Culinary Enthusiasts Explore What Gives Food Flavor During Program at Belmont College

ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Area culinary enthusiasts are discovering "the spice of life" in an unexpected setting, namely Belmont College.

Said Leghlid, an academic adviser and communications instructor at the college, has taught a community enrichment course on Mediterranean herbs and spices this semester. Based on the success and popularity of this class, he plans to offer more cooking-related courses.

"This is the first time it's being offered," he said. "Hopefully, it will be the first of many … It's one of many classes that we'll be offering beginning in the fall semester."

Citing the recipe for the course's success, Leghlid said, "It's very consistent with our philosophy of being a community-minded institution."

Melissa Rataiczak, director of workforce development at Belmont College, said more community enrichment classes and more options for adult learners are being planned this fall.

"The response was really encouraging," Leghlid said regarding the initial class.

Participants in this initial course are area residents Mary Mowrer, Em Mowrer, Paula Norman, Melinda Thompson, Karen Zavatsky, Cynthia Caldwell, Bruce Hull, Tom Jarvis and James Kaczmer. Eight of the 10 class members are Belmont County master gardeners.

They attended three-hour sessions on Thursday evenings for five weeks. The textbook for the class was "Herbs and Spices: The Cook's Reference" by Jill Norman.

The class culminated March 7 with a multi-course dinner of dishes prepared by class members and featuring their own spice blends.

After preparing appetizers, entrees and dessert, they demonstrated what they have learned about incorporating out-of-the-ordinary seasonings in food and creating distinctive blends of herbs and spices.

Standing before their fellow students, the adult learners related the steps for making their dishes. They also explained how they selected specific seasonings to enhance the flavor and appearance of their culinary creations.

"Do not be afraid to push the envelope with spices. Don't be afraid to try," Leghlid told his students.

After hearing the mouth-watering descriptions and admiring the dishes, class members and guests dug into the feast. They were not disappointed, as the foods delighted their palates.

"We're all at different levels with our spices," Jarvis said. "We're learning a lot and learning to make new blends of spices that we're not familiar with. It's fun just taking a class for fun."

Jarvis, a Chicago native and former personal chef, added, "It was nice because a lot of the spices I was familiar with, but not all of them."

For the feast, Leghlid prepared tagine, a traditional Moroccan dish, with meat and nine vegetables and served on a bed of couscous. This main dish can be made with chicken, beef or lamb, he said.

The instructor used a blend of several spices, including paprika, fennel, cinnamon, cardamom and star anise, in the couscous accompanying the dish. "It's not overly spicy, but it is flavorful," he said.

Caldwell made two dishes: a Moroccan chickpea salad with quinoa and a fattoush salad, with romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion and parsley, served with naan bread and a herbed dressing.

"It was something I would never have tried on my own," Caldwell said. "It has really enhanced my creativity."

Jarvis created an orzo salad with asparagus and roasted vegetables, seasoned with his own spice blend and topped with saffron. Norman prepared a salad of roasted cauliflower and chickpeas, seasoned with tumeric.

Hull made an eggplant-tomato spread, seasoned with cumin, paprika and garlic. "It can be served hot or cold. It's pretty easy to make," he said.

For the feast's entree course, Kaczmer prepared Moroccan meatballs, accented by a spaghetti sauce made from organic tomatoes that he grew in two raised garden beds. He said he used six pounds of specially ground pork for the meatballs.

"I marinated the meatballs overnight in the refrigerator," Kaczmer said. "You have to brown them carefully so the meatballs don't crack. Then I slow-cook them for about six hours."

Zavatsky's entree was a chicken paillard with cherry sauce that was enwrapped in puff pastry and dusted with cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar.

For dessert, Mary Mowrer and her daughter, Em, baked a chocolate layer cake with buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache. Mary Mowrer said the ganache could be adorned with poached pears or sprinkles. In keeping with the class' theme, she chose spicy sprinkles, mixing a blend of ground rosemary, coriander seeds, demerara sugar and chunky salt.