Brasil a Gosto

October 17, 2011 in Restaurants, Travel | 1 comment

If you go to Brazil and want to taste its local products and cuisine you must go to Brasil a Gosto in Sao Paulo. The chef, Ana Luiza Trajano goes to extreme lengths to bring the cooking of the various regions to the capital city and it is very successfully done. In addition to a wonderful dining room reflecting the artisanal arts of Brazil, a few times a year Chef Ana Luiza honors one of the its regions. She visits the region with a videographer and captures the locals cooking their cuisine to bring back for her menus while also filming the food harvested in its natural setting.

When I was at the restaurant earlier this month the northeast coastal region of Paraiba was being featured. On the wall videos of the region and its cooking methods were projected prominently in the dining room. Normally there would be a flat panel TV playing these images. However in a bow to aesthetics and Chef Trajano’s immaculate attention to detail, she had a wall papered with jungle vegetation, then strategically placed large rectangles where the vidoes seamlessly found a home despite being huge and projected. This makes it easy for the diners to see and quite frankly captivating to watch. It was wonderful to eat these new foods and at the same time see how they were harvested and then cooked locally. The menus themselves were handcrafted, so I could not take one to report to you all the wonderful dishes but ingredients included goat’s meat, lobster, dried beef, native cheeses and beef.

We started with the bartender’s suggestion of a jabuticaba caipirinha. The caipirinha is Brazil’s national cocktail, usually composed of cachaca (a liquor made from fermented sugarcane), sugar and lime. The jabuticaba berry was in season and we were given a plate of the walnut-sized fruit to taste.  The berry’s taste was reminiscent of a tough skinned concord grape.  It was a bit bitter, which proved a perfect foil to the sugary caipirinha.

The amuse plate had many fried offerings but I was captivated by the grilled native curd cheese, coalho, washed with a Brazilian molasses then speared on a skewer. The taste was so addictive, I could have made a dinner just of those!

For my main course I had to order the Amazonian fish pirarucu. It is a fresh water white fish. I commented to my Brazilian friends that it must be a huge fish because my filets were almost an inch thick. It was succulent, sweet and delcious.  Yes, you should be jealous that I got to taste this delicacy.

Pirarucu

The desserts in Brazil are very sweet and very tropical.  Coconut is one of the more dominent flavors.  Here, we had a corn pudding flavored with tropical sugars and coconut.  I can’t tell you had scrumptious it was.  Obrigada Chef Ana Luiza!

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Rio: Part 2

October 10, 2011 in Travel | No comments

I love visiting cooking schools in foreign cities. Senac is the most popular cooking school in Brazil. They school thousands of students in Rio alone. Senac has visited The International Culinary Center in New York many times and I was eager to see their operation. We went to two of their schools serving two very different neighborhoods. One was an upscale area but the other captured my heart.

We visited a Senac in what was described as one of the rougher neighborhoods in Rio. When I arrived at the school I commented that the tough neighborhood was very clean, neatly lined with cars and topped with satelitte dishes. I need to take them to the East New York in Brooklyn to show them a struggling neighborhood.

Well, this school serviced 7,000 students in Culinary, Beauty and other arts. Rio will host both the World Cup and the Olympics in the next few years and they need all the hands they can get. The government is investing heavily to vocationally educate the citizens. It was joyous and delicious to walk in their classrooms. The students had been waiting for us and had prepared some Brazilian delicacies for us to taste. We loved them! and the food was delicious. I think Rio will be gastronomically ready when the crowds arrive. So if you are lucky enough to get to the World Cup or the Olympics, don’t pass up the local food!

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Realicious Rio!

October 6, 2011 in Restaurants, Travel | No comments

Talk about lucky.  I had the good fortune to visit Rio this month and aside from its outstanding beauty, infectious warmth and gorgeous weather, there was the food. I didn’t expect to encounter such new tastes and fabulous restaurants. I was ready to move there after four days of bliss!

First of all, Brazil is known for its juices. The natives of Rio (called Cariocas) were pushing their orange juice. It is delicious though I do think Florida juicers rival them on citrus, but their passionfruit, acai, and cashew juice (pictured left), really give your palate a wake up call. In fact down here, I am ready to squeeze aside wine and beer for these exotic drinks! Okay, I  will admit I like to also add their native alcohol  Cachacha which gives a little punch.

Another thrill was going for Brazilian Bar B Que. I don’t know how these restaurants started but the parades of meats that descend on the table every four and a half minutes had us reeling, they were superb and plentiful. The restaurant even gives each person a little sign: face up is green and means, ” Yes, more please!”, but face down is red and means “No, I give up!”

Our friends took us to Porcao, billed as the best BBQ in the world. It is definitely up there. The view wins hands down- we could see the lagoon, Sugar Loaf mountain and the iconic Christ statue. The tropical beaches surrounded us.

Now back to the food! I must say the sirloin was the best I ever tasted. I had never seen a sword of chicken hearts so tantalizing nor a rump steak taste so tender. What was the most curious was that even though this was a meat extravaganza, the restaurant also had a sushi bar and huge buffet with salads, salamis and shrimp!  I get it now. Brazil prides itself on its diversity of people but it is the diverse offerings in the restaurants that capture their appetites.

The Sword of Chicken Hearts, Porcao

The International Culinary Center's Tony Garcia and the Rump Steak

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Visiting the test kitchens at Sunset Magazine

September 26, 2011 in The School, Travel | No comments

Margo True is the strong, silent type. But she is not truly silent, her pen is her sword. She is the food editor at Sunset magazine. I was fortunate to meet Margo in her New York days at Saveur Magazine. When the International Culinary Center opened in Campbell, California, we became neighbors of the magazine. Margo invited me to lunch. Boy not only was I impressed, I was jealous.

Margo True

The magazine is housed in an extraordinary building. It embodies the essence of California. While Margo toured me, I mentioned that it reminded me of the Mondavi winery in Napa. She laughed and told me that Robert Mondavi had visited Sunset and hired the same architect to build his eponymous winery. The one thing Mondavi could not replicate were the extraordinary gardens. There are grass gardens, succulent gardens, exquisite pine trees and the most enviable vegetable garden. We tiptoed into that garden because it was lunch time and some of the staff were practicing Tai Chi in glen! It was an”OMG!” workplace. No wonder the magazine is so beautiful and inspired.

Sunset vinegar

But I also think that has a lot to do with Margo and her colleagues. I was captivated as she told me that she decided to try to have the magazine go a year with eating off their land. That meant raising chickens, canning, making vinegar, crushing grapes with her feet to make wine and finding the wheat to transform into flour. I ate some of the bounty. Delicious!

The test kitchen

And the test kitchen was abuzz…by the way it looked out towards the garden. We were trying salads for an upcoming issue. I wouldn’t know which one to pick. We drank a lovely Pinot Blanc from Chalone and they literally had to pry me out of the door to get me to leave.

A parting gift was their amazing book, The One-Block Feast: An Adventure in Food from Yard to Table, about how they went about living the year making all their own food. It has become one of my favorite food books of all time. Check it out!

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Cesare discovers The Center for Discovery

September 12, 2011 in Uncategorized | No comments

Cesare Casella is a prince of a man!  He is talented, knowledgeable, fun and generous. I didn’t realize how generous until he took me to The Center for Discovery in upstate New York.  The Center for Discovery and The Carrus Institute help disabled people live a full and gentle life.  Located in bucolic Sullivan County, two hours north of New York City,  The Center for Discovery is run under the visionary leadership of Patrick H. Dollard.  Many years ago Patrick realized that food is a key to rehabilitation. Knowing exactly how food is raised, stored and distributed could help the healing process of his patients.  He decided to start a farm. Today the farm employs 1900 people and  has herds of cows, pigs, sheep and chickens. The vegetables are grown biodynamically and the Center even has its own bakery! Many of the buildings are LEED certified and the roster of supporters are a Who’s Who.

Cesare with his passion for all things Italian met Patrick over a Chianina cow. That’s a cow with a Tuscan pedigree. Patrick was in love with them, Cesare had a few in Delaware county.  Cesare wanted a nurturing environment for his ladies and Patrick was happy to accomodate.  It was a marriage made in heaven.  Patrick got more than he bargained for.  He got Cesare, who has helped with the cafeteria, the bakery and the farm itself.  Cesare has brought some of the top New York City chefs to the farm and everyone has fallen in love with the mission.  To see a wheelchair bound teenager flying on a bungee cord is worth a million exquisite tomatoes.  This is a happy farm with some pretty special people and animals!  If you are up in Sullivan County near Monticello, check it out.

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SF Chefs…So Fantastic!

September 6, 2011 in Events, Restaurants, The School | No comments

Cesare, Emily, Dorothy and other luminaries at Opening Ceremony

SF Chefs was an event held the first weekend of August in San Francisco, celebrating the finest restaurants in the city. As the International Culinary Center of California we joined in the fun and had a table at the Union Square tent. We were thrilled to be side by side with such dynamic restaurants as Boulevard, Waterbar and Frances!

Melissa Perello of Frances

Nancy Oakes (Boulevard) and Joyce Goldstein

Cesare Casella, our Dean of Italian Studies happened to be out at our school that week, and became The International Culinary Center of California’s main attraction at the event. We served his scrumptious food to alert all that our west coast campus will be adding Italian classes to its roster.  We were honored to be asked to give a demo to the crowd.  Cesare kept it simple making Pasta al Pomodoro but even with something so simple, I learned a new technique. Cesare always uses canned whole Marzano tomatoes (they are sweeter) and crushes them with his hands.  He adds them to sweating white onions and lets it cook a while.  Then he throws the spaghetti directly into the tomatoes and lets it cook that way. One pot cooking.  Tons of basil are added just before coming off the fire.  Sharp Pecorino cheese finished off the dish. Delicious! Cesare as usual charmed everyone.

Cesare Casella

Interview with Liam Mayclem, "The Foodie Chap"

Cesare and I were thrilled to be at the opening ceremony and help cut the cake, which depicted the skyline of this marvelous food city. It was fun to stand next to Mourad Lahlou from Aziza and our Dean and Pastry doyenne of SF, Emily Luchetti. Thank you San Francisco for welcoming us with open arms!

If you plan on visiting San Francisco for  a food experience, combine it with this event.  You’ll taste a little bit of foggy heaven in a few hours.  Just remember it is cold in San Francisco in August…great eating weather. Under the tent you’ll find an explosion of SF’s best restaurants and wines. You will bob from table to table in a sea of food and drink amidst an amazing and sophisticated crowd.  It is an event not to be missed!

Gary Danko and Joanne Weir

Chantal Keller, Kevin Stuessi, Hubert Keller, Dorothy, Gary Danko, Cesare

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