class was in one of our dorm’s kitchens. See what we cooked.
