Koehler dishes out help in cooking class
Provost says he wants to pass on joy of cooking
By Jacque Nguyen
Staff Reporter

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich can usually satisfy any appetite, but for William Koehler, only foie gras, a duck liver pate, will do.

Beyond serving as provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs, Koehler can add gourmet cook and, now, teaching assistant in the Gourmet Foods class to his list of credentials.

Cooking was introduced to Koehler at a young age, so “cooking was an evolution, not a revolution,” he said.

His parents divorced when he was 5-years-old, he said, and since then the majority of the time he spent with his mother was in the kitchen, while she was cooking. He said that after learning this culinary art, he constantly helped his mother prepare the food before she returned home from her usual job.

He said he remembers how he always used to be hungry as a growing boy.

“At age 6 or 7, I helped my mom to get food into my stomach faster,” he said.
While, during his college years, he said, he cooked for his roommates who really didn’t care what they ate, so he could freely experiment with what he made.

“Cooking has been a creative outlet (for me), really experimental,” he said.

Koehler said he calls himself the graduate assistant to Nutritional Sciences Chairwoman Anne VanBeber’s gourmet cooking class. VanBeber took over teaching this class when former Nutritional Sciences Professor Evelyn Roberts ended her 20-year tenure in the year 2000. VanBeber said this is her third year to teach the course, and Koehler’s second year assisting her in this class. He said he assists mainly in the labs rather than in the lectures.

“I make the syllabus and decide what we cook, but we work together in the lab and get along really well,” VanBeber said.

Senior marketing major Aaron Trice said VanBeber teaches the textbook version of cooking and Koehler assists the students by contributing his personal cooking techniques.

“He’s all about making stuff taste better,” Trice said.

Although it is a gourmet cooking class, Koehler and VanBeber said they like to keep it simple.

“We use simple, do-able recipes and make them look elegant,” VanBeber said.

Koehler said the class is a great and helpful experience for students because most of those enrolled have very limited knowledge and experience with the art of cooking.

“This gives (students) the opportunity to learn kitchen skills, dining etiquette and wine knowledge,” he said.

Koehler said the class is designed to try to help students overcome their fear of cooking.

“It’s about developing self-confidence,” he said.

VanBeber said as administrators, neither she nor Koehler are able to teach as much as they would like to. But, at least, she said, it gives them a chance to get out of the office and into the classroom.

“(This class) is an outlet for him to do what he loves to do,” she said.
He enjoys the relationships that he can build with the students, she said.

“I am able to meet and mingle with students in an informal way,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for me to share my enthusiasm (for cooking) with them.”

Senior marketing major Adam Rubinson said Koehler is very helpful in assisting the class.

“He has a lot of input in the class because he’s very willing to share his opinions,” Rubinson said.

Koehler said he has no signature dish, but prepares mostly European food.
“I must have some Frenchmen genes in me somewhere,” he said.

He said he goes to the market everyday with no set meal idea in mind and he seeks out what’s fresh or unusual for that night’s gourmet meal. He cooks for him and his wife every night, he said.

Jacque Nguyen
j.f.nguyen@tcu.edu