BACKSTAGE FOR DINNER @ TTHTI

whoever said one thing twice is NEVER nice wasn't quite on the ball. because when chef jason invited us to another TTHTI Internal Internship session, we thought it was great.

this time we went for dinner and we got there early so we could go backstage to see what happens behind the doors.

just to bring you up to speed, the Internal Internship is a series of breakfasts, lunches and dinners prepared and hosted by the TTHTI students. this creates a real-life scenario which allows the students to use their skills in a true environment, inclusive of paying customers with appetites and opinions.

it is intended to help prepare them for what they will face when they step into the commercial kitchens of the real world.

for us, it was exciting to see how a commercial kitchen really operates. it showed us what it takes to get an order off the menu and onto the plate.

the one word we'll use to describe it is: PACE! we struggled to keep up and keep out the way at the same time. imagine our surprise when the chef in command on this dinner, chef david, assured us that a real kitchen is even more tempo with a lot more shouting, brutal honesty and plain ole cussin'.

up close, the students showed a lot of skill on the job.

simple stuff, but they seemed to be making it happen under the pressure.

so down to the tasty stuff. after we collected our footage, we sat with chef jason and chef gregory for dinner. i had the mussels in marinara sauce for my appetizer.

there was also a nice chicken chowder with a split peas base.

the salad got some high praises. fresh garden vegetables, tempura plantains and blue cheese dressing.

the main course featured a pan seared snapper with garlic lemon butter sauce, which i had with the duchess potatoes and sauteed vegetables.

also available was leg of lam with dijon mustard. this was a best seller. sold out pretty early.

and there was also an asian rubbed chicken with a peanut butter and soy sauce reduction. you'll also see the cheesy spaghetti here. another choice the menu offered. the chefs were impressed with the sauce.

did i mention that they baked fresh bread in house to go with the meal? ok. well they did. with a herb butter to spread.

we weren't up for dessert, so we didn't sampled the creme de mint chocolate mousse. but it looked really good when it was setting.

this shoot was fun. and the conversations we had with chef jason, chef david and the inspiring chef gregory (who could be a motivational speaker if he wanted to be) were particularly encouraging that night. this time around the food was good. not blow mind, but well executed with good flavours across the board. and the chefs pointed out just one or two technical improvements that could be made, which honestly, the average customer may not pick up that easily. the internal internship period ends on february 4th, so you still have some time to head down to TTHTI and check out breakfast, lunch or dinner if you're interested. check out the video of our backstage experience:

A MARKET RUN OF INTERNATIONAL PROPORTIONS

we go to the market often. it's the real place to get good quality produce, seasoning and some serious kicks. characters galore! i'm not quite sure why we never captured the experience, but this opportunity was the push we needed. a chance to go to the market with culinary professionals both local and international.

what's happening is, the taste t&t international culinary festival is beginning this monday with a workshop for culinary students, run by danish master chef claus meyer, affiliated professor and gastronomic entrepreneur. so to get the best local produce to use at the workshop, his sous chef bo frederiksen (the dude wearing the sweater. somebody could have warned the guy about the heat) accompanied by chef debra sardinha-metivier (the lovely lady with the all-important black book) and hilton trinidad's executive chef israel calderon (the cool guy in the long sleeve shirt) went to NAMDEVCO's northern wholesale market at macoya. we would never say no to tag along on that.

i knew the chefs would have a great time among all that fresh produce while sharing insights, describing flavours and giving examples of the usage of the products. it was great to listen in.

i think our variety looked impressive. quite a decent showing.

and quality was good too.

of course they sampled stuff to get more acquainted with the flavours.

including our most illustrious ingredient shadon beni.

but they really got some good stuff. not just good quality, but good quantity too.

ah mean... was the first time i've ever seen somebody buy 23lbs of provision...

and a bag of cucumber. "ok, i'll take one bag." what?? fun times.

all in all, it was a fun experience. what we really enjoyed was seeing the event generate revenue for some of our local suppliers and understanding what a great channel for information and exposure it will be for our culinary students and professionals alike. if this was any indication of the kind of experience the culinary festival will bring to the table, we're definitely not missing out on that. you shouldn't either. keep posted at the tdc facebook page. you don't want to miss this one.

check out the experience in motion:

skip to my loo

callaloo was one of those things that i never tried to make, mainly because my pops has a mean callaloo that he bubbles almost every sunday. why make it when it's always available, yuh know? but since he isn't cooking these days, the opportunity to try something has presented itself. so we've been bubbling callaloo a lot lately. it's not a hard pot at all. it almost cooks itself. check out dawi's version of an easy, tasty loo:

leh we bubble

wrappers delight

i've been doing a little healthy eating these days. no doctor's orders or anything like that. i just thought that it was time to pay some more attention to how i treat my body. so i decided that from time to time i'll make some quick little snacks like these cabbage wraps that my friend ellese put me on to (remember the name, it will come back up in a post soon to come) and share them with you all. they're quite easy to make, tasty and a lot more filling than they might look. not to mention the appreciation some of my fellow bloggers like debfit and happiness is a size 6 might have for items more like these.



lets season up some minced meat shall we? a very basic seasoning process... nothing too fancy. a little onion and garlic.

a little salt. i put some salt in a bottle that had some all purpose seasoning in it... was just a thought.

then a proper shaking of ginger, black pepper, paprika and italian seasoning. i usually season meat the day or night before i use it. this time, it did an overnight in the fridge, and it went on the fire the next morning.

While the meat took a little last minute soak, i put some water in a small pot and brought it to a boil. why?

to blanch a cabbage dear henry, dear henry, dear henry. there was a time when i thought that taking cabbage leaves off the core was simply a job of patience. not really the case. you HAVE to blanch it. it's impossible! fuh real! blanching the leaves makes them wilt a bit, then they come right off and become way more manageable. you should get a big pot and cover the cabbage with water though. do as i say... not as i do.

while the leaves are peeling off from the core is a good time to start cooking the meat. i've always been concerned about the amount of oil minced beef releases. for that reason, i don't use oil or even cooking spray when cooking it. just drop it in a pan and let it spring its own juices. it tastes fine just like that anyway.

by the time the meat is cooked, the leaves would have been blanched and ready to be filled. and there it is. pack in the beef, then drizzle some pepper sauce and honey mustard on it. and top it off with some cheddar cheese. next time i think i'll try a few pickle slices or maybe some tangy pico de gallo or some salsa.

leh we bubble healthy.

the new meaning of job market

after a loooong period of stickin' that should entitle me to officially adopt the name elmer, i sampled a service that caught my attention a little while back.

market movers. basically, it's an online market, so while you're on the job you can make a market run... minus the run. just go to their website, select your market items from their bountiful list and they deliver the goods to your home or your office. all products guaranteed high quality and market fresh.

the delivery car pulled up without much ceremony, but spot on time. i placed my order on monday and selected the "Thursday PM" delivery option. by 1pm on thursday i was outside shooting this.

but don't worry, you don't have to stand up outside and pay for your goods. they're quite happy to bring your bags right inside for you.

oh yeah. the bag. a nice green re-useable bag. how it works is you take your goods home and keep the bag. when you order again, you bring the bag back and get your goods. it's more than just a green bag. it's a green mentality that can help preserve the earth... one bag at a time.

the goods though... nice. fresh, good quality and well packaged. they took advantage of all the little branding opportunities too. 10 points for marketing.

my bounty was great. and to think all i did was place an order and come to work. no stopping off after work or anything. the only sacrifice really was having my desk look and smell like a mini veggie stand. so what did i get? funny you should ask...



huge potatoes. a pound i think.

some hot peppers.


a bundle of seasoning. chive, thyme and shadon beni. now i mentioned before that my mother would have my head if i ever told her i bought shadon beni because she has that growing in her yard like lawn grass. not to mention a host of other herbs. but the shadon beni here i would get away with. the leaves were about 13 inches long (measured against a MacBook. look, i was at the agency and the ruler was too far away ok?!)




how can you not get pimiento peppers right? goodish size. clean. fresh.


i got a callaloo pack for the first time. i always liked the concept, but never picked one up in the grocery. this one was bigger than what i usually see on the shelves though. everything prepared and packed into a ziplock bag with the appropriate branding.



callaloo bush cleaned and cut, ochro, pumpkin, hot pepper and garlic


they also had a provision pack. potato, eddoes, dasheen and cassava. everything peeled, cut and vaccum sealed. i see a serious soup in the near future.

pumpkin. again, nice and fresh.

must stock up on garlic and onion. i tend to buy too much of these and end up with some wastage. but i'm thinking, if it's this simple, i don't have to try that "let-me-buy-everything-one-time!" method. i could do the weekly thing. that's how veggies should be done anyway.


they also had some more "exotic" items, so i got some shitaki mushrooms to put into the mix.


it came up to $103. not bad i think. i'm going to do the comparison with the veggie stalls in aranguez, but from what i can remember, factoring in the delivery benefit (which i find is worth paying for) this market movers concept is bringing good value with convenience.

yeah david... allyuh doin a good job.

keep the market moving...

we go bubble.