Maryland Newsline

• Course No. 1: Start with a roasted red bell pepper soup, from Epicurious.
  
  
• Course No. 2: Continue with a light pasta, like this recipe using sea scallops.
  
  
• Course No. 3: All Recipes has a simply seasoned pan- seared salmon.
  
  
• Course No. 4: For a dessert that's both cold and steamy, try Isabella's Aphrodisiac ice cream.

Chef de cuisine Andy Brooks demonstrates techniques to eager students in Cupid's Cooking School. (Newsline photo by Kendra Nichols)

By Kendra Nichols
Maryland Newsline
Friday, Feb. 11, 2005

On a Saturday morning in early February, a small group of men pace along a sidewalk in Washington. They’re waiting outside the restaurant DC Coast, seemingly apprehensive about what they might find inside.

Although the restaurant doesn’t usually open until dinnertime, a manager opens the front door at 11 a.m. for these special guests. “Good morning, gentlemen,” he says, ushering the men in. They move toward a formation of white-linen tables set for dinner, filling the 20 seats that have been prepared just for them.

The men are here, just over a week before Valentine’s Day, to learn a little about romance, a little about sensuality – and a lot about food. “Cupid’s Cooking School” is a guinea pig program at DC Coast, a cooking class just for men who want to cook for their significant others on Valentine’s Day.

But this isn’t just any cooking class. The chefs at DC Coast, an upscale seafood restaurant in Northwest Washington, are used to gourmet food – and they expect no less of their students. The men here today will be learning how to create an elaborate four-course meal complete with a roasted red bell pepper soup, pasta, pan-roasted salmon and custard for dessert – a menu especially designed for Valentine’s Day.

“I’ll be sticking to the menu, 100 percent, no deviations,” says Howard Frankel, 47, of Olney, Md. Although he has cooked before, he says, come Valentine’s Day, this will be the most complicated dinner he’s ever tried. He wants to surprise his wife Debbi with a romantic dinner, instead of their usual Valentine’s takeout.

“If a husband prepares it, it is romantic,” he says. “Especially if it’s without a microwave.”

But Andy Brooks, chef de cuisine, and David Guas, executive pastry chef, say the effort behind a meal isn’t the only thing that can make it romantic. “Food can be very sexy,” says Guas. “There are lots of different things that get you in the mood.”

Even lobster can turn you on.

Both chefs say they believe in the powers of aphrodisiacs, foods that can increase arousal or sexual appetite. Many are sweet, like strawberries, honey, passion fruit and chocolate, the Valentine’s Day staple. But others aren’t so easy to guess: oysters, shrimp, figs, caviar and asparagus. Today’s dessert, a creamy butterscotch custard with chocolate sauce, even has an ornamental heart-shaped cookie for added effect.

But Cupid’s Cooking School isn’t all about romance. This is a men's-only class, with all of the testosterone that goes along with such a gathering. Every time the chefs mention garlic, alcohol or hot sauce, the men are encouraged to let out a hearty, manly grunt:

Chef: “Can you guys taste the garlic in the spinach?”

Men: “Uuuuuggh!”

Guas says the silliness and jokes are all part of an atmosphere the chefs try to create. “It’s all about interaction,” he says. “You’ve got to make sure they’re not dozing off.”

It seems to have worked. For much of the class, the eager students watch the chefs intently, peering into pans, tasting wines and furiously scribbling in information packets decorated with conversation-heart stickers. When the chef  invites the students up to the table for a closer look, they quickly leave their seats to get a spot close to him.

“They made it look easy,” says Ken Fabian, 48, of Olney. He plans to bring some of the techniques he learns here home to his wife on Valentine’s Day – particularly the chefs’ suggestion to cook as much in advance as possible in order to avoid the stress of cooking a four-course meal all at once.

“That’s the key,” Fabian says. When it comes time for him to cook this holiday meal, he will be following the menu, word for word, ingredient by ingredient.

While some students are more experienced “foodies,” it seems this class is meant for people like Fabian and Frankel. The chefs talk about wine-making techniques and the chemical process of caramelization, but they also have more basic advice – like putting a lid on the blender.

For Frankel, the class has the right combination of gourmet techniques and just plain good advice. He says he may even try one of these things again. After all, he says, “The older you get, the more you realize you don’t know.”