By Tricia Cherry —
Recently, Joel Parks, brother of professor and advisor Dr. Lori Parks, visited Miami Hamilton for Tee Time. Mr. Parks is a professional cook and gave a demonstration on how to cook a simple dish: pasta primavera.
Pasta primavera is a versatile dish that uses any kind of short pasta (bowtie, macaroni, spirals, etc.) in a creamy seasoned sauce and mixed in with a variety of mostly green springtime vegetables. The particular dish Mr. Parks presented was a spiral pasta with tomatoes, onions, green peppers, peas, and zucchini. The name pasta primavera literally translates to “spring pasta” in Italian.
The pasta was precooked so as to focus on the skillet and vegetables. Salt was also spotlighted as an important addition. However, oversalting can quickly ruin any dish; the right amount can bring out the flavors of the dish. The best course of action with salt is season to taste; salt, try, salt, try, and so on, until one reaches the desired result. Once too much sault has been added, especially to a cream-based sauce, it’s difficult to fix. Many recipes that call for a certain amount of salt know what they’re doing, but this is not guaranteed.
One trick shown that not many present knew was that tomatoes don’t have actual stems in their fruit. They only have that fibrous woody part that connects the fruit to the vine. If one were to scoop this woody part out with a melon baller or similar instrument, the rest of the tomato can be turned on it’s side and sliced whole, with no worry about working around a stem.
Mr. Parks trained at the New England Culinary Institute, though he’s since moved on to become a realtor. Cooking, however, is a skill always has benefits. Mr. Parks is using his passion for cooking to try to connect with and help people, rather than continuing to work at restaurants. As the dish was completed, the attendees were allowed to sample some.
While the usual free pizza was available at the event, the alternative of freshly cooked pasta primavera meant less of the pizza was taken.
Mr. Parks went on to say there are plans for “some other things,” starting next year. The students will be test subjects for a small program that they’ll be starting next year. Mr. Parks said that there will be chutneys, salsas and sauces, and he’ll expand from there. When asked to elaborate, Lori Parks said they’re working on it, suggesting that this idea—presumably cooking lessons which can be of genuine use to both the students and the staff—is still being discussed.
Leave a Reply