Kitchen Secrets
The next class will be held July 10
A 2021 news article labeled Nadim's Downtown Mediterranean Grill Springfield's "best-known secret."
Now, for the first time, the restaurant's owner, Chef Nadim Kashouh, will share a few secrets from his kitchen through a series of single-session classes at the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute on Race Street.
Holyoke Community College is offering "Cooking with Chef Nadim" twice this summer, on Thursday, June 15, from 6-9 p.m., and again on Monday, July 10, from 6-9 p.m.
See the story on WWLP-22News ...
"Chef Nadim has built a local reputation of creative and delectable cooking," said Jeffrey Hayden, HCC vice president of Business and Community Services. "We are very excited to bring these classes to Western Massachusetts."
During each stand-alone, three-hour class, participants will learn to cook - and are encouraged to consume- a five-course meal right off the menu of Chef Nadim's popular restaurant.
"They're going to get the knowledge to prepare and serve fresh recipes with ingredients from the Mediterranean," said Kashouh. "We have a beautiful five-course class that includes an appetizer, a salad, a meat, a starch, and a dessert. It's a nice way of trying Mediterranean and be a hands-on participant. It'll be lots of fun."
The five-course meal will begin with a hummus appetizer and tabouli salad followed by Hashwee' Rice (Chef Nadim's special rice topped with almonds), simmered chicken topped with gravy, and concluding with Ismalia, shredded phyllo dough stuffed with Ricotta cheese, baked and topped with rose water.
In addition to being delicious, Mediterranean food is also very healthy, Kashouh notes, and has in fact helped him lose 60 pounds himself during the past eight months.
"I always say, knowledge is power," said Kashouh, "and knowing how to prepare some of the healthiest foods is definitely a plus. Hopefully we'll have some folks who will be interested in that."
A few seats are still available for the June 15 session. The cost is $150 per session.
Beer and wine are also included with the dinner.
To register, please go to: hcc.edu/chef-nadim
PHOTOS: (Above) Chef Nadim prepares chicken skewers in the kitchen of his Springfield restaurant. (Thumbnail) Chef Nadim, shows off a salad outside his downtown restaurant.
