January 26 kicked off Bama Dinning's new cooking program, Crimson Kitchen.

The Crimson Kitchen cooking program is a hands-on experience that teaches basic cooking skills to staff and students of the university and invites members of the Tuscaloosa community to join as well. Each class lasts for two hours, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and they are held in the Fresh Foods Company on campus.

Each class focuses on group-based instruction. Participants are split into teams of ten and lead by one chef specializing in an area of work, which each team is assigned at random. The head chef will help participants master the concepts chosen for that evening. All ingredients, cookware and aprons will be provided to participants through the program.

The first class was titled "Learn Your Mother Sauces." Participants leaned skills to create five different basic sauces. Crimson Kitchen's head chef, Bruce McVeagh, leads each class and chooses the theme for the night. As general manager of Bama Dining, McVeagh hopes to make classes fun and interesting for those who might not have any culinary skills.

Veloute, béchamel, tomato, espagnole and hollandais, in culinary terms, are referred to as the "mother sauces" because each one is the foundation for their own family of sauces. By learning how to create these five basic sauces, may other "small sauces" can be created.

Crimson Kitchen hopes to offer a wide array of cooking classes to attract different tastes. Class topics will be chosen by the feedback from participants. After the class on January 26th, McVeagh got the idea for a "Caribbean Cooking 101" class that will teach participants how to roll their own sushi.

Interested community members can register for the course on Bama Dining’s website (bamadining.com). Each class costs $40 to cover the cost of supplies and is limited to 50 participants.