Spa Day...
Thursday, December 7
Well, spa day and we were not in our robes and slippers after our hot tubs, but I would have liked that. Instead, today was all about spa cuisine that was created by leading chefs who went to the top spas to create a certain type of cuisine, like nouvelle cuisine, which was beautiful, delicious but low in fat, reduced in salt, calories, etc. and met certain dietary needs. We had to follow recipes to a tee because everything is usually weighed out and calcuated so that clients know exactly what they're eating and the use of fat, salt and sugar is reduced or eliminated. So instead of using traditional things in cuisine like oil and butter that add flavour, but calories as well, we used other things to enhance the flavours of food such as fresh herbs, juice reductions, flavourful vinegars, citrus flavours, attractive and smaller cuts of a variety of fruit and vegetables, and beautiful plating of dishes. This was up my alley because it's the way I try to prepare dishes most of the time to keep the weight off and keep the appearance and the flavour of the dishes up. The one thing with spa food is that it can take a lot of time and effort in the preparation of dishes. For example, I made fish(sole) and vegetable papillotes (in parchment paper and baked) and had to cut the vegetables into julienne (1/8 x 2) pieces and mince the scallions and herbs. While the recipe called for limited vegetable broth, oil, and salt, the teacher encouraged the use of nothing to really get a sense of the dish without it. It was suprisingly quite flavourful because I used a number of herbs which were minced finely into the vegetable mixture that was so beautifully (I must say) and thinly diced. I tried other things in papillotte such as vegetables only and fruits and they turned out quite well and were easy to do. The spa meals at the end were beautiful, especially as our chef is an expert with plating and assisted us with this, and very flavourful and included: muhroom consomme/broth (a very long and labour intensive dish as it requires many steps and clarification of the broth so it is clear and beautiful); a number of delicious spa dressing and vinagrettes (including stock or vegetable reductions, lots of herbs, and scant amounts of oil); skewered fruit with homemade chocolate sauce; oven baked fries with seasonings; composed salads; creamy squash soup; a yummy berry sorbet made with apple juice; a wild rice salad; phyllo tart with fresh berries with a creamy topping made from yoghurt "cheese" (yoghurt drained); hand-made seafood sausage, and layered vegetable polenta napoleons.
Well, spa day and we were not in our robes and slippers after our hot tubs, but I would have liked that. Instead, today was all about spa cuisine that was created by leading chefs who went to the top spas to create a certain type of cuisine, like nouvelle cuisine, which was beautiful, delicious but low in fat, reduced in salt, calories, etc. and met certain dietary needs. We had to follow recipes to a tee because everything is usually weighed out and calcuated so that clients know exactly what they're eating and the use of fat, salt and sugar is reduced or eliminated. So instead of using traditional things in cuisine like oil and butter that add flavour, but calories as well, we used other things to enhance the flavours of food such as fresh herbs, juice reductions, flavourful vinegars, citrus flavours, attractive and smaller cuts of a variety of fruit and vegetables, and beautiful plating of dishes. This was up my alley because it's the way I try to prepare dishes most of the time to keep the weight off and keep the appearance and the flavour of the dishes up. The one thing with spa food is that it can take a lot of time and effort in the preparation of dishes. For example, I made fish(sole) and vegetable papillotes (in parchment paper and baked) and had to cut the vegetables into julienne (1/8 x 2) pieces and mince the scallions and herbs. While the recipe called for limited vegetable broth, oil, and salt, the teacher encouraged the use of nothing to really get a sense of the dish without it. It was suprisingly quite flavourful because I used a number of herbs which were minced finely into the vegetable mixture that was so beautifully (I must say) and thinly diced. I tried other things in papillotte such as vegetables only and fruits and they turned out quite well and were easy to do. The spa meals at the end were beautiful, especially as our chef is an expert with plating and assisted us with this, and very flavourful and included: muhroom consomme/broth (a very long and labour intensive dish as it requires many steps and clarification of the broth so it is clear and beautiful); a number of delicious spa dressing and vinagrettes (including stock or vegetable reductions, lots of herbs, and scant amounts of oil); skewered fruit with homemade chocolate sauce; oven baked fries with seasonings; composed salads; creamy squash soup; a yummy berry sorbet made with apple juice; a wild rice salad; phyllo tart with fresh berries with a creamy topping made from yoghurt "cheese" (yoghurt drained); hand-made seafood sausage, and layered vegetable polenta napoleons.
posted by Caroline at 8:26 PM
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