Freshman Seminar Bridges Food, Environment and Culture
For decades, Craig Shelton has been one of the country’s top chefs. This spring, he took on an additional job: instructor at a Princeton University freshman seminar.
After years in restaurants including Le Bernardin and Bouley in New York City and his own Ryland Inn in New Jersey, Shelton found himself shuttling between home-size electric ranges as he faced Princeton students and a barrage of questions: “Excuse me, chef, is this hot enough? Chef, what order do we cook these in? How do I slice this?”
Shelton was thrilled.
“You can’t teach people about food only though books,” he said after one class. “But to really understand food, and to understand the challenges of food and society, you can’t just stay in the kitchen.”
In the course, “Science, Society and Dinner,” first-year students learn the basics of knife skills, sautéing and palate education; they learn about the water cycle, sustainable agriculture and the biochemistry of taste — and how they all fit together.