Laney International Cuisine Students work on the garden that supplies some of their herbs.
Students in the Culinary Arts Department at Laney College recently harvested fresh fava beans from the garden outside of the new Laney Bistro restaurant to prepare in their cooking classes in a new, state-of-the-art teaching kitchen just a few feet away.
Culinary Arts Instructor David Jones said “every week we cook recipes from a different country or region of the world, and this week in our French cuisine class we lightly sautéed the beans in extra virgin olive oil, with shallots and Herbs de Provence, and served them with Rognion de Veau, or veal kidneys”.
The garden is located just outside the new Laney Bistro, on the Merritt Channel side of the college.
The garden is an exciting development that includes a partnership with Cycles of Change, PUEBLO, MetWest High School, The Hope Collaborative, O.B.U.G.S., the Laney Culinary Arts Department and Dean Linda Sanford.
The goals of the project are to increase students’ understanding of the food production process and the environmental benefits of local, pesticide-free food.
Students from Chef Jones’ International Cuisine class have recently planted a large selection of fresh herbs, tomatoes, onions, corn, squash and hot chiles, and will soon be offering a full gourmet menu to the public in the new Laney Bistro restaurant. “Next week we are learning about Italian food, and will be making a minestrone soup with the fava beans” said Jones.
