Fun at the Barbados Food Wine and Rum Festival!
The Demos!
Iron Chef Jose Garces.
I went to cooking demos hosted by Jose Garces and Paul Yellin respectively, and then to a wine pairing seminar with sommelier, Josh Wesson.
Jose Garces has seven restaurants in the United States, primarily on the East Coast. However, I discovered his place in Chicago, Mercat a la Planxa, which has some of the best food I’ve tasted in the city since my move. And his demo didn’t disappoint either. He made a quick dish called “En Coco” from his latest cookbook, which consisted of red snapper, prawns the size of my arm and octopus. He sauteed some peppers and herbs in coconut milk, blended it with seafood and served it over rice. Voila:
Simple ingredients, tasty concoction.
I had to see what Paul Yellin, aka “the rhum chef,” was all about. During his demo, he poached red snapper, sauteed some veggies in coconut oil with a splash of rum and served it over rice. The result was a hearty, buttery sweet healthy meal that is easy to prepare. I never really entertained cooking with rum until attending that demo. Thanks for the tip.
Josh Wesson’s demo was hilarious. Aside from sampling six full glasses of wine at about 2 in the afternoon (I’m a lightweight so I did not drain all six glasses), Josh cracked jokes, did an impression of Sylvester Stallone, Julia Child, and taught us a little bit about how to figure out notes and flavors in various types of wines and how to pair the flavors with the right food. Prior to Josh’s seminar, I just thought that red wine was good with pasta or whenever I wanted red wine but t’s deeper than that. In short, if the wine and the food have contrasting tastes (like, sweet vs. salty), then they will complement each other and create a flavor explosion in your mouth. We got lots of information but that’s the most basic principal I can share with brevity.
Category: Travel
About the Author (Author Profile)
Starrene Rhett Rocque is a recovering journalist who often fantasizes about becoming a shotgun-toting B-movie heroine.Subscribe
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