Follow along with Pastor Mike’s Sabbatical journey of food and fellowship through culinary education, seasoned with readings on the theology of food and other studies. He’s compiled a list of great culinary classes, experiences, and books from around the world that relate to his passions. Satiate your culinary curiosity or plan a reflection and renewal getaway of your own with the resources below!
Classes/Experiences
The Culinary Institute of America in Copia - Napa, CA: Started in 1946, the CIA is the world’s premier culinary college with classes across the country. If you have a passion for the art and craft of food, wine, and spirits, you can even sign up for a DISH membership to receive access to online classes, recipes, and discounts.
The Capital Wine School: Always wanted to know more about wine? The Capital Wine School can take you from beginner to advanced with a series of unpretentious courses that are aimed at giving you in-depth insight and information into what you’re tasting and how to identify differences.
The Graduate Theological Union: Twenty scholarly institutions combine for a diverse community of religious study that spans ten faith traditions. It brings a twenty-first century context to innovative religious study.
Saltbox Farm: Locally sourced and seasonal food delights are right around the corner in Concord, Massachusetts. Saltbox Farm is not only a farm, but a kitchen, delivery, education, and catering service that brings fresh produce to the table through a team of farmers, chefs, brewers, servers, teachers, and event planners.
Saltbox Kitchen: This is the farm-to-table restaurant, brewery, and catering service associated with Saltbox Farm. You can taste their dedication to family, community, and agriculture in every bite!
Tuscookany: Learn fine Tuscan cooking in Italy. Nominated one of the top ten cooking schools in Italy by Observer newspaper, Tuscookany gives a fun, relaxing atmosphere to your cooking holiday, whether you’re traveling solo or with friends.
Cook’n With Class: Professional chefs lead you through a traditional French menu in Paris. You can learn how to bake the perfect baguette or divulge in a wine and cheese tasting. Great for families or a romantic getaway.
Books
The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection (Modern Library Food): “From a passionate and talented chef who also happens to be an Episcopalian priest comes this surprising and thought-provoking treatise on everything from prayer to poetry to puff pastry. In The Supper of the Lamb, Capon talks about festal and ferial cooking, emerging as an inspirational voice extolling the benefits and wonders of old-fashioned home cooking in a world of fast food and prepackaged cuisine.”
Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating: “This book provides a comprehensive theological framework for assessing the significance of eating. Drawing on diverse theological, philosophical, and anthropological insights, it offers fresh ways to evaluate food production and consumption practices as they are being worked out in today's industrial food economy. Unlike books that focus primarily on vegetarianism and hunger-related concerns, this book broadens the scope of consideration to include the sacramental character of eating, the deep significance of hospitality, the meaning of death and sacrifice, the Eucharist as the place of inspiration and orientation, the importance of saying grace, and the possibility of eating in heaven.”
Outlaw Cook: “In essays ranging from his earliest cooking lessons in a cold-water walk-up apartment on New York's Lower East Side to opinions both admiring and acerbic on the food writers of the past ten years, John Thorne argues that to eat exactly what you want, you have to make it yourself. Thorne tells us how he learned to cook for himself the foods that he likes best to eat, and following along with him can make you so hungry that his simple, suggestive recipes will inspire you to go into the kitchen and translate your own appetite into your own supper.”
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life: “Tim Ferriss takes you from Manhattan to Okinawa, and from Silicon Valley to Calcutta, unearthing the secrets of the world’s fastest learners and greatest chefs. Ferriss uses cooking to explain “meta-learning,” a step-by-step process that can be used to master anything, whether searing steak or shooting 3-pointers in basketball. That is the real “recipe” of The 4-Hour Chef.”
French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters: “French Kids Eat Everything is a wonderfully wry account of how Karen Le Billon was able to alter her children’s deep-rooted, decidedly unhealthy North American eating habits while they were all living in France. At once a memoir, a cookbook, a how-to handbook, and a delightful exploration of how the French manage to feed children without endless battles and struggles with pickiness, French Kids Eat Everything features recipes, practical tips, and ten easy-to-follow rules for raising happy and healthy young eaters.”