NWCAV vs Quince?

[khai]

Hi all, I've been looking into cooking courses of late and read with great interest the 14 page thread on the 8 week Serious Foodie Culinary Basics course offered at NWCAV as well as several other threads about course offerings, etc. I also saw a mention or two (in the same large thread) for Quince, and it appears that they offer a similar course. Does anyone have experience with both schools that can offer a comparison? Or just Quince? It seems that nearly everyone who's posted about NWCAV absolutely loved their experience, though I haven't seen anything very recent and believe that Chef Tony, one of the main attractions, has moved on.

Both schools are priced similarly and appear to cover similar material (which makes sense if you think about it). I would consider my self "a good cook" in "normal" company, and likely "middle of the road" around these parts - able to hold my own, but with no real specific training.

Also, and somewhat unrelated, is that I've been looking for a butchery course. Not a professional program, but something shorter that would give me a strong understanding of the basics. Any recommendations here would be appreciated as well.

Thanks,

[khai]

I wasn't able to edit my original post, but I'd also love to hear from anyone with recent experience at NWCAV.

Thanks!

[Beebs]

Hi Khai!

My husband & I recently took the Pork Butchery class at NWCAV, in the spring. It's a day-and-a-half course, where we learned the basics of butchering a hog (2 hogs for a class of 20), types of cuts and uses for them. Preparation included charcuterie, bacon, smoked pork shoulder (pulled pork), roasts and chops. It included one dinner and one lunch.

What I liked: Definitely geared towards the more dedicated amateur cooks; came away with a lot of new knowledge & recipes; liked the instructor (Chef Christophe); reasonably hands-on; different and original cooking class experience.

What could have been better: I would have liked to be able to a greater variety of stuff, but I guess due to the size of the class & time constraints, this probably wouldn't have been feasible. As it was, each group was assigned a different task, and if you finished your task quickly/early, there was a lot of thumb-twiddling (which I didn't like).

The class was about $400 per person ($800 for the two of us) - a bit on the spendy side, so not something I can afford on a regular basis, but as a very special treat. The recipes and techniques are certainly applicable to home cooking (maybe not so much the butchering-up of an entire hog....). I believe they also offer a poultry class and a lamb butchery class, and I would certainly consider other classes in the future.

I haven't taken any Quince classes, but would consider also. Cheers!

[khai]

Thanks Beebs, that's great intel!

[HKDave]

It seems that nearly everyone who's posted about NWCAV absolutely loved their experience, though I haven't seen anything very recent and believe that Chef Tony, one of the main attractions, has moved on.

Chef Tony is still at NWCAV (he's part owner) and is still teaching Serious Foodie:

http://www.nwcav.com/blog/?p=597

I went through the Professional Culinary program there a few years ago and would have no hesitation recommending either their Pro or Foodie classes.

[DerekW]

Recently I did a Lamb butchery course [with Chef Christophe] at NWCAV. One lamb between two people seems to have allowed it to be much more 'hands on' than the Pork class. Recommended.

As a side note, I previously did the NWCAV 'foodie' course with Chef Tony and enjoyed it so much that I went back to do the 'advanced foodie'.