Raul On The Prowl @ the KitchenAid Gourmet Summit 2014 in Manila, Philippines

By Raul Dias

With a neat little invite sitting pretty in my email inbox and an equally elaborate itinerary for the next five days in my hand, I started a brand new month in a brand new country, doing what I love best—travelling, eating and enhancing my food knowledge even further!

Yes, the 1^st to the 5^th of April, 2014 saw me participate at the very prestigious KitchenAid Gourmet Summit 2014 in Manila, Philippines. The folks at KitchenAid, India very graciously extended an invite to me and around 30 other food bloggers, writers, recipe developers, stylists, chefs and other members of the Asia-Pacific region’s food cognoscenti to fly down to beautiful Manila and indulge in a series of cookery classes, talks, demonstrations and general food bonding—all the while learning more about the versatility of the range of KitchenAid products (and indulging in a fair bit of sight-seeing around Manila as well!).

And the venue for all this couldn’t have been more apt. We were to take temporary residence at the very famous (Alain) Ducasse Institute at the Enderun College (www.enderuncolleges.com) in Manila and learn all we could under the tutelage of master chefs like Chef See Cheong Yan who is the Culinary Head at Enderun Colleges and his team of dedicated chefs, instructors and guest speakers.

So, after learning all about this fabulous culinary institute—that chef Ducasse takes a very personal interest in—thanks to a quick orientation tour around the Enderun College, we got down to business. Our very first class conducted by Chef See Cheong Yan was one where we learned to make Lyon Style Sausage with Crushed Potatoes and Mushroom Cappuccino (see recipe in .jpg format attached)

from scratch and when I say from scratch I mean it! Not only did we grind the pork meat and fat along with spiced and pistachios via the very handy grinder attachment of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, but we also tried out the sausage stuffing attachment of the mixer. After a few misses and flops we all somehow managed to get the hang of stuffing a sausage, but then again most of the hard work was being done by the many KitchenAid Stand Mixer that we were given to work on. I chose one in the top selling hue—the Candy Apple.

For the crushed potato component once again it was a KitchenAid appliance to the rescue. This time the KitchenAid Food Processor

did its magic in slicing the boiled spuds just about as thick as Chef Yan wanted them.

Dishing out our individual creations under Chef Yan’s hawk-like gaze made us a wee bit nervous, but seeing his face light up on tasting our amateur creations was reward enough. This was followed by a quick lunch of a yummy Roast Hen with Polenta, rounded off by a sinfully good Peanut Butter-Chocolate Ganache Torte at the school’s fully functional (and open to the public) fine dining Rerstaurant 101. It was back to the grind in the classrooms (or should I say class kitchens!) for a three hour class on the art of making a traditional Filipino dish called Kare Kare. But the one we were taught to make by the lovely faculty member Chef Suzette Montinola—who also runs the sublime La Cocina de Tita Moning restaurant in downtown Manila—was a twist on the traditional Kare Kare (see recipe in .jpg format attached)

with a shredded pork stuffed ravioli floating in a peanut, banana flower and eggplant saturated sauce that was jazzed up using the typically Filipino dried shrimp paste called bagoong! What I loved most about the dish was the fact that we not only got to make our pasta dough in the KitchenAid Stand Mixer but we also used the mixer’s special pasta-making attachment

to roll out the sheets of pasta to our desired thickness and then use the special KitchenAid Stand Mixer Ravioli Maker to stamp out perfect little raviolis! That I thought was simply genius. And once again the KitchenAid Stand Mixer’s versatility was amply evident. But like they say the ‘proof is in the pudding’. And what a sublime dish our Ravioli Kare Kare turned out to be and something that I plan to try out very soon in a desi style. So watch this space for that fusion recipe...  

This was followed up by a very interesting dessert wine and dessert pairing session conducted by the very hands-on sommelier Bel Castro who took us through the nuances of some of the best dessert wines in the world while we nibbled at desserts like a wobbly Vanilla Panna Cotta and a typically Filipino Leche Flan which is similar to a caramel custard. I must say that at first I was a little apprehensive about pairing already sweet wines with desserts, but like Bel said, one needs to keep an open mind to see the possibilities opening up.

The next day began on a fun note with us learning to make one of the world’s favourite Spanish fried dough pastries—Churros with a Raspberry Jam (see recipe in .jpg format attached).

Right from cooking the choux pastry to mixing in the eggs one at a time in the KitchenAid Stand Mixer to piping out the filling on butter paper and then freezing it before frying we did it all ourselves and the results were astonishingly good for a bunch of amateur cooks. The tartness of the jam that we blended till smooth using the KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender

was almost epic and was the perfect foil to the crunchy bite of the hot churros.

A hand’s on workshop on Food Photography and Styling by the famed Neal Oshima

was next on the cards and it really gave us an insight into the world of food in its glam avatar. It encouraged even a novice photographer like me to pull up my socks and get clicking. Barely had the session got over when we were presented with a bombshell by the KitchenAid guys. We were to compete in teams of three based on our nationalities in a Masterchef-esque cookery competition the next day based on certain rules and regulations that we were to strictly adhere to. For example we all had to have a pasta in our dish and we had to use an approved list of ingredients that the school would provide us the next day. We also had to submit a written recipe that we had to come up with so that we could get what we needed in time for the big cook off the next morning.

My team mates were the very talented Archana Doshi a fellow food blogger (www.archanaskitchen.com) and Vishal Kolhe of the BBC Good Food India magazine. We got together and quickly came up with a stellar recipe for Grilled Chilli Coriander Salmon and Lemon Gnocchi served with a creamy mustard turmeric sauce and grilled carrots and bell peppers (see recipe below). We were given two hours to execute our dishes which we did in perfect harmony with each other with all our roles and duties clearly defined. Finishing in the nick of time we all gave a collective sigh of relief as the servers took our dishes to the judging panel to give their final verdict.

I really didn’t envy their job as having done some judging before I know how tough it is for them to come up with a single winner from a bunch of talented people and this time we were in some stellar company with professional chefs from Hong Kong, food bloggers from Australia, nutritionists from China and food editors from Malaysia.

In the evening the results were announced and although we didn’t win (the crowd favourite team Hong Kong did!), here’s our much-appreciated recipe...

Grilled Chilli Coriander Salmon and Lemon Gnocchi (served with a creamy mustard turmeric sauce and grilled carrots and bell peppers)

Recipe developed by Archana Doshi and Raul Dias for the KitchenAid cookery competition

INGREDIENTS
For the Grilled Salmon
5 salmon steaks
Juice from one lemon
1 recipe of Coriander Marinade
1 tbsp oil for cooking
Sesame seeds for coating

For the Salmon Marinade to be ground into paste
1 bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 green chillies
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Lemon Gnocchi
4 potatoes peeled, quartered
Salt and ground black pepper
2 egg yolks, lightly whisked
1/2 cup of plain flour plus more to dust
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp lemon zest

For Mustard Turmeric Sauce
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt and black pepper
250 ml cream
1 tbsp of butter

For Garnish
1large carrot, sliced
1green bell pepper sliced

1yellow bell pepper sliced

KitchenAid products used

* KitchenAid Chopper

* KitchenAid Stand Mixer with paddle attachment

* KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender

METHOD
For the Marinade and Grilled Salmon
* Into a KitchenAid Chopper, blend together the ingredients for the marinade until blended and lightly coarse (not a smooth paste).
* Toss the salmon steaks into the coriander marinade and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes at least.
* Preheat the BBQ gill or the stove top grill, grease the pan with oil. Place salmon steaks on grill and cook for five minutes on each side, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.

For the Lemon Gnocchi
* Add enough water to a saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat.
* Place potato in a metal steaming basket. Place steamer in saucepan making sure base of steamer doesn't touch the water.
* Steam the potatoes covered, for 15 minutes or until tender and fluffy. NOTE: It's best to steam rather than boil the potato. Boiling can saturate potato with water, which will increase the amount of flour required and result in a heavier gnocchi.
* Lightly mash the potatoes with a fork and transfer to the bowl of a KitchenAid Stand Mixer with a paddle attachment.
* Add in the eggs, cheese, lemon zest, salt and pepper and whisk well until combined. Gradually add in the flour over the potatoes until it just holds and brings the dough together.
* To test if the dough is of the correct consistency, take a piece and roll it with your hands on a well-floured board into a rope 1/2-inch in diameter. If the dough holds together, it is ready. If not, add more flour, fold and press the dough several more times, and test again.
* Flour the working surface and the gnocchi dough. Cut the dough into four pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut each log into 1/2-inch pieces. Lightly flour the gnocchi as you cut them.
* Lightly flour your hands and roll each piece of dough into a ball. Use your thumb to roll each ball over a floured fork and place on a floured tray.
* Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil over medium heat. Add a few gnocchi at a time into the sauce pan and cook for three minutes or until they rise to the surface. Use a slotted spoon to drain and transfer to a bowl. Cover with foil to keep warm and repeat with the remaining gnocchi

For the Mustard Turmeric Sauce
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a quick boil. Blend till smooth with a KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender, strain into a sauce boat and keep aside.

For the Grilled Vegetable Garnish
Place the sliced carrots and bell peppers on a grill with salt and pepper and cook them until still a bit crunchy with the grill marks visible.

PLATING THE DISH
Arrange the grilled vegetables diagonally at the top end of a rectangular plate. Next place the grilled salmon, gnocchi and a small bowl of sauce.

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The last session of the summit was my favourite with a lecture by Chef Suzette Montinola on “Food Trends and Sustainability”. It ran the whole gamut of both passé trends (guys, I’m rather happy to tell you all that molecular gastronomy is out!) and future trends (communal dining).

And what a perfect way to end a perfect foodie conclave talking about the future of our great big wonderful world of food that I’m so happy to be a small part of!

All pics courtesy KitchenAid

(for those who want to catch us all in action working with our KitchenAid appliances, rustling up our very own edible wonders, here’s a YouTube link to a short video http://youtu.be/NFJmKuvwrcM)

Do let me know what you thought about the post and the recipes. I really hope this little endeavour of mine inspires you all to cook more efficiently and confidently with KitchenAid’s awesome range of products. I know I have!

PS. Watch out for new and exciting monthly recipes that I plan to come up with using my very own KitchenAid appliances.

For information on KitchenAid appliances...
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