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e businesswoman, who lived in New Delhi until the age of 15, offers an explanation why the Indian diet is healthy. "ere are no preservatives in India," she said. "Vegetables are purchased fresh every day." To prove her point, she said that her father is 88 and still plays tennis. "ere is no fatty food, no heavy cream in India," she said. After Shenoy added the finishing touches to each dish, she invited the class up to the front table to take turns sampling each of the items while she answered questions, pausing once in a while to make a joke. One person commented on the pan Shenoy was using. "Rachael Ray said you should cook with a cast-iron skillet," the guest said. Shenoy had a ready response. "Yes, well I'm not Rachael Ray," she said. "I am Leena Shenoy and I don't cook with EVOO [extra virgin olive oil] either," and the crowd erupted in laughter. is is yet another cooking class where no one leaves hungry. After the demonstration was over and the sampling finished, the class stepped up to the buffet to partake in a variety of dishes served at the restaurant. Passage to India is located at 525 S. Front St., Harrisburg. To learn more about upcoming classes, visit www. passagetoindiaharrisburgpa.com. PAstA FeAst Chef Bill Collier is nothing if not ambitious, taking on a crowd of 12 amateur cooks on a recent Saturday for a three- hour, hands-on pasta-making session that included about half-a-dozen types of pasta and as many dishes. Collier, who has been working at Bricco for more than eight years, made it look easy as he demonstrated the various techniques involved in making the perfect pasta. Participants were divided into groups of three, and each took a turn at the machine to crank out long sheets of pasta, which, in the end, would be transformed into pappardelle, cavatini, fettucine, garganelli, tortellini and ravioli. Reminiscent of "Iron Chef," minus the urgency, the group was instructed to "raid" the pantry and use their collective imaginations to create unique dishes that would pair well with the pasta that they were assigned. Cooks chose ingredients like black garlic, fiddlehead ferns, braised lamb, roasted spring onions, morel mushrooms, fresh sage and fist-sized scallions, to name just a few. Each then spent time at their respective stations chopping, mincing and slicing before following Collier into the kitchen to watch him transform the ingredients into a variety of dishes. ese included cavatini with peas and lamb ragu and ravioli stuffed with mascarpone, sweet potatoes and brown sugar, topped with amaretto cookie crumbs. Afterwards, everyone reconvened in the adjacent dining room to take part in a carb feast fit for a king. e effort and skill it took to make the various types of pasta was not lost on Jo Davidson who worked on the lamb cavatini dish with her husband Brad. "I have more of an appreciation for eating pasta now," said the Elizabethtown resident. Bricco is located at 31 S. 3rd St., Harrisburg. To learn more about upcoming classes, visit www.briccopa.com. Bricco e Cornerstone Coffeehouse

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