.................Professional Cooking is a competitive arena, much more so now with the advent of Food Network, and a trillion channels in a thousand languages bombarding the world's population with food, food , food !!!!!!!
It has always been a competitive forum, due to the passion and creativity of chefs, due to the heat and sweat, due to long hours and the constant quest for the perfect exact moment when that dish is perfect . Perfect !!!!!!! ......Ahhhhhhh , we are only as good as our last plate ............
But there is a time and a place , where all this falls away and we do not compete , we unite............and this is when we cook for charity events. Much more if the event is to benefit children. And so we toil , carrying our food , our wares, our colleagues and friends to places near and far to participate........
To cook for the sheer love of cooking. Paladeo Musical @ the Caribe Hilton Hotel was one of such events. Our host, Executive Chef Mario Ferro, as gracious as always, with the overwhelming stress of 40 plus chefs asking for things............ Chef Augusto with his eternal nervous energy , like a turbine engine, checking that everyone is well and that the wines are with their specific food....Chef Daniel Vasse with his smile and calm demeanor, plus a plethora of the new crop of excellent , recognized and not so recognized chefs...................
It is great to cook for the people that attend these events, for the children that benefit from our time and passion, but most of all it is great to be in the company of chefs............colleagues.........
friends.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Three Kings Day
............ Slowly but surely we start the pilgrimage to the family farm .......... There awaits the source of our joy, a suckling pig, to be roasted slowly over a charcoal fire.............
Mountains are covered with a light mist, the morning's chill. Dad always said is was the mountains bedsheet........... miss him a bunch .
Far away from the bustle of the city, we arrive carrying victuals for breakfast; fresh baked bread, cheddar cheese and some sliced ham .Mom always had us eat a hearty breakfast before starting the days work. Ready for coffee amoungst the aroma of burning charcoal and the wetness from the morning drizzle. I love these mountains !!!!!!! All green and fresh , hidden away like a jewel nestled in mist.
Like clockwork , we all fall into the roles of a life more simple : men outside dealing with charcoal , stoves, chilling the beer and cleaning up the area, women in the kitchen , the heart of the house surrounded by pots and pans, children under the Christmas tree, teenagers all over the place......... some helping , some not .....and we re-discover, in every move, the real meaning of family and the true presents that the Three Kings bring to our family.
Finally it is time to chop up the pig, thrown down on a banana leaf covered table, devested of its crunchy skin............ I do the honors of "Queen of the Cleaver" and make short work of breaking him.......or was it a her ??? .....into managable portions. Saving tender special morsels, such as the sweet pork cheeks or succulent ribs, to share with long missed loved ones............ pork fat dribbling, smiles and lame scolds.............. Groaning table laden with all the goodies of the season; pasteles, cilantro rice, beans, salads, country chicken fricassee, boiled root vegetables .......... all a homage to the "lechon asado" .........guests arrive carrying offerings of coquito and desserts......... and music suddenly materializes in the form of a native drum and a guiro...............This is our Three Kings Day.
Bygones melt away, no criticism is thrown around , no fingers pointed and we are all happy to be together............... because no matter what happens the rest of the year , we will always have Three Kings Day
Mountains are covered with a light mist, the morning's chill. Dad always said is was the mountains bedsheet........... miss him a bunch .
Far away from the bustle of the city, we arrive carrying victuals for breakfast; fresh baked bread, cheddar cheese and some sliced ham .Mom always had us eat a hearty breakfast before starting the days work. Ready for coffee amoungst the aroma of burning charcoal and the wetness from the morning drizzle. I love these mountains !!!!!!! All green and fresh , hidden away like a jewel nestled in mist.
Like clockwork , we all fall into the roles of a life more simple : men outside dealing with charcoal , stoves, chilling the beer and cleaning up the area, women in the kitchen , the heart of the house surrounded by pots and pans, children under the Christmas tree, teenagers all over the place......... some helping , some not .....and we re-discover, in every move, the real meaning of family and the true presents that the Three Kings bring to our family.
Finally it is time to chop up the pig, thrown down on a banana leaf covered table, devested of its crunchy skin............ I do the honors of "Queen of the Cleaver" and make short work of breaking him.......or was it a her ??? .....into managable portions. Saving tender special morsels, such as the sweet pork cheeks or succulent ribs, to share with long missed loved ones............ pork fat dribbling, smiles and lame scolds.............. Groaning table laden with all the goodies of the season; pasteles, cilantro rice, beans, salads, country chicken fricassee, boiled root vegetables .......... all a homage to the "lechon asado" .........guests arrive carrying offerings of coquito and desserts......... and music suddenly materializes in the form of a native drum and a guiro...............This is our Three Kings Day.
Bygones melt away, no criticism is thrown around , no fingers pointed and we are all happy to be together............... because no matter what happens the rest of the year , we will always have Three Kings Day
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