When our intrepid group of cannabis cooks walks into the room, we think maybe, just maybe (just for a moment, from afar), that the green spread out across the tables is the real green.
Turns out it’s a more innocuous herb, but that brief moment of enchantment is enough to make us realize we’ve entered a magical land of possibilities. The land of cannabis cooking.
We’re guessing you, in your 420 haze at home, didn’t even know this class was happening in your backyard (at least, that’s what we call Williamsburg when we’re feeling less charitable) — but just barely. Just beyond the BQE lies the golden land called The Brooklyn Kitchen with its massive, well-stocked classroom, and if you’re willing to ford or float across, that’s where a razor, a shiny knife has taken up residence. Details on the next class after the jump.
What started as a supper club for crazy cooking ingénues who staged madcap exploits (like dining on the L train — remember that?) has turned into a full-scale “educational, social and theatrical culinary experience,” as Michael Cirino, its founder, calls it.
A razor, a shiny knife is now an event production culinary company that’s ventured into the realm of entertaining those corporate types who seem to emerge upon our dear city by the exponent every year like fig wasps. However, the company’s dynamics and culinary devotions remain unchanged, and you want to be a part of it, however you can be. Cirino is a brilliant devotee of the details of fine and adventurous cooking, and his classes are your best shot at witnessing his informed methods. You’ll find few people who are equally passionate, informed and truly experimental in New York’s food world.
Experimentation brings one to, of course, cannabis cooking. Cirino doesn’t look like your average Half-Baked stoner, but we’re all beyond that stereotype by now, right? We know that the best of CEOs vape. That’s exactly Cirino’s point with this class — that we can use cannabis elegantly, in a milder format, and integrate it into our daily lives. Instead of getting vaped out of your mind, why not have a beautiful and relaxing evening (or afternoon — we’re not judging) with your friends and some cannabis cocktails?
In the spirit of that, we’ve got to learn how to do it properly, beyond the pot brownies of yesteryear, which couldn’t be properly dosed and killed much of the potency. That’s where decarboxylation comes into play, and Cirino takes us on a scientific tour of what’s necessary to make that happen. No How High stoner would provide you with a scientific booklet on cooking cannabis — Cirino is serious about giving you the facts. Hopefully you’re not too high during the class to absorb them, but even so, you’ve got his booklet to consult afterwards.
There are two lovely routes to heaven — via alcohol or via fats. Without giving away too much, Cirino showed us how we can properly use butter in this situation, enhancing the most delicious of foods, like steak, without losing potency. He also answered an extensive number of questions from the already highly-informed (sorry about that) class.
Cirino truly wants you to go home and experiment with what you’ve learned in the class, in an informed way. Why are you having a bad, crumbly cookie when your gourmand self could be sipping on a cannabis-tarragon cocktail and dining on a delicious, buttery steak?
Because so many people have had bad experiences with edibles, he wants you to know about and will teach you careful quantifying. This class is worth it, even if you’re not a smoker, and we have a feeling it’s the way of the future. Someday, you’ll see cannabis cocktails on the menus of Brooklyn’s best cocktail bars, and Mondays won’t seem so bad anymore (but you won’t be so high that you’re late to work on Tuesday).
The next class is May 11. Sign up at The Brooklyn Kitchen.