A light and funny romp through a distorted family’s view on business, sex and sausage making. Proclaiming to be the new ‘Latino gay cisgender glam sex farce’, the Garcias are a wacky Cuban family (think Addams family meets the Kardashians) who operate a successful sausage business as a cover for their real business, an escort service. If you need a reason to […]
Month: October 2015
TODAY’S TIDBITS Briefly fry your spices before using, it brings out their flavour significantly. Removing the wishbone when quartering a chicken makes it much easier to carve the breast. When plating sautéed chicken, don’t cover the nicely browned skin with sauce. Never boil meat, simmer it. Simmering water is at 195, boiling water is at […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Shuck your oyster with the round side down, this way when you finally get it open the juice stays in the “cup”. When soaking your mussels before cooking, throw in a spoonful of flour, they actually absorb/eat it and become much more plump. The ideal lobster weight is 2-3 pounds. Below one pound […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS ROUND fish yield 2 fillets, FLAT fish yield 4 fillets (smaller of course). FLAT fish are born with their eyes on both sides, but one of the eyes migrates over to the other side, so they end up on the same side. When ‘battering’ (i.e. flour-eggs-breadcrumbs), put your seasoning (salt, pepper, etc) on the […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The two broad fish categories are ROUND (muscly, fatty: = because they swim far in heavy currents: trout, salmon, tuna), and FLAT (lean, thin, both eyes on one side: because they live at the bottom where there is less current and don’t swim far: sole, flounder, halibut). Add salt to egg whites, and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Add salt to fries immediately after frying – the heat melds the salt flavour. Also, potatoes suck up a lot salt, so put more than usual. When you want potato slices to stick together in a dish (e.g. in scalloped potatoes), don’t wash them after cutting, the starch will keep them together Rubbing […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Always dry your salad ingredients prior to tossing, or the dressing won’t grip and will run off the leaf onto the plate. The water will also dilute the carefully balanced vinaigrette. The word vinegar = sour wine (vin aigre). Most vinegar is made by fermenting wine. You should be able to eat a […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS If your salmon has thick white lines in it, it is farmed (which almost all salmon is). Those white lines are Omega-6 fat, not the much-desired Omega-3 which are found in the wild salmon. Use pink salt in your paté or it turns a pale grey Bacteria need a certain water percentage to […]
Soup Mayhem – Day 8
TODAY’S TIDBITS Use frozen bread slices to cut your croutons prior to sauteeing – you get a perfect shape. Use a wooden spoon to stir your soups, you can ‘feel’ the consistency much more accurately, you don’t scratch the pan, and the handle don’t get hot Add a pinch of sugar to your mayonnaise and […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS The average restaurant guest takes 10min to eat each course. The average restaurant guest gets antsy if they have to wait more than 7 minutes between courses Woody Allen used to play clarinet at Elaine’s, where they introduced the strawberry Sabayon. Elaine’s wasn’t a great restaurant, but was very popular because of Woody. […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS When skimming stock, swirl from the middle and then skim the edges, you end up removing very little stock and lots of gunk Use a square of spongy drawer liner to hold your cutting board in place A “demi” glace is a stock reduced by half, a “glace” is a stock reduced by […]
Love, Sex and Death in the Amazon
I can’t think of a more gut-wrenching scene then watching a mother, lover or friend tend to a loved one who is in palliative care and for anyone that’s had been in the role of care giver, the opening scene was deeply heart breaking as Walter slowly and painfully changes the diapers of Marcos, […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS No salt in the stocks, the cooks will put that in as needed later Sauté pans have slanted edges so that any steam quickly is out of there, sautoirs have straight edges so that the steam will curl back in If you have a gas burner, buy pots with not only a thick […]
Dracula by Three Day Hangover
REVIEW | OCTOBER 15, 2015 | With Bram Stroker’s Dracula turning 100 this year it seems only fitting that we kick-off our Halloween season with an interpretation of Steven Dietz’s Dracula in New York’s West Park Presbyterian Church. The show is produced by Three Day Hangover (T3H), a NYC theatre company that mounts classic plays in bars, most notably the 2013 […]
Stocks and Tournage – Day 4
TODAY’S TIDBITS If possible, put an odd number of a vegetable on a plate: it looks more symmetrical but creates a tension Add salt to fried potatoes at the end or the salt starts to interact with the starch Mussels ‘moules’ can be a big money maker, a 15 pound bag will serve 15 people […]
TODAY’S TIDBITS Add salt to a vinaigrette BEFORE the oil, as oil can prevent the salt from dissolving Sweat onions for a while BEFORE adding salt, the salt will dry them out too fast Serve a free canapé, you’ll sell an extra drink (where all the profit is) Endives and white asparagus are made by […]
Servsafe – Day 2
TODAY’S TIDBITS The pasteurizing of milk can actually make it MORE vulnerable, because often the natural bacteria give it defence. Many cheeses in Europe are un-pasteurized and taste better, they’re not allowed in North America however. Cooking will kill parasites, and bacteria, but not their toxins, not all viruses, not all spores. If you’re going […]
December 1st, 2015 | Bawdy House Texts launches across New York City. This unapologetic outdoor art installation is a potent reminder of the most significant historical turning points in queer history. Never forget, never again. Curated and designed by Raymond Helkio. LAUNCH DETAILS COMING SOON Email Address First Name Last Name
Dicing Onions – Day 1
What an incredible first day!!!!! After receiving our kitchen utensil set, and a demo on kitchen safety, sanitation and what to do in case of a cut and fire, we were soon learning the different vegetable preparations. Chef John said to take it slow, and warned us that there had never been a class without […]
It was initiation day at the ICC International Culinary Center. We signed all our forms, got our chef’s outfits and Level 1 course book. We were given various presentations on kitchen rules (e.g. no jewelry, no nail polish, no unkempt facial hair etc…), on attendance (have to have a 90% attendance to pass), on graduating […]