Cooking Class: Handmade Pork Ravioli

Ivy

15 Dec 2024

If I could give a zero star, I would. This was a disastrous experience and a total waste of my $$ and time. I don't think this "Chef" Chris is a real chef. I thought this was supposed to be a cooking class, but everything started incorrectly. When we arrived, the space needed to be set up to teach. There were some half-written, half-drawn recipes on the table, some cutting boards and some ladles. There were four large pre-made balls of what seemed to be pasta dough. Near that, on the same table, there was a smaller, unopened and frozen as well as a half-open ziplock bag of what appeared to be prepared meat (that had been previously frozen) and was thawed out. He said one was pork and the other chicken. Further down the table was a plastic container with flour and a pasta roller. On another table was a pre-made pasta sauce next to a boiling pot of water sitting on a portable butane-powered stove. The water was boiling when we arrived, making the place hot and humid. Chris seemed like a nice guy but seemed a bit lost and did not give us direction on what to do. Usually, in a class, the instructor will provide directions on what to do when you arrive and explain what will happen throughout the class. Chris said nothing other than we would need to wait for seven others to come. A few minutes later, Chris explained the recipe, which was written on the aforementioned pieces of paper. Stating that the recipe itself only takes ten minutes to make. He then got up and, without washing his hands or explanations, opened one of the wrapped balls of dough, started kneading it, and spread it to place through the pasta roller at the end of the table, near the flour. Seeing that he was getting his hands into it, my husband and I thought we should wash our hands. We asked him if we should, and he said, "Sure." So we did. Upon our return, we watched his first attempt to roll the dough end in disaster, with the dough sticking on the roller. From that point on, he seemed embarrassed and even more lost than before. So much so that my husband approached him and suggested he use some flour on the cutting board and the dough to prevent it from sticking to everything. So he did, and although it stuck less, it still stuck. The dough appeared too wet and sticky. My husband asked him if it had to do with temperature as the dough was quite cold. Chris said yes, maybe, and then, after a couple of failed attempts, asked me to help. So, I helped hold the dough after it went through the roller while he worked the pasta roller, and my husband put flour on it. It took three people to do what the teacher should have been able to do on his own. As we nearly finished rolling the first ball of dough, seven more people arrived, and still, there was no introduction, no explanation, nothing from Chris. A couple of the ladies that came in also started working the dough. Eventually, my husband and the girls were able to churn out some lengths of pasta that were structurally strong enough to be used to create something that approximated a ravioli. While they finished rolling out the rest of the pasta ball, Chris pulled out some mystery-meat (what Chris called pork) and started placing it on the pasta he initially rolled, ready to cut and turn into ravioli. Again, no instruction, no recommendations, nothing. While he did that, I explained to Chris that I was under the impression that this was a class where we would learn how to make ravioli. He had the pasta recipe written/drawn out, which he explained but did not allow us to learn how to make it. Similarly, since the filling was already made, we had no idea what the ingredients were, other than one bag had pork and the other had chicken. By this point, I'd had enough, and I looked at my husband, who, in turn, gave me the (what is going on here?) look as he finished rolling out the last bit of pasta and headed to the restroom to wash the flour and sticky dough off his hands. After washing his hands, I returned to the table, only to hear Chris explain his 10-minute recipe to the rest of the group for the third time, trying to convince them that that was all there was to making ravioli. I then approached Chris and advised him that this was different from what was advertised and that we'd be leaving, expecting a refund. All in all, we found Chris to be unprepared; the cleanliness of his station seemed subpar, and so were the items he used for the class and participants. There was no real direction; he asked my husband for guidance and his thoughts on whether the dough was ready to be rolled. I am unsure whether tonight was a bad night for Chef Chris before the so-called class, but I will not be returning to any of his classes.

Luca T

04 Apr 2024

Lovely class with Chef Chris!