Quebec’s ITHQ Create Royal Menu for Kate and William's Canadian Cooking Class

Before Prince William and his lovely bride, now the Princess Kate, left eastern Canada for the stunning beauty of the Pacific Northwest, they visited Quebec’s prestigious culinary school - the ITHQ or Institut de Tourisme et d’Hotellerie to take a cooking class featuring some of Canada’s best ingredients and finest young chefs-in-training.

The Institut’s esteemed instructors, Chefs Pasquale Vari and Jean-Louis Themis, and 24 of their talented students worked together for many weeks to also prepare a menu customized to accommodate the lifestyle of a unique celebrity couple, just started married life together, without any servants.

Working side by side with this skilled staff, the Prince and Princess helped create this delightful menu crafted with a wealth of wonderful “Quebecois” ingredients: 

Canapes 

• Foie Gras on Brioche with Apple Cider Jelly
• Eastern Townships Goat Cheese with Baby Cucumbers and Elderberry Jam
• Brome Lake Duck Confit
• Mini Bagels with Cream Cheese and Smoked Atlantic Salmon

Entrée 

• Herb-Crusted Loin of Charlevoix Lamb with Cranberries and Seasonal Vegetables from Jean Talon Market
• A Couple Requested Escoffier-Inspired Souffle Featuring Isles de la Madeleine Lobster  

 Dessert 

• Iced Cheesecake Filled with a Maple Caramel Topped with Meringue, Served with Granite of Fresh Regional Starberries and Blueberries

Wines and Beverages

• L’Orpanilleur
• Les Pervenches
• Carone
• La Face Cachee de la Pomme

Delightful, no? Wish you could have joined in the tasting?

Well, have no fear – you can, if when visiting Quebec, you call the Institut de Tourisme et d’Hotellerie (514-282-5161) and request luncheon or dinner reservations at the Center’s demonstration restaurant.

The cost is more than reasonable, $55-$90 with wine pairings, depending on the seating time chosen. 

Any chef would agree that’s more than fair and you will, of course, also be supporting one of North America’s great culinary schools – all with an amazing glass of great Canadian wine in your hand.  Bon Appetit! 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Coke Reminds Us on July 4th Freedom Has No Borders

In a world embroiled in unsolved problems from the streets of Greece to the corridors of the U.S. Congress, it is often humor that can remind us that with compassion and creativity any problem can be resolved.

Today thoughtful companies, such as Coca-Cola, are linking media and message to reach a world market wearily waiting for answers that acknowledge the waste of war and the poison of pollution.  

We may smile and yet, within the hospitality industry, there is also a great responsibility for we are the ‘living room of the world’.  It is within our workspace that the world gathers to dine and discuss the concerns of today and tomorrow.

And yes, sadly, there are those, whose creed is violence instead of service, who enter our open ‘living room’ bent on destruction and death. 

Yet we go on, believing that meeting together, whether in the foyer of the hotel or in the dining room, is critical to a common understanding that no line should divide us from our true self and from each other ever. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

A Cool Sake Sangria Is this Year's Hottest Summer Cocktail

The ancient Romans may have cultivated the vine and wine in Spain but it was the Spanish who gave the world its favorite cool summer drink – Sangria. Traditionally made with muddled fruit and rich red wine, most non-Spaniards first tasted this historic wine punch at the 1964 World's Fair in New York when the Spanish World Pavilion served this refreshing beverage to the ever-increasing number of center visitors.

Soon an array of seemingly endless sangria variations appeared, some made with the addition of rum, vodka and now sake. Spain, a lover of both tradition and innovation, just smiles at such novel adaptations and hopes that the world will celebrate life as much as they do with food and wine, no matter the ingredients chosen.

Here are the latest sangria creations from Asia, all featuring the legendary rice ‘wine’ of Japan – Sake: (Enjoy! They are 'summer perfect'!)

Peach and Plum Sake Sangria 

• 2 Fresh Peaches, sliced
• 2 Fresh Plums, sliced
• 28 oz Gekkikan Sake
• 14 oz Kobai Plum Wine
• Ice
• 2 oz Soda Water 

Muddle the fruit, add the sake and plum wine and let infuse. Add ice and stir well. Top with soda water.

Summer Sake Sangria

• ¾ cup fresh watermelon, cubed
• 1¼ cups fresh honeydew melon, cubed
• 24 oz Gekkeikan Sake
• 12 oz Gekkeikan Plum Wine 

Muddle ½ cup watermelon with 1 cup honeydew melon. Add the sake and plum wine and let infuse. Add the remainder of the melon, ice and stir well. Top with ginger ale.

Ginger Plum Punch

• 28 oz Kobai Plum Wine 
• 4 oz Domaine de Canton liqueur
• 2 cups fresh honeydew melon, cubed
• 1 bunch fresh mint leaves
• 7oz Zipang Sparking Sake 

Combine the plum wine, ginger liqueur, melon and mint in a pitcher. Muddle lightly and let infuse. Add ice, stir and top with Zipang Sparkling Sake.   

Sake Berry Punch

• ½ cup fresh blueberries
• ½ cup fresh raspberries
• 1 bunch fresh mint leaves
• 4oz simple syrup
• 32 oz Gekkeikan Sake
• 1oz ginger ale

Lightly muddle the berries, mint and simple syrup. Add the sake and let infuse. Add ice, stir and top with ginger ale.

Cool Sparkle

•  1 cup cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
• 4oz honey
• 24 oz Gekkeikan Plum Wine
• 7oz Zipang Sparking Sake

Muddle the cucumber, strawberries and honey. Add the sake and let it infuse. Then add ice, stir and top with Zipang Sparkling Sake.   

Fruity Sake Sangria 

• 1 green apple, sliced
• 1 cup fresh honeydew melon, cubed
• 1 orange, sliced
• 28 oz Gekkeikan Sake
• 4 oz Kobai Plum Wine
• 1oz soda water 

Lightly muddle the fruit, add the sake and plum wine, and let infuse. Add ice, stir well and top with soda water.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Chef Jose Andres Is Chief Culinary Advisor for the New National Food Exhibit What’s Cooking Uncle Sam?

If you are in Washington DC staring today through January 3, 2012, don’t miss the amazing new exhibit on American food history drawn from the files of the U.S. National Archives: What's Cooking Uncle Sam?.

The National Archives? Isn’t that the dusty department charged by Congress to collect and curate all those totally uninteresting governmental paper?  Well, that’s what Chef Jose Andres, chief culinary advisor to the Exhibition, thought until he began to explore the wealth of culinary documents preserved at the historic Archives.

Tucked into the folders at the National Archives, decade after decade, is a treasury of material that traces the history of food in America and the government’s involvement in setting food safety standards, wartime rationing, experimental farming, recipe development and much, much more.

Have no fear – you won’t be bored. Instead you will encounter the almost forgotten Frank Meyer, America’s foreign plant explorer, who traveled from the vast grasslands of Manchuria to the tiger-patrolled mountains of Siberia to bring hundreds of new plants to stateside farms.

Then there’s the largely unknown story of the Margarine War of 1886 when American dairy farmers rebelled against the importation of the horrible “oily imposter” from Europe. There are even photos of the margarine ‘bootleggers’ who were arrested for trying to sell the hated 'false butter’.

Engaging displays chart the U.S. government’s efforts to promote potato consumption and the acceptance of frozen food, a radical new idea in the 1920s. But the fun doesn’t stop there – the wide ranging tastes of the White House’s leading occupant are explored from President Eisenhower’s favorite all-American deep dish apple pie to John F. Kennedy’s must-have chowder.

And least you desire to try the actual cuisine that the Exhibit documents, Chef Andres is creating the pop-up restaurant America Eats Tavern (opening July 4, 2011) nearby that will offer a sampler of the food (and professional passion) that created this unique and informative showing. Now that’s a true taste of history - American style!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Air France Uses Social Media Effectively via NYC Food Truck

One has to have one’s head stuck in the ground not to recognize how massively marketing within the industry has been affected by social media. From Facebook to LinkedIn, there seems to be a nearly endless array of access points. Yet the critical question seldom addressed is how to use the new technology effectively. 

For four days in March this year, Air France USA showed New York City that they know how to use the new components of the Internet by creatively combining texting and great cuisine with Facebook and food trucks.    

Starting with a menu created by Michelin rated Chef Joel Robuchon, an Air France food truck moved out onto the streets of New York, it’s arrival destination pre-announced via Twitter and Facebook. Driving the near viral number of emails that started to zip through Manhattan was the fact that the first class cuisine to be served would be FREE!

Was Air France serious – premiere grilled beef filets garnished with a wine truffle sauce and then smoked salmon and shrimp rondelles for FREE? Absolutely! And here’s why: Through the efforts of the chefs preparing the elegant cuisine (Jacques Lalzace, Paulo Ferreira, Eric Augustine, Henri Alcade and Michel Quissac) Air France USA:

• Gained world-wide marketing exposure
• Obtained thousands of e-mail contact lead addresses
• Localized the image of Air France by requesting diners donate to City Harvest
• Shared with over 3,000 lucky individuals, literally, the taste of first class service on Air France.

Not bad for a single day’s work. Now that’s modern marketing at its best.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011