Friday Night Dinner - Middle Eastern Evening
Friday, January 12 pm
This one was the other group's (group B, or the other half of our class) lovely Friday Night Dinner that I attended and enjoyed immensely, especially as I didn't have to prepare it. Well, I did help prep on Thursday but that was about it. I was so relieved to be finished ours as I could feel the tension rising as the Friday Night Dinner approached quickly for the other team. The meal was Middle Eastern cuisine (I had thought it was mediterranean by mistake) under the theme of "A Thousand Flavours", and included influences from Morocco to Yemen, Israel to Turkey, Egypt to Iraq.
The meal started with a Mezze of warmed olives and freshly baked whole wheat pita, served with Za'atar (Arabic name for the herb thyme; popular mixture of middle eastern spices such as thyme, sesame seeds, sumac and salt that is said to make the mind alert and the body strong; served in olive oil for dipping of the bread), and Mohammara (means "reddened" in Arabic; served as a spread made with walnuts, pomegranates and roasted red peppers... yum). Then there was a Harira, a Moroccan red lentil soup (traditionally served at the end of the holy month of Ramadan; in some cities it is prepared for celebrations) topped with a drizzle of Schug (hot sauce with Yemni origins but used across Middle Eastern cultures; freshly ground hot peppers with cumin, cardamom, cilantro and garlic). Next was the Jeweled Salad with bitter greens, blood oranges, dates and spiced almonds, scented with orange-blossom water. The Entree included golden vegetable croquettes with a fresh herb sauce, swiss chard and butternut squash with tahina (referred to as tahini in the west; a paste made from sesame seeds, which hail from a tall herb grown in many parts of the Middle East), and slow-roasted jerusalem artichokes (first for me, quite interesting taste and texture) and beets. Last but not least, the dessert was pistachio-lime ice cream (made with coconut milk) in a filo nest with nine-fruit compote (with cardamom spicing).
It was interesting to be on the other side for this meal and sit with excited family members and friends, most not vegetarians, as they were excited and proud to be there and curious about tasting the food and delighted when they did. Also, it was heartwarmining to see my fellow chefs come out and the crowd give them lots of applause, with yelling of names of students, and a standing ovation (They do that for concerts, why not for food? Though, not sure you would do if someone yelled out "encore"). I went into the kitchen after the meal to bring them a bottle of wine in celebration and they were toasting with champagne in congratulations and relief. I was very proud of them and couldn't believe I was there just a week ago and how fast the time has flown that we should be finished our Friday Night Dinners and graduating next Friday already.
Last shift at Pure and off to San Francisco soon...
On Sunday, I finish my last shift at Pure Food and Wine, which I have enjoyed and the chefs have all been very nice and welcoming. It's been great to have the experience of different restaurants and kitchens, for better or worse, shallots or not. But, this is not the last one as I head to San Francisco on Sunday, January 21 to complete my internship at one of the best vegetarian restaurants in North America called Millenium. In fact, for six years in a row, they have been voted the best vegetarian restaurant in the US by Vegetarian Times magazine. Dave and I discovered this restaurant when we last went to San Francisco. One of our friends encouraged us to try one of the best restaurants in San Francisco, his favourite and very popular, though he warned us that it was vegan, not knowing about our vegetarian lifestyle. Well, the place and meal was simply amazing. Very sophisticated, complex and creative vegan meals produced with organic products and using local farmers and suppliers. Also, they encourage and use a lot of local organic wine producers and create intresting pairings with their food. They put on a number of special events such as bringing in a local organic wine producer and holding an event with their wines and pairings with special foods they create to match their wine offerings, or they have different promotional schemes, which I thought were fun, like bringing in someone with you who's not a vegan on a special night and there would be good discount on the bill. Well, more to come, as I head into their kitchen on Monday, January 21 full-time for two weeks. Here's the link to the restaurant...http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/ Oh yes, I forgot to mention that another reason why I wanted to go to Millennium is because the head chef is a graduate from our school and well known in the industry as being extremely talented and creative (he is the one who started the restaurant concept, has kept up its high reputation and written two very good cookbooks), and he is supportive of taking on interns from our school in particular on a regular basis. I wanted to complete my internships in the US with this restaurant, which is like the icing on the cake. Hopefully the icing will be good for me... we'll see....
This one was the other group's (group B, or the other half of our class) lovely Friday Night Dinner that I attended and enjoyed immensely, especially as I didn't have to prepare it. Well, I did help prep on Thursday but that was about it. I was so relieved to be finished ours as I could feel the tension rising as the Friday Night Dinner approached quickly for the other team. The meal was Middle Eastern cuisine (I had thought it was mediterranean by mistake) under the theme of "A Thousand Flavours", and included influences from Morocco to Yemen, Israel to Turkey, Egypt to Iraq.
The meal started with a Mezze of warmed olives and freshly baked whole wheat pita, served with Za'atar (Arabic name for the herb thyme; popular mixture of middle eastern spices such as thyme, sesame seeds, sumac and salt that is said to make the mind alert and the body strong; served in olive oil for dipping of the bread), and Mohammara (means "reddened" in Arabic; served as a spread made with walnuts, pomegranates and roasted red peppers... yum). Then there was a Harira, a Moroccan red lentil soup (traditionally served at the end of the holy month of Ramadan; in some cities it is prepared for celebrations) topped with a drizzle of Schug (hot sauce with Yemni origins but used across Middle Eastern cultures; freshly ground hot peppers with cumin, cardamom, cilantro and garlic). Next was the Jeweled Salad with bitter greens, blood oranges, dates and spiced almonds, scented with orange-blossom water. The Entree included golden vegetable croquettes with a fresh herb sauce, swiss chard and butternut squash with tahina (referred to as tahini in the west; a paste made from sesame seeds, which hail from a tall herb grown in many parts of the Middle East), and slow-roasted jerusalem artichokes (first for me, quite interesting taste and texture) and beets. Last but not least, the dessert was pistachio-lime ice cream (made with coconut milk) in a filo nest with nine-fruit compote (with cardamom spicing).
It was interesting to be on the other side for this meal and sit with excited family members and friends, most not vegetarians, as they were excited and proud to be there and curious about tasting the food and delighted when they did. Also, it was heartwarmining to see my fellow chefs come out and the crowd give them lots of applause, with yelling of names of students, and a standing ovation (They do that for concerts, why not for food? Though, not sure you would do if someone yelled out "encore"). I went into the kitchen after the meal to bring them a bottle of wine in celebration and they were toasting with champagne in congratulations and relief. I was very proud of them and couldn't believe I was there just a week ago and how fast the time has flown that we should be finished our Friday Night Dinners and graduating next Friday already.
Last shift at Pure and off to San Francisco soon...
On Sunday, I finish my last shift at Pure Food and Wine, which I have enjoyed and the chefs have all been very nice and welcoming. It's been great to have the experience of different restaurants and kitchens, for better or worse, shallots or not. But, this is not the last one as I head to San Francisco on Sunday, January 21 to complete my internship at one of the best vegetarian restaurants in North America called Millenium. In fact, for six years in a row, they have been voted the best vegetarian restaurant in the US by Vegetarian Times magazine. Dave and I discovered this restaurant when we last went to San Francisco. One of our friends encouraged us to try one of the best restaurants in San Francisco, his favourite and very popular, though he warned us that it was vegan, not knowing about our vegetarian lifestyle. Well, the place and meal was simply amazing. Very sophisticated, complex and creative vegan meals produced with organic products and using local farmers and suppliers. Also, they encourage and use a lot of local organic wine producers and create intresting pairings with their food. They put on a number of special events such as bringing in a local organic wine producer and holding an event with their wines and pairings with special foods they create to match their wine offerings, or they have different promotional schemes, which I thought were fun, like bringing in someone with you who's not a vegan on a special night and there would be good discount on the bill. Well, more to come, as I head into their kitchen on Monday, January 21 full-time for two weeks. Here's the link to the restaurant...http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/ Oh yes, I forgot to mention that another reason why I wanted to go to Millennium is because the head chef is a graduate from our school and well known in the industry as being extremely talented and creative (he is the one who started the restaurant concept, has kept up its high reputation and written two very good cookbooks), and he is supportive of taking on interns from our school in particular on a regular basis. I wanted to complete my internships in the US with this restaurant, which is like the icing on the cake. Hopefully the icing will be good for me... we'll see....
posted by Caroline at 9:16 PM
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