I am speaking to you in Maine not Los Angeles, what are you doing there? I'm here to organise a new section of an existing kitchen with its open faced wood fired pizza oven, cooking and teaching staff how to use it. Meanwhile having fun experimenting with it between house orders and teaching. I mastered Montreal style bagels last week. So its not just about you cheffing then, what is involved in your teaching? It is fundamentally Neapolitan Pizza Making 101 but the basics are all about working with wood fire and heat. How to be organised before the cooking even begins, knowing your wood, firing the oven, watching and understanding the temperature. Then we get to dough making, the character of flour, yeast. It is very hands on experiential learning and then finally it is about shaping pizzas, creating sauces, choosing toppings and bread making. I have a bit of a flour fetish too. We used Italian flour until I discovered Canadian flour in Toronto which became my … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2016
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #76
Empty tables after Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks: — Les Bouquinistes has long been a favorite luxury restaurant of Paris visitors. Set on a quay along the Left Bank, founded by Guy Savoy, a three-Michelin-star chef, it offers a warm welcome, a contemporary setting, a creative menu, prices that are not stratospheric and drop-dead views of the Seine and Notre-Dame. But on a recent Thursday evening, this 50-seat food emporium was empty except for one couple at a table in front and a small group celebrating a birthday in a back room. 16 incredible dishes from the world's best female chef: Chef Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn and Petit Crenn was recently named the world’s best female chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. The San Francisco restaurateur and chef is the only female chef in the United States to earn two Michelin stars. She is internationally renowned for her "poetic culinaria," which means that she likes to tell a poetic story through food. Overfishing … [Read more...]
Syrco Bakker launches unique liqueur Hierbas de las Dunas in Belgium and the Netherlands
Hierbas de las Dunas, a new unique flavourful liqueur made from fresh organic dune herbs was officially launched this week in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the creation of top chef Syrco Bakker (restaurant Pure C, Cadzand). The liqueur is made from 18 different types of herbs, flowers and plants from Cadzand's dunes. Usually liqueurs are made using only fresh ingredients. This technique gives Hierbas de las Dunas a pure, salty-sweet flavour that makes it a perfect apéritif, after-dinner drink or cocktail ingredient. The liqueur was launched in Amsterdam and Antwerp on 2 May. It is the perfect way to start the sunny season and it is already available in dozens of stores and shops and soon on their own online store. The price of the 50cl bottle is € 27.50. Bakker, is the chef of Pure-C in Cadzand which forms part of Sergio Herman's group of restaurants and is also founder of Inspired Events which promotes the food region of Zeeland. The Dutch chef told Food and Wine … [Read more...]
10 top chefs to cook at Mauro Colagreco’s Mirazur to celebrate 10 year anniversary
Mauro Colagreco, chef of world renowned French restaurant Mirazur has announced a series of 10 dinners featuring some of the best chefs in the world to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his restaurant in Menton. The lineup of chefs, all friends of the Argentinian-born chef, is impressive and fitting for the 10 year anniversary of the restaurant that is considered to be one of the best in the world. The first such dinner takes place on 27 May when David Kinch, the American chef of Manresa who was recently awarded a third Michelin star. Kinch has a unique contemporary style which mixes Japanese and Catalan influences with a very high level of creativity. On 30 May René Redzepi, chef of Noma, will be taking over the kitchen of Mirazur to cook with Mauro Colagreco. The third friend of Mauro to cook at Mirazur will be Brazilian chef Alex Atala of restaurant D.O.M. He will cook in Menton on 28 June. July 7 will be the turn of Japanese chef Narisawa Yoshihiro of Tokyo based … [Read more...]
First craft beer masterclass organised in Malta by Lord Chambray
Lord Chambray organised the first ever Craft Beer masterclass in Malta in collaboration with Lorenzo Dabove, one of the world's renowned craft beer experts who is considered as one of the most important expert on Belgian beers and who is known worldwide for promoting lambic beers and craft beers. We attended this masterclass in Malta a few weeks ago. Dabove said that the craft beer revolution, that had swept through the United States to Italy and many other countries has now reached Malta. "Lord Chambray is the southernmost craft brewery in Europe. We can now say that there are craft breweries from the Lapland to Malta". There are now over 1,000 micro breweries in Italy, 3,000 in the United Kingdom and 5,000 in the United States. The tasting started with a wheat beer or White Beer, the Blue Lagoon. Wheat beer originated from the Belgian village of Hoegaarden and has been made since the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, the village had 13 breweries and 9 distilleries. In 1957, … [Read more...]
Culinaria to change format. Named Autumn it will be held in October
Culinaria, the culinary event that is normally held in Brussels in May is changing format. The event will not be held in spring. Called Autumn, instead of Culinaria, it will be held between 18 October and 30 October. Cedric Allard of Culinaria Agency, the organisers of the event, has announced that this year the event will not be held in spring but rather in "Autumn" and the event will be completely new though they hope that it will still whet the appetite of foodies as previous events. Culinaria was an event that brought together some of Belgium's best chefs and used to take place at Tour et Taxis in Brussels for five days in May. It provided foodies with a unique opportunity to savour dishes prepared by many of Belgium's best chefs in one menu. Culinaria also featured workshops by international chefs. The organisers said that the event will still bring together chefs, bartenders, artisans, producers and creators. The event that takes place over 10 days will allow people … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #75
These entrepreneurs are using technology to turn a profit on food waste: Food waste is bad for our wallets. It’s also bad for the environment — the equivalent of throwing away the water, energy, and other resources that go into growing it in the first place. But as interest in reducing food waste grows, so does innovation to make it happen. Take a look at what some creative businesses are doing to turn trash into treasure. Shouty chef Gordon Ramsay is known for putting professional cooks through the ringer on television, but in this video, he's here to offer some sage advice to the amateur at home. Ramsay serves up 10 tips that are simple, but can improve anyone's home cooking game. The best sandwich ever: "Your Top 5 favorite sandwiches, in order, please. Go.” This is a game I play in the car with my children, as if we were characters in a Nick Hornby novel. It’s a diversion to make long travel more bearable. We play it all the time. The children rush to judgment, and as is true for … [Read more...]