The Story
Top Chef, William and Mary Edition
Fine cuisine and college life probably don’t strike most people as being exactly compatible. Although we all get sick of dining hall food, a ‘home-cooked’ meal at school likely doesn't get much fancier than putting a pot of water on the stove for ramen. After all, who here has the time, resources, or expertise to cook a full-fledged meal?
This is a mentality which Everyday Gourmet -- the College's very own cooking show -- is trying to change.
Consider the menu of Everyday Gourmet’s most recent episode: Black Bean Bacon Soup, Lemon Chicken Kabobs and Homemade Wheat Pita Chips with Greek Tzatziki Yogurt Dip.
It sounds like what you might see prepared on Food Network shows, but Everyday Gourmet has a different kind of audience in mind -- students.
“The premise behind the show is to create a three-element meal to serve four people for under $20,” said Executive Producer Alexandre Pouille (’11).
The show avoids ingredients and equipment that most students wouldn’t have access to, such as food processors or cheese graters.
Commercial breaks present kitchen tips geared specifically toward college students -- for example, a guide to food expiration labels (yes, there is a difference between the ‘best before’ and the ‘sell by’ date) or how to raid your salad bar for free ingredients.
Pouille acknowledged that the concept of a cooking show is unusual for a college TV network. “Last year, we were trying to diversify the programs we offered, and the idea of a cooking show came up. It sort of became my pet project.”
Everyday Gourmet is now in its second season, with twelve episodes produced so far. The show has aired on WMTV’s channel 53 on the campus cable network, but it has had exposure outside of the College as well.
“Last year, we got on Williamsburg’s local public access TV network,” said Pouille.
The show has also recently moved to a new home online at http://everyday-gourmet.blip.tv.
The development of a theme and recipes for each episode is left to the show’s chefs, Kim Zicopula (’10) and Katie Hutchinson (’11).
“Most of the dishes on the show are recipes we’ve come up with on our own,” said Zicopula.
Both chefs learned their way around a kitchen early in life.
“I started learning to cook about as soon as I was tall enough to see over the stove,” said Zicopula. “When I moved out on my own and had my own kitchen, I was free to make messes and experiment. It’s something I have a passion for.”
Asked where she finds inspiration, Hutchinson said, “When I have a little time, I love to go through old recipe books. Many times the dishes are a little outdated, but they still give me ideas for awesome food combinations I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.”
Filming the preparation of a multi-course meal in under thirty minutes requires some clever editing. For example, Pouille crops out longer footage of chopping vegetables by cutting briefly to the chef’s face as she talks. With a cut back to a countertop view, the rest of the food is magically chopped.
Between meetings, set-up, clean-up and the actual filming (which takes place in a second floor kitchen in Jamestown South), a thirty-minute episode generally takes between three and four hours to shoot.
The show is not without its challenges: the sink’s low water pressure can slow down filming, and the set’s dependence on natural light means that a cloudy sky sometimes forces the team to reschedule the shoot.
Ultimately, though, the show comes down to the food. The show’s objective, after all, is to encourage its viewers to muster up the courage to try some dishes of their own.
“Cooking is something I think everyone should set aside time to do,” said Zicopula.
“It’s important to realize that cooking a great meal can be a wonderful stress reliever,” Hutchinson added. “For half an hour or so you don’t have to worry about exams or papers. You can simply relax, be creative, and focus on making delicious food.”