” Celebrating world flavors” event showcases food service corporation “Sodexo” partnerships with culinary organizations and renowned chefs from around the world. To kick of this series chef Hari Nayak was invited as the first international chef to educate the students in various diverse/ ethnic cuisines and engage them in culinary demos/ lectures on food. The 2 week event was held during Nov 10th - Nov 21st to celebrate and educate the flavors and the diverse cuisine of India. The series will continue in the future with renowned celebrity chefs like Micheal Smith, Ming Tsai and Rick Bayless.
Join Honarary Lead Chef Vikas Khanna from New York City
and Chicago’s Top Chefs
Featuring Master Sommelier Alpna Singh (Host of Check. Please!)
Tantalize all your senses with culinary samplings from Chicago’s hottest restaurants and tastes of fine wine from around the globe. Stir your soul with the sounds of live entertainment from singer Greta Pope, Enjoy a whiskey tasting with your dessert and bid on exciting live and silent auction prizes.
Touch the world with your commitment to ending violence.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
River East Art Center
435 East Illinois Street, Chicago, IL 60611
Located along India’s southwestern coast, Kerala is home to gorgeous beaches and a pleasing tropical climate. The region is known for growing and exporting spices including pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, ginger, chilies, and mustard, all of which are featured in local recipes.
My recent visit to Kerala was a memorable one. The time i spent there was one of my best culinary experiences I ever had. What can I say about Kerala cuisine? It is something every person should experience at least once in a lifetime. This was my first time trying the traditional Syrian Christian Cooking in Kerala. It was explosion of flavors in my mouth. Try the one at the Grand Hotel’s restaurant in Cochi.
The essential ingredients in Kerala’s flavorful cuisine include rice, coconuts and a variety of fresh bananas. Also prevalent is fresh seafood, including fish, prawns, shrimp, crabs, mussels and oysters, and fresh fruits and vegetables including jackfruits, pineapples, mangoes, cassava, yam and tapioca. Traditional dishes include appams, chutneys, biriyanis and Sadya, a Kerala feast of more than 14 vegetable dishes served on a large banana leaf. For dessert there are many kinds of payasam.
Banana Chips fried in Coconut oil ” a local snack ”
I spent most of my time around Kochi (Cochin). We were filming for a TV series ” Food of India “.
Kochi is a gourmet’s delight and at all the cuisine is as diverse as it is remarkable. There is a huge variety in seafood, from shrimp, crisp-fried mussel, grilled prawn, lobster and squid done just so and, of course, soft-shelled crabs tossed Kerala-style. But the meen pollichathu, a delicious fish fillet coated with spice paste, wrapped in banana leaf and roasted should be a priority. There is the staple kappa kari, which is fish and tapioca, and puttu (steamed rice cakes) with beef roast. Again Grand Hotel’s restaurant comes top of my list.
Chinese fishing nets
Fort Kochi’s ‘You buy, I cook’ beach side food stalls, not far from the Chinese fishing nets, offer good fresh seafood and beautiful views. You can also choose from fresh catch prawns, pomfret, snapper, shark or king fish. You can choose your own “catch of the day” from one of the fishmongers opposite the fishing nets. Then, take it to one of the nearby “fast food” shacks where they will cook it for you.
Spice Market and Trading Areas
The region is known for growing and exporting spices including pepper, cardamom, cloves, turmeric, ginger, chilies, and mustard, all of which are featured in local recipes
Curious to learn more about the local cuisine!!
I recommend some hands on cooking experience, with Nimy Paul
Nimmy, a professional cookery instructor,conducts cookery classes. She teaches guests the nuances of traditional Kerala recipes. She offers food and hospitality to guests at her home. Nimmy and Paul belong to traditional Syrian Christian community in Kerala. In keeping with the tradition of their families they enjoy having guests and serving good food.
The man behind the a scene , a chef ? a scientist? I do not know what to call him. I have had the honor to see him first hand creating his 21st Century tapas with his brother Albert Adria.
New cooking techniques developed in the six months the restaurant is closed each year at the el Bulli Taller (lab/workshop) in Barcelona. All i can say to the guests who are lucky to get a reservation is expect the unexpected! The restaurant is open from May to September, reservations starts in mid-October for the next year. Around October 15th
The tasting menu, which changes every day, unfolds in three acts and thirty-five dishes:
Small snacks: that you eat with your fingers
Larger-sized tapas: to be eaten with a fork and spoon
Desserts like you have never seen before
It is a fast-paced dining roller coaster, with explosive flavors and textural surprises.It can take upto 5 hours to finish the meal. It is an experience that one can never have any where in the world. Well behind the scenes! The kitchen is so quite & perfectly choreographed. It was an experience of a life time to watch this.
Paris abounds with sublime dining experiences from superchefs like Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon. Yes, you can also gorge yourself on popular bistro classics like duck confit and steak au poivre. But my favorite time was when i visited the best pastry shops, local food markets & traditional french eateries.
Who Makes The Best Parisian Macarons?
I think out of all the macaroons i tasted in paris,
i have to say “Pierre Herme” is the by far best! The store i visited was on rue de vaugirad was absolutely a sinful pleasure!
There are some more stores which come close like the Laudree. But i still can taste the “Ispahan” - which is a rose flavored macaroon with ‘creme of letchi’ & ‘compote de framboises ‘ which was was a flavor combination like i have never experienced before!
if you want to learn how to make a real french macaroon, you can learn it from this french chef below!
Sorry translation not provided!
Here is a recipe i have used which is easy and have had excellent results all the time!
Macaroons
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
7/8 cups almond flour
1/2 cup egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
3 drops food coloring
1/4 cup water
Use your own fillings like jams, jellies, mousses ect
Coffee cream
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Stir together the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour and sift it through a tammie or very open mesh strainer. In a mixer with a whip attachment, whip the whites until frothy. Add the sugar (and food coloring if using) and whip until stiff. Add 1/3 of the almond mixture and fold part way in. Add another 1/3 and fold partway in. Add final 1/3 and fold in leaving a few specks of egg whites. It will look like deflated marshmallow. Place a pastry bag with a close pin holding it shut in a
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