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Creating a Cinco de Mayo dinner menu might seem a stretch for a chef born to an Italian family who never had a taco until he came to California in 1981. As with everything he does in the kitchen, however, Chef David Jamrock can put his spin on any dish and make it spectacular.
Jamrock, who owns Hollister’s Jamrock Culinary Arts Center, recalls that had been on a horseback ride near the Hollywood Sign outside Griffith Park in Los Angeles with a waiter he worked with. Returning the horses, he was invited to dinner by the stablehands.
“They had this big grill and were cooking thin pieces of meat,” he said. “They threw one on a piece of wood, handed me a knife, and said, ‘Cut your own.’ There were tortillas in aluminum foil and hot sauce in a bowl. That was my first taco.”
From there, Jamrock learned more about the cuisine from the workers at the various restaurants and hotels where he served as chef.
“If you’ve got a staff of Mexicans,” he said, “they will often go cook their own dinner. They would make this neat food, and all the chefs always wanted to go over and get a bite. I just fell in love with it that way.”
Some of what Jamrock learned at those stove-side meals made it into his recent teaching menu in honor of Cinco de Mayo, though one recipe is locally sourced.
“I got my recipe for the shrimp from the guy who owned Art’s Tires here in town,” Jamrock said. “I opened a cantina for him back in 2009, and one day he said, ‘I’m gonna show you my favorite dish.’”
The teaching menu, which is also rotated through his five-night-a-week cooking class series, consists of Mexican shrimp cocktail, tortillas, guacamole, salsa, tacos al pastor, and chile relleno. While Jamrock has been a professional chef since he was 15, he has scaled his recipes to make them accessible to beginners and casual cooks.
Jamrock also provides pairings for Crave Wine Company’s “Bubble Club” release parties and other special wine tasting events. Crave co-owner Mike Kohne is also in the early stages of discussions with Jamrock about holding a series of dinners at the culinary center with food and wine pairings.
“David’s menus are always based on the spirit of the wine,” Kohne said, “and our events with him always sell out. The feedback about his food is tremendous, and people love him. We hear rave testimonials from attendees who have taken his classes.”
In addition to his adult classes, Jamrock is currently taking reservations for the first of three teen cooking camps planned for this year. Scheduled to start on June 16, the first camp will include dishes from Italy and France and a day learning how to make sushi.
Students will be taught the basics, such as knife skills, vegetable preparation, sauce making, and other techniques used in commercial kitchens. Jamrock, who first went to cooking school when he was 13, said he takes the classes out of a desire to give back.
“I’m not adapting my style to be a teacher,” he said, “I’m just teaching what I know or have learned. I want to empower kids to become like the guys they see on cooking shows on TV.”
If things work out, Jamrock himself might end up as one of those “cooking show guys.” After producers with the Eat This TV Network saw a Facebook posting of him decorating some appetizers with edible flowers, they approached him with an idea for a series. He leaves for New York this month to film a pilot.
“They saw my stuff and how pretty it was,” he said. “They asked me about doing a garde-manger show, and I told them that was right up my alley.”
Jamrock has considerable experience in this specialized cooking area, which includes items like salads, cold appetizers, terrines, and charcuterie. He started entering competitions in the field when he was 16 years old and won his first serious show, held at the Rockefeller Resort in Jackson Hole, WY, when he was 20.
Jamrock said his boredom with the standard cooking show approach and endless copycat YouTube videos attracted him to the idea.
“With today’s technology,” he said, “in five seconds on the internet you can come up with any recipe you want. I’ve always wanted to do something a little different, other than the appetizer, entree and dessert kind of TV show.”
Jamrock said he will do shows that stress the more decorative aspects of food preparation, such as party platters, buffet presentations, and ice carvings. He will also teach how to make canapes, pates and galantines.
“I want to show some people how to make things like a watermelon basket,” he said. “That’s going to be the show’s premise: how to make stuff they can use at home for entertaining.”
According to Jamrock, “Eat This” is currently the number one internet cooking show producer, with over 17,000 videos from renowned chefs. If the show is picked up, which is dependent on the number of views, he will shoot between 20 and 36 episodes from his Hollister center.
“I just want to catch people’s eye artistically,” Jamrock said. “I’ll do tricks with melons. I’m going to do tomato roses and apple swans. And I hope to get as many young people interested as possible.”
Jamrock said his approach to the show will be less ego-driven and aggressive than many of those currently being aired.
“On those shows,” he said, “you get a chef who wants to show his best dish. It’s his favorite thing. It might not be yours. I want mine to be like my classes: you usually learn about five things you never knew that you will use in the future.”
Chef David Jamrock has graciously provided BenitoLink readers with a PDF selection of recipes from his Cinco de Mayo class.
The Jamrock Culinary Arts Center
Fiesta Plaza
191 San Felipe St. Suite H
Hollister, CA 95023
831-537-3500
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
Recipes from Cinco de Mayo dinner at Jamrock Culinary Arts Center
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