Students in the Auburn and Opelika area got the chance to learn how to make their own sushi at a class at Resting Pulse Brewery on Nov. 10.
This class is taught by sushi chef Kelly Viall and requires no cooking experience. It was a class for beginners.
Viall has been a chef for a long time, and she worked with a variety of foods before working with sushi.
“I learned to work with sushi on the job when I was living on the gulf coast,” she said. “I cooked for over 10 years before I ever touched sushi, but once I started, I was hooked.”
She has years of experience teaching these classes outside of her experience as a chef.
“I’ve been teaching these classes for eight years and teaching them full time for almost five years,” Viall said. “I’ve taught about 12,000 people in 16 different states so far.”
Viall said her inspiration for teaching sushi classes were her customers at restaurants. While she was working at the sushi bar, she said customers would come up and ask her if she could come to their house and show them how to make it.
She decided then that it would be a good way to make extra money on the side, and attendance for these classes skyrocketed, Viall said. She has taught these classes in many different settings.
“My public classes are usually held in breweries, and we have about 25 people for those,” Viall said. “I do a lot of in-home parties and have done events for libraries, students through their University Programs, high schools and more.”
At the sushi class, students get a sushi roll made by Viall, and then they get to learn to make their own. They leave the night with two sushi rolls.
“I usually make a tuna roll for the students, and then they roll their own California roll during class,” she said. “I do teach an intermediate class where we break down an entire tuna loin and make all sorts of things, from spicy tuna nachos to poke bowls.”
Her sushi classes last approximately two hours–depending on the size of the group.
She said when COVID and quarantining began, she modified her classes for online, and she still offers them for those who prefer to not attend in-person.
“I basically taught the class to my GoPro just as if I were standing in front of a large group,” Viall said. “The online classes come with a shopping list that works for Shipt, Instacart and Amazon.
Viall said she started the online classes to help people be safe as well as provide an enjoyable activity.
“The basic idea was that you could stay at home, be safe, watch the class and learn something, plus order all of your supplies and have them delivered right to your door,” she said.
Viall teaches these classes in many different locations around Alabama, and she said to be on the lookout for more soon.
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Abby Winskowicz, sophomore in communication, is a lifestyle writer at The Auburn Plainsman.
