#kitchentalk - Cooking Gourmet with Chef Roy Caceres, Metamorfosi Ristorante, Rome

 I was an hour ish late for Michelin star Chef Roy Caceres's (Rome's Metamorfosi Ristorante) two day cooking class at Dolce e Salato Scuola di Cucina e Pasticceria in Caserta.
I tried to enter without being noticed, but as I opened the door the room was silent, except for the whirr of the mixer that the chef was using to mix  pasta dough.

Buongiorno...scusa Chef...was all I could whisper as I headed to the back of the class.  Caceres nodded, watched me sit down and then picked up with his lesson.

I sat down in the back, but it wasn't long as I made my way to the front row so as not to miss a beat of the chef's lesson.  I was assai curious as to what made this Colombian born chef tick.

The  small recipe book in front of was like a scorecard.  Caceres skipped from one page to the next and then back again, checking off  recipe items as he went along. The chef was preparing six dishes at once.

Many required a Thermomix, like his anchovy mayonnaise, black olive oil, and turnip green sauce to name a few.

Many ingredients needed to be vacuum packed such as his beef fillets and  bananas.
All dishes required his  his attention, expertise, and patience.

Minutes turned to hours...my respect for Caceres turned to admiration, especially when he put aside the Thermomix for awhile and started rolling out the pasta he had prepared earlier.

This is gourmet cooking.  And gourmet cooking takes not only know how..but time.

And It was time to put these pieces together. Like his Foglia di 'grano', leaves of 'wheat' with red tuna and herbs and creamy chick peas....

Or his "Pomodori vestiti" 'dressed' tomatoes with anchovies, burrata and turnip greens...

Mozzarella and Spinach with olives and bread...

I looked at my watch.  Caceres hadn't finished, but it was time for me to leave.  I tried to leave without being noticed.
I tried...but as I got to the door, I caught the chef's attention , waved and  mouthed a ciao...
ciao and grazie...

Mediterranean Cooking Congress - October 13 - 15, 2014

Mediterranean Cooking Congress is the plan put in place by the company By Tourist, which is specialized in publishing and communication in the field of maritime tourism and catering through the brands 30Nodi and Gusto Mediterraneo. In the context of business operations and continuous interaction with leading companies in their respective sectors, the team By Tourist has fielded a number of initiatives aimed at the promotion of the region of Campania and strengthen trade exchanges between local businesses and the other Italian regions, exports to Europe and indeed in the Mediterranean. The starting point of any project is the knowledge of the area and the material to be developed. In the field of numerous professionals and professional companies, building synergies with ongoing opening in comparison. And 'from this vision that the idea of a Congress of Mediterranean cuisine, with the active participation of 12 foreign chefs (1 per country of the Mediterranean), 12 renowned Italian chef and competent in terms of raw materials and knowledge of the regions of origin , a sociologist and an anthropologist. Listeners will be the associations of chefs in the country, hotel schools of Campania and Professional Italian Cooking Schools and Foreign, Italian and foreign manufacturers, importers and distributors Italian and foreign. Objective: Protect the Identity to Be More Competitive, promoting exchanges between the nations of the Mediterranean, but with skill and preserving traditions. In this sense they have a central role in the maritime connections and transport services between nations in question. It is no coincidence then the location of the Congress will ship Tirrenia, historical Italian company, based in the port of Naples. 

• PROGRAM
• - Monday October 13, 2014
• 10:00 hours aboard Tirrenia - The Mediterranean Cooking Congress
• 18:00 cooking class with foreign chef to cooking school Dolce&Salato
• 21:000 hour dinner with La Caffettiera restaurant with foreign chefs and Italian
• - Tuesday October 14, 2014
• 10:00 hours aboard Tirrenia - The Mediterranean Cooking Congress
• 18:00 cooking class with foreign chef to cooking school Dolce&Salato
• 21:000 hour dinner with Miglio D'Oro Park Hotelrestaurant with foreign chefs and Italian
• - Wednesday October 15, 2014
• At 11:00 am on board Tirrenia - The Mediterranean Cooking Congress Press Conference with presentation of the conclusions of the Congress, gathered in a publication TASTE THE MEDITERRANEAN, edited By Tourist which will be distributed in December.

Spaghetti Madness

Spring weather in Campania has finally caught up with the calendar.  And that means sunshine, short sleeved shirts...and spaghetti.  Yes, spaghetti.  I must admit with all the different pasta varieties to choose from, spaghetti has been, is, and probably always will be one of my favorites.  No, not the Americanized versions with heavy meat sauces or even- shudder-meatballs. I'm talking about lighter sauces that work with the pasta.  Complement it and  not cover it.  In the past couple of years, I've had a chance to taste some super spaghettis created by some of the top chefs in Campania.  Here are some of my unforgettable assaggis ...

Spaghetti di Gragnano, codfish, broccolli, Paestum buffalo carpaccio with a white turnip and bluefish sauce.
Chef Ernesto Iaccarino, Don Alfonso 1890 (Na)

I tasted this dish on my first visit to Don Alfonso 1890 two years ago.  After a couple of bites, and endless smiles from the staff and entire Iaccarino family, this restaurant became one of my favorite places on earth.

 garlic, olive oil, and hot peppers with Cetara anchovy sauce,Cetara anchovies
Chef Francesco Russo, Hotel Raito (Sa)

Ok.  The view from the balcony didn't hurt.  It actually served as an amazing backdrop to this unforgettable plate of pasta prepared by Chef Russo.  Besides the mix of flavors I loved the presentation.

Spaghetti with Cetara anchovy sauce
Chef Pasquale Torrente, Il Convento (Sa)

Ah, Cetara.  A fisherman's village on the Amalfi Coast.  Home to Chef Pasquale Torrente and his famous anchovies.  I tasted this dish with the chef on the terrace of his restaurant just as the sun was going down.

Spaghetti with a walnut cream sauce, anchovies and  bottarga with citrus fruits and ricotta
Chef Francesco Spagnuolo, Morabianca Ristorante (Av)

Not all of my awesome assaggis were on the seaside.  This dish was prepared by Chef Spagnoulo in Mirabella Eclano surrounded by Mastroberardino Winery's aglianico grapevines.

Spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil
Chef Giuseppe Daddio, Scuola di Cucina Dolce & Salato (Ce)

This simple dish prepared by Chef Daddio was one in a series of 12 pasta dishes I tasted one afternoon at his cooking school in Caserta.  Many say that one of the toughest dishes to prepare is this one.

Spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, chili peppers, pine nuts, and collard greens
Chef Tommaso Di Meo,  Osteria Abraxas (Na)

Rounding out the list, a dish prepared right in front of my eyes by Chef Di Meo.  One that I enjoyed eating in the kitchen while wrapping up our conversation in the kitchen...

Spaghetti season 2013 is officially open.

Cool Recipes for a Hot Summer - Shrimp,Cantaloupe and Watermelon Pearls - Chef Giuseppe Daddio

A cooking class at Dolce & Salato  Scuola di Cucina is always a chance to learn new and exciting dishes.   Chef Giuseppe Daddio conducted a course last week full of recipes just in time for a hot summer.  This one includes some of my favorite ingredients... shrimp, cantaloupe, and watermelon.  Here is the recipe.


Ingredients for 6 :
(for pearl shrimp)
12 large prawns, 100 gr fennel, 100 gr celery, 100 gr corrots, radish, 1-- gr mixed salad lettuce, salt and

(For the pearls of fruit)
150 gr cantaloupe pulp, 150 gr watermelon

Procedure
(for shrimp)
Clean the prawns, remove the head and gut the intestine.
Cut  the shrimp down the middle, and beat on wax paper
Cut the vegetable brunoise style  (fennel, carrots, radishes, celery)
Season the vegetables with salt, pepper and oil.
Place the vegetables on the shrimp carpaccio and wrap  like a pearl,then place the pearl in a silicone mold . Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Take them out  and serve with  pearls of fresh  cantaloupe and watermelon

Drizzle the  shrimp \with a slightly reduced bisque.

Cool Recipes for a Hot Summer - Savarin di Riso by Chef Angelo Guida

Lunchtime at Dolce e Salato is always an opportunity to try something delicious.  Like this savarin of rice and tomato sauce prepared by Chef Angelo Guida.  And after a few bites, I had to have the recipe.  The chef happily obliged.

Ingredients:

For the filling

Carnaroli rice 1 kg, small peas 150 gr, 4 hard boiled eggs, grated Parmesan cheese 100 gr, mozzarella cheese 200 gr, breadcrumbs 200 gr

 For the meatballs

300 gr of ground veal and beef, 150 gr of stale bread soaked in milk, 1 egg, grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, clove garlic, minced.

 For the ragu

200 g of tomato concentrate/paste, 1 liter of tomato sauce, 300 gr of onions, carrots and celery, 500 gr of pork ribs, 350 gr of crumbled sausage, 1 dl of olive oil, 1.5 dl of red wine, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper to taste

 Procedure

First prepare the ragu sauce by browning the mirepoix with the olive oil over low heat in a large pot. In another skillet, brown the pork sausage and  the pork ribs then remove any residual grease. Then add to the mirepoix along with  the red wine and  let evaporate. Add the tomato sauce and  then continue with the tomato paste and herbs and cook for at least an hour.  Then take out the meat and continue to cook the sauce for another 15 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the meatballs by mixing all the ingredients together shaping them into small meatballs,  and then sear in a pan.

Cook the peas and cut the mozzarella into cubes. Once everything is prepared,  start preparing the risotto the traditional way by toasting the rice ian a pan and adding  white wine.  When it is halfway cooked,  add the tomato sauce and peas. When cooked, remove from the heat where it will be whisked  with butter and Parmesan.

Then grease the traditional savarin dish well with butter and bread crumbs.  Fill it halfway with rice. Add the meatballs and half of the mozzarella, Parmesan, and  boiled eggs which have been cut into wedges.

Fill the dish  with more rice and sprinkle with Parmesan and  bread crumbs. Brown in the oven for about 30 minutes, then unmold and serve with various toppings.

Sweet Moments in Marzipan Modelling with Yasmina Baouia

Yasmina Baouia

I arrived the second hour of the second day.  The second day of a first of its kind course on cake design held at the Dolce and Salato Scuola di Cucina in Maddaloni (Ce).Yasmina Baouia of  Eating Art was in Italy for the first time to show a full house her techniques modeling with marzipan.  When I arrived, you could of heard a pin drop.  Yasmina, from Serbia, is not fluent in Italian.  So she spoke in French and English, and used an interpreter every now and then.  But speaking wasn't necessary...Because Yasmina spoke with her hands...

her talent...

her patience...

Baouia with cake designer Teresa Doria

and her smile...

Baouia with chef Peppe Daddio

Delectable Desserts – Dolce Mozzarella – Chef Giuseppe Daddio

Here’s a dessert by Chef Giuseppe Daddio made especially for the Festa a Vico held last week.  A dessert, starring Campania’s mozzarella, fitting since Daddio has been named the worldwide ambassador.

He was more than happy to share the recipe with me…

Chef Giuseppe Daddio

Dolce Mozzarella with Strawberries,  White Chocolate and Lime, Peach sauce, and Asprinio D’Aversa

Composition of the dessert

-          Pasta Frolla sablè

-          Tomato Marmalade

-          Cream of Mozzarella

-          Strawberry and pulp in gelatin

-          Cream of white chocolate and lime

-          Marbling

-          Decorations with Tuille and ivory chocolate chips   

-          Small strawberries of equal size

Pasta sablè di Bretagna

700 g egg yolks, 1300 g sugar, 1 stick of vanilla, 1  grated orange peel, 1400 g  butter, 16 g  salt, 2000 g  flour, 120g  yeast

Procedure::Beat the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and orange peel.  In the meantime, sift the flour  with the yeast and salt. When the yolks have reached a temperature of 85 degrees Celsius,  add the softened butter  and the flour.  Let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.  Roll out the dough 5 mm thick between 2 silpat/baking mats  and place in the freezer.  Cut it to the form you desire and bake in the oven at 150-160º C.  Sprinkle with dark chocolate,.

Strawberry Marmalade

2000 g fresh strawberries, 2800 g strawberry pulp, fresh thyme, 400 g brown sugar,  40 g pectin, juice of 4 lemons, 4 grated lemon peels, 3 sheets gelatin

Chocolate Tuille  

270 g sugar, 179 g soft butter, 90 g glucose, 15 g cocoa, 5 g pectin, 80g dark melted chocolate (fondente 67%), 80 g water

Procedure:

Mix all of the ingredients together (except the chocolate) and bring to a boil.  Add the melted chocolate.  Spread out thinly on a silpat and place in a 180°C.for about five minutes. Shape the Tuille to the form you desire while it is still flexible.              

   

For the plate decoration:

White Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients: 45 g sheets of gelatin, 2 vanilla sticks, 1650 g whole milk, 2100 g Ivoire white chocolate, 2250 g whipped cream

Place the gelatin in an abundant amount of water and squeeze out excess water.  Lightly scrape the vanilla sticks and boil together with the milk.  Add the gelatin and stir.  Slowly pour, a little at a time, the warm mixture onto the finely sliced chocolate.  Mix together ensuring that the consistency is both elastic and brilliant.  With a rubber spatula, and when the temperature is 30/35º C, add the whipped cream. Pour immediately into a mold and freeze.

 Peach and Asprinio Sauce

100g fresh yellow peaches, 150 g fine sugar, 200 g Asprinio di Aversa Brut

Tomato Marmalade

1 kg peeled pachino tomatoes, 430 g sugar, salt, chili pepper, 4 small onions.

 Peel the tomatoes and mix with the sugar.  Leave for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, slice the onions into julienne strips and brown in a saucepan with oil and the  chili pepper. Add the tomatoes and cook for 20/25 minutes.  Blend and 

spellare i pomodorini e mischiarli allo zucchero. Lasciar macerare per 15 minuti. Tagliare gli scalogni a  julienne , rosolarli con olio e peperoncino. Aggiungere i pomodorini, far cuocere per 20/25 minuti, frullare e passare al setaccio fine.

Aggiustare la consistenza sul fuoco.

Cake Decorating Italian Style with Pastry Chef Antonio Capuano

Antonio Capuano

You could of heard a pin drop.  The silence was sweet and totally contrasted with the traffic on the SS 265 that leads to the Dolce & Salato Cooking School in Maddaloni (Ce).  When I entered the classroom, Pastry Chef Antonio Capuano and his students were in deep concentration.  They were finishing up a two day lesson on cake decorating and it required concentration, skill...and silence.

He demonstrated frosting techniques that would could be used on wedding cakes, 1st communions, baptisms, or any formal event.

I was enthralled with their attention to detail. How each curl had to be perfect, each rose a masterpiece...

Cake decorating has become the next big thing...but it was refreshing to watch a maestro with over 30 years of experience produce works of art that were (almost) too good to eat.

East Meets West... Chef Keisuke Aramaki at the Dolce & Salato Cooking School, Maddaloni (Ce)

Chef Keisuke Aramaki

The first time I had sushi...real sushi was when I lived in Japan.  It was everywhere, neat little rows of colorful little packages of rice and seafood.  I learned how to eat it,chop sticks and all... but not how to prepare it. So when I noticed that the Dolce and Salato Cooking School in Maddaloni was hosting  Chef Keisuke Aramaki for a three day course on Japanese cuisine, I knew that I'd have to stop by for a few hours for a look  and a bite to eat.

I arrived after lunch on day two.  The chef was about to show his students how to prepare shake-maki with salmon.  Simple ingredients: nori (seaweed), cooked sushi rice, salmon, cucumber,  mayonnaise,  wasabi  paste, and sesame seeds.

He made it look easy as he went step by step preparing the inside out roll version...
You carefully spread out the rice on the sheet of nori. Then add sesame seeds.

Flip over and spread out a row of wasabi and a mayonnaise, if desired...

 Thinly sliced cucumbers...

 salmon..

 and roll....

now it's time for the sushi mat...carefully press and roll...

 and slice...

The afternoon wasn't over...the chef had time to show us how to prepare oshi-zushi ...pressed sushi  prepared using a mold. Ingredients: sushi rice, stewed fish: we used yellowtail, sifted scrambled egg, spinach,  and tobiko (flying fish eggs).

Each ingredient, layer by layer was place and pressed in a mold...

 Rice...

 fish...

 spinach...

tobiko...

 and eggs...

The mold was lifted, a slice or two of red bell pepper...and our oshi-zushi was ready...

A few short hours at in Maddaloni brought back memories of  another culture that I had the pleasure to immerse myself in many years ago.

Arigatou gozaimasu Chef Aramaki and Dolce and Salato Cooking School...