Tracy Chang and her team at PAGU have been running cooking/foodways classes in their Cambridge restaurant and they’re fun. This Saturday, I joined her Dim Sum Class. Our instructor, Chef Winson, taught us the secrets to handily folding traditional Chinese dumplings. PAGU’s kitchen steamed them for us to eat then and there, and I took plenty home for my freezer. We were also given a printout with recipes for Chinese chive dumplings, shumai (my faves), and turnip cakes (which do not contain any turnip!). Included in the class fee is one complimentary drink along with some related foods, e.g. a warm bowl of congee with egg and other lovely snippets of goodness, sticky rice cooked in a lotus leaf, a small turnip cake, a warm matcha/chocolate cookie, and a sample of Pagu’s own chili crisp which they sell locally. PAGU provides attendees with two kinds of wrappers plus two different dumpling fillings which we then used to create our own less-than-perfect items.
Sitting at the long bar that overlooks part of the kitchen, it ends up being a convivial couple of hours, even if you go solo. As Tracy says in her intro, “The kitchen as a classroom, a safe space to learn, create, share, and collaborate, has always been a PAGU dream since day one…”
Thanks for the info. I’ve been curious about these classes, and glad to hear that they are fun and worth the time. Once the red line can get fully back into shape, this sounds like it would be a fun option.
This is reminded me that we are way overdue for a return trip to PAGU, haven’t been in years. Loved loved loved the tortilla, the squid ink bao buns with fried oysters, the Spanish cheese and jamón, a couple of the dishes I can’t remember/aren’t on the menu anymore…never had anything there that was less than superb. I’m really tempted to order some of the kits/pantry items for pick up and came close to ordering a holiday duck kit in the past. Also the chef/owner’s community service and attitude are outstanding and I remember how she was so screwed over with a very expensive liquor license.
I loved the menu for the Mother’s Day brunch but can’t handle eating out on that holiday. I wish she’d bring back brunch every week. And yes, the pug theme is adorable.
