Sitka Conservation Society

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Sitka Kitch to host ‘Indian Cooking With Mohan Raj Arul’ class rescheduled for Feb. 19 as part of Cooking Around The World Series

Learn how to make chicken biryani during the Sitka Kitch class Indian Cooking with Mohan Raj Arul from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at the new location of the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen at the Sitka Lutheran Church (224 Lincoln Street, please use the back entrance through the alley by Bev’s Flowers & Gifts, off Harbor Drive). This class is part of our Cooking Around the World series.

(UPDATE: Mohan is back in town and this class has been rescheduled for 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Sitka Kitch. Since there were a couple of the original students who weren’t able to make the rescheduled class, we have opened three new spots for late additions. The new registration deadline is the night of Saturday, Feb. 16.)

(NOTE: Due to a death in the family this weekend, Mohan had to return to India for the funeral and we’re having to postpone the class until a time TBA. We’re hoping Mohan will be back in Sitka by the end of the month, but right now we don’t know if or when he will be up for teaching the class. The registered students are being notified, and they should contact Claire at Sitka Conservation Society about refunds. If the class is rescheduled, the registered students will get first crack at signing up for the new class date.)

Mohan Raj Arul, left, presents the Table of the Day Award during a Sitka Farmers Market this summer.

Chicken biryani is a classic dish from India and Pakistan, featuring chicken, rice and a variety of spices. Mohan said his version of chicken biryani will be spicier than most. A Pakistani exchange student taught a similar class at the Sitka Kitch in March that was well-received.

Mohan is an AFS exchange student from Chennai, India, who is a junior at Sitka High School. He said his interests are to make scientific new things using old materials. He ran cross country for Sitka High School this fall, and he is playing basketball now and plans to play soccer in the spring. Mohan also helped out at the Sitka Farmers Market this summer.

The registration deadline for the Indian cooking class is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12, so register now since space is limited. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Claire Sanchez or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment. For more information about the class, contact Jasmine Shaw at 747-9440.

We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Claire at SCS for more details about the scholarship.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by Bev’s Flowers and Gifts). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch class ‘Making Zarzuela With Chef François Sanchez’

Sitka’s seafood resources are world-class, and several Sitkans learned a new way to use those resources at the “Making Zarzuela With Chef François Sanchez” class Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. The class was part of the Sitka Kitch‘s Cooking Around The World series.

Zarzuela is a Spanish/Mediterranean seafood stew, and the students learned an Alaskan version using shrimp, Dungeness crab, salmon, halibut and cod. Chef Sanchez has owned restaurants in St. Charles, Ill., and was in town visiting his daughter, Claire. He was born in Spain and trained as a chef in France.

Future Sitka Kitch classes include Preserving Leftovers and Making Holiday Gifts, from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, with Sarah Lewis of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service Juneau District Office (taught by distance delivery, registration deadline is late Thursday night) and Indian Cooking With Mohan Arul from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15. Both classes will be at the new Sitka Kitch location at Sitka Lutheran Church. Watch our online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title to register), for upcoming class details. The cost is $40 all-inclusive (we no longer have a separate class registration fee and food/supply fee).

A slideshow featuring some scenes from Tuesday’s class on making zarzuela is posted below.

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Sitka Kitch to offer Preserving Leftovers and Making Holiday Gifts With Sarah Lewis class on Dec. 15

After a large holiday meal, many cooks wonder what to do with all the leftover food. This Sitka Kitch class will teach students how to safely preserve the leftovers for later. Instructor Sarah Lewis also will teach students how to make holiday gifts, using water-bath and pressure canners.

Sarah is the home, health and family development agent for the Juneau District Office of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. She will teach this class by videoconference, and she will teach about 5-8 different recipes so students will be able to take half-pint jars of various products home to sample (the jars are included in the fees). This is a five-hour class.

An expert in safe home food preservation, Sarah will teach students which foods need to be canned in a pressure canner (for example, meats and some soups) and which can be canned in a water-bath canner (eg, jams and jellies).

This will be the third Sitka Kitch class in our new Sitka Lutheran Church location. We opened the series with a Cajun cooking class on Nov. 26, and the second class is Making Zarzuela (a fish stew) With Chef François Sanchez from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11. We plan to have additional classes in the Cooking Around The World series in January, February and March. Watch our website and Facebook page for more details when they become available.

The registration deadline for this class is 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13, so register now since space is limited. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Claire Sanchez or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we already have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Jasmine Shaw of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service Sitka District Office (747-9440) or Claire at SCS for more details.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by Bev’s Flowers and Gifts). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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Scenes from the Sitka Kitch’s Cooking Around The World series class Cajun Cooking With Geof Goudeau

Students learned how to make a chicken and smoked sausage gumbo and Goudeau’s Good Grits during the Cajun Cooking with Geof Goudeau class, held Monday, Nov. 26, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen. This was the first class in the new Sitka Kitch space (inside Sitka Lutheran Church, 224 Lincoln Street, use back entrance through alley by Bev’s Flowers & Gifts, off Harbor Drive), and the class was part of the Cooking Around The World series of classes.

In the class, Geof gave students of Cajun and creole cooking. He also taught students the importance of the roux, which is the base for the gumbo. He also led students in making grits, which is a staple of Southern cooking.

Chef François Sanchez of St. Charles, Ill., will teach the next Sitka Kitch class in the Cooking Around The World series. Chef Sanchez will teach students how to make zarzuela (or zarzuela de pescado), which is a stew that combines finfish and shellfish, from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11. This class will be taught demonstration-style, which means we can have a larger number of students than usual. The cost is $40 all-inclusive (we no longer have a separate class registration fee and food/supply fee).

Future Sitka Kitch classes include Preserving Leftovers and Holiday Gifts, from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, with Sarah Lewis of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service Juneau District Office (taught by distance delivery) and Indian Cooking With Mohan Arul from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15. Watch our online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title to register), for upcoming class details.

A slideshow featuring some scenes from Monday’s class on Cajun cooking is posted below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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Sitka Kitch to offer Making Zarzuela With Chef François Sanchez class in Cooking Around The World series

Learn how to make zarzuela, a Spanish/Mediterranean fish stew, with Chef François Sanchez of St. Charles, Ill., at the next Cooking Around The World class at the Sitka Kitch. Zarzuela, or zarzuela de pescado, is a mixed finfish and shellfish stew (note to allergy sufferers) that brings out the best of Mediterranean cuisine. It is similar to French bouillabaisse or the Italian chopino.

This class takes place from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, now located at the Sitka Lutheran Church (224 Lincoln Street, use back entrance through alley by Bev’s Flowers & Gifts off Harbor Drive). This class will be taught demonstration style, which means we have more room than usual for students. He will have time after the class for a Q&A about French and Spanish food.

Chef Sanchez is the father of Sitka resident Claire Sanchez, and husband of baker Betsy Peterson Sanchez who taught three Baking With Betsy classes at the Sitka Kitch this summer.

Chef Sanchez completed two years of study at the Culinary School of the Moulin à Vent in Perpignan, France. He has a lifetime of culinary experience working for hotels in France and the U.S., including Hotel Sofitel and Hotel Nikko. François was the chef owner of a southern French-style restaurant, as well as several Spanish tapas restaurants for 16 years before working at a conference center as the executive chef in St. Charles.

Defining Culinary Experience: “I lived next door to a gourmet hotel restaurant in the south of France as a teenager and worked there during the weekends. That experience is what prompted me to choose a culinary career. I loved the intriguing aromas and the great level of energy in the kitchen. It had a profound impact on me from very early on.”

Culinary Philosophy: “If you can nurture passion, focus on your perseverance and keep an open mind to new culinary horizons – you will succeed.”

Favorite Style of Food: “I love to prepare classical regional cuisine (French or Spanish), which has natural, clean flavors and includes minimalist cooking steps to preserve the true integrity of the ingredients.”

Top Chef: “I admire Mr Paul Bocuse. Although in his 80s, he is still very much involved in the culinary scene.”

Proudest Career Moment: “When I was inducted into the Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1996.”

This is the second Sitka Kitch class at our new location at Sitka Lutheran Church. After that, our next class will be from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, when Sarah Lewis of the UAF Cooperative Extension Service’s Juneau District Office will teach Preserving Leftovers and Holiday Gifts by distance delivery (this is a five-hour class, because she will teach students how to can several products). AFS exchange student Mohan Arul will teach a class on Indian cooking from 6-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at the Sitka Kitch.

The registration deadline for the zarzuela class is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, so register now since space is limited. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Claire Sanchez or Clarice Johnson at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Claire at SCS for more details.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by Bev’s Flowers and Gifts). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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Sitka Kitch offers Cajun Cooking With Geof Goudeau class in Cooking Around The World series

One of the dishes Geof Goudeau will teach is Cheesy Grits.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

After a brief hiatus, the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen is offering classes again, but at the temporary location of Sitka Lutheran Church (224 Lincoln Street). Our first Sitka Kitch class at the temporary location is in our Cooking Around The World series — Cajun Cooking With Geof Goudeau (direct link to registration page).

Geof Goudeau was born somewhere between the sugarcane fields and the muddy swamp waters of rural southern Louisiana. Word has it that he was rocked to sleep on the back of a pet alligator as a baby. But fortune has made it so that he found his way all the way to Sitka, Alaska. And now he wants to share with you a little bit of the knowledge he collected during his first 25 years of sweating over a cast-iron black pot of jambalaya.

Geof has seen his fair share of cooking education.  Through high school, college, and graduate school, Geof worked at restaurants with increasing culinary caliber, including regional favorites La Fonda Mexican Restaurant and Mad LuAnn’s southern food truck. Having not satiated his desire for cooking, Geof attended a three-month cooking school in San Francisco to truly sharpen and hone his cooking chops.

Geof Goudeau, with wife Ariane and daughter Elodie, operated the Goudeau’s Good-Doughs booth at the 2017 Sitka Farmers Markets.

Since then, Geof has called Sitka home where for the past four years, he has worked tirelessly to master those foods that demand your full attention, such as French macaroons, sourdough bread, and Latin flan. Desiring to share his newfound sourdough baking skills, Geof began a small-batch bakery: Goudeau’s Good-Doughs. He is now ready to pass on his love for Cajun food to you in the form a cooking class.

During Geof’s Cajun Kitch Course, he will masterfully guide you in the hidden, almost-lost art of making a Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, in all of its nutty velvet glory. But Geof isn’t solely interesting in passing on the secrets and wiles of his whisk regarding only gumbo. Oh no, my friends, Geof will capitalize on your intrigue by demonstrating his famous version of Cheesy Grits. Though many have apprehensions when it comes to grits, Geof’s good grits have seen no one regret daring to dine on his spoon. This course will provide you not only with the definitive way to make a body-warming gumbo and a can’t-wait-for cheesy grits, but you will also be treated to the history and lore surrounding these two iconic plates of Cajun cuisine, delivered in a way that only a true born Cajun can.

The registration deadline for this class is 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24, so register now since space is limited. We need at least eight students to register and pre-pay to make this class happen. The class costs $40, which is part of our new all-inclusive fee system (you no longer have to pay a class fee to register, then a separate food/supply fee). You can register and pre-pay using credit/debit cards or PayPal on our EventSmart online registration page, http://sitkakitch.eventsmart.com (click on class title). For those wanting to pre-pay with cash or check, please call Claire or Clarise at Sitka Conservation Society (747-7509) to arrange a payment. We do offer one potential scholarship spot per class for people with limited incomes, so long as we have enough students registered to make the class happen. Contact Claire at SCS for more details.

Students should enter the Sitka Lutheran Church through the back entrance (through the alley off Harbor Drive by Bev’s Flowers and Gifts). The door on the right should be open for students to enter. Please do not park in the church’s back parking lot. Please use the public parking lots off Harbor Drive.

The Sitka Kitch also has a new class cancelation policy. If you register for a class, then find out you can’t attend, please email us at sitkakitch@sitkawild.org and we may be able to help fill your slot through our waiting list. If you cancel from the class at least five days in advance (eg, by Wednesday for a Monday class), you are eligible for a partial refund of your class fee, minus $5 for processing (in this case, $35). If you need to cancel with less than five days advance notice, there is no refund.

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Sitka Conservation Society to host annual Wild Foods Potluck on Sunday, Nov. 18

The Sitka Conservation Society is hosting its annual Wild Foods Potluck on starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Please bring a dish featuring ingredients that were fished, foraged, hunted, or cultivated in Southeast Alaska. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and dinner will begin at 5:45 p.m.

This event is open to the entire community. Come celebrate Alaska’s wild food bounty.

The Sitka Conservation Society could never pull off an event this big without help from volunteers, members, and our community. Interested in volunteering at the potluck or want more information? Contact info@sitkawild.org or call 747-7509. Current members should be able to pick up their 2019 SCS calendar at the dinner.

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Sitka Health Summit planning day set for Thursday, Oct. 4

The 12th annual Sitka Health Summit planning day is planned for 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4, in Room 229 on the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. All ideas and people are welcome, and lunch is provided.

Participants will brainstorm, evaluate and select two community wellness goals to pursue over the next year, and then plan steps to launch the new initiatives. The two chosen community wellness goals will be eligible for $2,000 in seed money. This year’s theme is “Working Toward an Equitable Future.”

There have been several food-related Sitka Health Summit community wellness goals over the years, such as starting a local foods/farmers market, compiling the Sitka Community Food Assessment, planting fruit trees around town, launching the Fish to Schools program, starting the Sitka Kitch community rental commercial kitchen, and more. Other past Sitka Health Summit community wellness goals include building an ADA-accessible community playground and becoming a more walk-friendly and bike-friendly community, among other projects. In 2017, Sitka residents chose reducing Sitka’s carbon emissions and starting a series of trauma-informed community conversations as the two Sitka Health Summit projects.

“The Sitka Health Summit planning day provides a great chance to turn a good idea into a practical goal that has funding and support,” said Doug Osborne, Sitka Community Hospital health promotion director. “For 12 years, the motto has been all ideas and all people are welcome. If you can’t make it, but would like to submit an idea for consideration, please call me at 747-0373 so it can be shared on the big day.”

The Sitka Health Summit is coordinated and funded by a coalition of local groups that includes the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), Sitka Community Hospital, Sitka Conservation Society, Sitka Counseling and Prevention Services, and the University of Alaska Southeast Sitka Campus. Additional support is provided by the State of Alaska Division of Public Health-Section of Public Health Nursing, Southeast Radiation Oncology Center, White’s Pharmacy, the Sitka Food Co-Op, ALPS Federal Credit Union, Sitka Vision Center, Dr. Marley’s Family Dentistry, the Sitka Community Hospital Foundations, and the Sitka Health Summit Coalition.

For more information about the Sitka Health Summit, contact Loyd Platson at 747-3636, or go to the website at http://www.sitkahealthsummit.org or the Sitka Health Summit page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/SitkaHealthSummit.

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Alaska Way of Life 4-H Club to host six-week Wild Edibles Series for youth

Want to learn more about the food growing around you? The Alaska Way of Life 4-H Club will host a six-week Wild Edibles Series for youth from Sept. 11 through Oct. 24 at a variety of locations around Sitka.

Participants will interact with wild edibles in a variety of ways, including identification, harvest, local importance, and preparation. Ages 5-8 will meet from 3-4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, while ages 9-older will meet from 3:30-5 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Spots are limited, and the cost of the series is $10 per person. The registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 6. All participants must be registered with 4-H, which is $25 for the full year. Scholarships are available.

To learn more, contact Claire Sanchez with Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509 or claire@sitkawild.org.

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Fish to Schools program launches coho salmon and rockfish donation drive for commercial fishermen

The Fish to Schools program needs help from Sitka’s commercial fishermen. The program needs a few hundred pounds of coho salmon and rockfish to help make Fish to Schools meals for Sitka students during the upcoming 2018-19 school year. The program also is seeking photos of commercial fishermen at work, which can be used to teach the students more about how the fish got to their plates.

The coho salmon donation period is Monday. Aug. 20, through Sunday, Sept. 2. To donate, commercial fishermen can sign up and indicate how many pounds they want to donate when they offload at Seafood Producers Cooperative or Sitka Sound Seafoods during the donation period. The program can only accept commercially caught fish (no sport or subsistence fish). The hope is to get enough coho salmon and rockfish donated that locally caught fish can be offered to students at least once a week. Sign-up sheets will be posted at the scale shacks and in the main offices. Only coho salmon and rockfish will be accepted.

Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School student Naomi Capp, age 9, talks with fisherman Steve Lawrie Wednesday (April 25, 2018) during lunch at the school. The elementary school was hosting fishermen who donated part of their catch to the Fish to Schools program. The program is managed by the Sitka Conservation Society and provides fish dishes as part of the lunch programs at Baranof Elementary School, Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School, Blatchley Middle School, Sitka High School, Pacific High School, the SEER School, and Mount Edgecumbe High School. (Daily Sitka Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

The Sitka Fish To Schools project (click here to see short video) got its start as a community wellness project at the 2010 Sitka Health Summit, and now is managed by the Sitka Conservation Society. It started by providing a monthly fish dish as part of the school lunch as Blatchley Middle School, and since then has grown to feature regular fish dishes as part of the lunch programs at Baranof Elementary School, Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School, Blatchley Middle School, Sitka High School, Pacific High School (where the alternative high school students cook the meals themselves), the SEER School, and Mount Edgecumbe High School.

In addition to serving locally caught fish meals as part of the school lunch program, the Fish To Schools program also brings local fishermen, fisheries biologists and chefs to the classroom to teach the kids about the importance of locally caught fish in Sitka. The program received an innovation award from the Alaska Farm To Schools program during a community celebration dinner in May 2012, and now serves as a model for other school districts from coastal fishing communities. In May 2014, the Fish to Schools program released a guidebook so other school districts in Alaska could create similar programs.

For more information, contact Chandler O’Connell of the Sitka Conservation Society at 747-7509 or email chandler@sitkawild.org. If you would like to donate FAS (frozen at sea) fish, please call or text Lexi Fish Hackett at 738-5684.