It all started with a burnt galette.
It was 8:00pm and I was just getting started on making dinner. Earlier that evening, I had decided that I would try making my first galette. A goat cheese, potato & leek galette. There are endless resources online for a recipe and technique tips, and bonus, I had just recently acquired a cookbook that praised how simple galettes were to make. Quoting from that book (which is my favorite cookbook regardless of how this story ends), "my essential, beginner-friendly dough". This is absolutely something I want to take on for tonight's dinner, I effortlessly thought.
The dough making was beginner-friendly, got to give it to the author. It came together just as the author said it would, a little scraggly but nothing to worry. Dough is chilling, mies en place is placed, now to assemble. From the reference cookbook, a quick mention of "a more polished look, transfer the dough to a 10-inch removable bottom tart pan". I'm polished, I thought. I butter the pan and rest my scraggly dough in. Wow, this is so beginner-friendly, no wonder everyone is talking about them this summer. Pop the cheese, potatoes, leeks onto the dough, fold the edges over for that perfect *galette gram photo*, and into the oven. No less than 5 minutes later, the oven is smoking and I have an upset smoke detector and chihuahua. The butter leaked from the cracks of the removable pie pan onto the oven coil. I asked my husband if he thought it would be wise to switch the oven off. I was reluctant to turn off the oven because it's now 8:45pm and I have no back up plan. Now, if you're a professional chef or baker, at this point you're thinking that only full blown idiots would put a pie pan in the oven without a baking sheet underneath it. Well, I am not a professional chef. I am simply a woman reading and doing what was in a cookbook that I adore. So, here I am, with a raw galette. Raw dough, raw potatoes. I shimmied the dough out of the pie pan and into a cast iron pan, turned the burner on and covered the pan with foil. Foil, because, raw potatoes and 8:55pm. I need to cook this thing. I have no idea how long it "cooked" for, but at some point, I called it. Dinner was served.
Typically, my husband sweetly congratulates me for what I made for dinner. The night of the potato leek galette, I got a "it's amazing how you can both burn and undercook the same thing." We both laughed and I haven't dared to make another galette since.
I knew that I couldn't possibly be the only home cook out there that felt so encouraged to try a new recipe and then quickly was so discouraged during cook time by surprises that popped up. This is where Fēst comes in. Fēst leverages the knowledge, skill, talent and cooking instinct of professional chefs in real-time video cooking classes for home cooks. All of our cooking and baking classes begin with an introduction to the recipe, and the chef will instruct the home cook to pull out all of the ingredients and equipment needed for the recipe. Then, chef will give a high level run down of the recipe steps. Because, surprises aren't always fun. Then, while the home cook is cutting, chopping, measuring, heating, cooking, baking, mixing, chef will be watching, giving guidance and feedback, and helping to troubleshoot until the dish is finished and plated.
All cooking crises averted.
Wish I had a Fēst chef on video the night of my now famous galette.
Brit Caricasole
Fēst, Founder
Fēst FOUNDERS
Founded in 2019, Fēst exists to bridge the gap between professional chefs and home cooks. We have a true passion for helping our customers cook with confidence and empower true kitchen experts to share their knowledge and express their creativity. Creativity, curiosity, passion, and empowerment are at the heart of Fēst.
BRIT CARICASOLE
FOUNDER
“I knew very early on in life that I wanted to do something creative and deeply rewarding. Throughout my
childhood, my brother, Alex, and I would always brainstorm new businesses and ideas. The ideas were always centered
around one theme, to make something better. That curiosity and confidence I developed early on, I carry with me everyday and is what is encouraging me to launch Fēst. My goal is to create a platform that empowers people to learn a new skill, try something new, express creativity, and connect with others. Now more than ever, the world deserves companies who merge creativity and originality with skill acquisition, connection, responsibility, and empowerment.”
Brit has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from High Point University and studied architecture at The New School in New York City and Student Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. She has worked in the design and development offices of Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, Coach, and Pop & Suki. Most notably, Brit designed a patent-pending handbag “The Takeout Bag”. Perhaps a foreshadowing to her future in the culinary space.
PAOLO CARICASOLE
FOUNDER
“Today everything is done in a hurry. For many, eating is a daily formality, on which you must not spend much time. In
reality, preparing food, good food, is an art that has been handed down over the centuries. The “Art of Eating”, a way of
socializing that brings people, families, and friends all together around the table to appreciate the created dishes. Love for good food and the rediscovery of food as a pleasure to share is the heart of Fest. Connecting expert chefs to people who love good food is our mission. Returning to the noblest form of eating, understood as taste, fun and socialization.”
Paolo has Masters Degrees in Food Science and Agricultural Science, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Chemistry and
Biochemistry from the Universita’ degli Studi di Bari, Italy. He has worked in R&D for food and agricultural specialized
companies, with scientific contributions to the enrichment in amino acids and peptide contents of fresh cheese, quality
control of mozzarella and pastry products, enhancement of the olfactory profile of bakery productions, and chemical and
biological studies of crop applied fertilizers, to name a few. His passion for food and agriculture is engrained in his soul. He hails from Puglia, Italy, one of the country’s largest producing regions of extra virgin olive oil, wine and citrus fruits.
