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:

FRIDAY LUNCH BUFFET @ TTHTI

(phone rings)

BITTT: hello?

jason: hi q! how you doin? it's jason.

BITTT: aye jason. what's up meng?

jason: i'm good. our internal internship period is on at TTHTI and i wanted to invite you guys for lunch as my guests...

at least, that was the intent of the phone call. it was a bit jerkier than that with the poor reception and what not, but the end result was us heading down to the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute on friday for lunch with chef jason peru, executive lecturer, TTHTI.

looking at the well preserved vintage feel of the building's exterior, you probably wouldn't expect a nicely designed modern dining room with a bistro feel inside. complete with a state of the art kitchen and bar too. but then again, it is a premium culinary institute with a number of international affiliations, why wouldn't you expect that?


anyway, in this setting, the institute gives its students the opportunity to test their skills in a real world scenario,

that means that they host and prepare meals and beverages for actual customers. this helps to meet the needs of the industry by producing students that are more or less ready for the practical situation having sharpened their chops on events like these. call them practice runs and then some.

so we enjoyed a nice buffet styled meal done entirely by the students and let me say, i think they did just fine.

soup and salad with a choice of plain or herb rolls...


beef arepas...

rice pilaf...

bacon wrapped chicken roulade...

beef steaks made to order the right way. sprinkled with a little salt, black pepper, done in a hot skillet and served with a herb butter.

and what good meal is complete without dessert? there was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, served with a cherry sauce.

i thought the students did very well. service with a smile as well as a proud glow that said "yeah... we make dat!"

it was a very enjoyable experience as well as a delicious meal. basically a best kept secret. you can check it out at the TTHTI in chaguramus daily from now until February 4th. breakfast - $40, lunch - $90, dinner - $125. isn't that right chef jason?

WHAT'S LE BRUNCH?

it's a refreshing thing when someone says they're doing something different and you really see the difference. even though a growing number of spots in T&T offer brunch these days, brunch isn't all that common (for example, this brunch started swinging at about half 1! i doh think we get it yet). so the idea of a brunch party is like a double whammy to most. different kinda party... different vibe of party... different time of party. now truth be told, i'm more of a limer than a clubber (got that out my system very early in the game), so i don't know how powerful my words are in this department. but to answer the question i've been getting since mentioning it on twitter, le brunch is the kinda scene i will attend. starts at 11. serves nice food for brunch. alcohol flowing. music in the background. friends to link up with and new people to meet. de occasional boogie if it come up. i good wid dat. at least while i was there, it was just a cool scene in a cool place.

apparently this was the 2nd le brunch. ah guess they got most of the kinks worked out, because i don't really have anything to complain about. chaud was a good venue for the intimate crowd, with the right kinda ambiance for an event like that. and with robert de gannes on board, yuh know yuh could expect some digital fun, like a live twitter feed updating on big screens.

this pic has no real significance to this entry. maybe somebody ordered it or got it as a gift or something, because i didn't see vodka on the menu. however i needed to document this to remind me to ask the question "aye! how come i doh have a cool ketel one bucket wid a bottle of vodka in my house?" ah mean, come on!!

not that i was lacking likka anyway. the media table was well taken care of. well, every table was well taken care of, but we were close to the bar so our drinks were coming super fast. on the drinks menu there was FRANZIA sangria which i only had much later on hence no pic. not really a sangria lover anyway. but this MT GAY rum punch was nice. the trick was to ask for a splash of bitters in it.

and there were SPERONE mimosas too. plus there was a MONSTER bar outside serving samples of different mixes. in other words, alcohol was abundant up in dis.

but on to what i really went for. the brunch itself. well of course, it's a food blog. they were wise enough to prepare special media plates so we could sample more than one of the menu items prepared by chef kahlid mohammed, the brain child behind chaud. we got a platter with 5 of the 7 options available which excluded a wild mushroom frittata with porcini sauce and a field greens salad, as well as a grilled tofu & vegetable kebab with tabbouleh salad and hummus.

these were just samples. the actual plate was bigger than this. decent helpings for a brunch. before i found out we were getting samples of more than one item, i selected this one. bangers and mash, served with mushy peas and some english mustard. i was right. it was the one i enjoyed the most. a well made sausage over creamy mashed potatoes. tasty.

also good was the bbq shrimp & white corn grits. the shrimp was the star here. real nice guava bbq flavour. points.

now i am very funny with eggs. freakishly funny some might say. so this dish, though it looked interesting and well executed, wasn't really my thing. smoked salmon with a poached egg, baby spinach and hollandaise sauce on an english muffin. i had everything but the egg, so i'd say i didn't really experience the dish. the remaining elements were ok though.

again my preferences came into play. i couldn't remember being asked about the temperature of my meat, but i prefer a medium to well piece of beef. the beef on my plate was more on the rare side. it was roast prime with a cheddar popover served with a traditional gravy and horseradish foam. not really my thing.

a lot of people were wowed by the idea of the chicken & waffles with spiced honey sauce. even i was. but i think the idea created a different expectation from what was plated. not that it didn't taste great. it did. it just wasn't the chicken & waffles i was thinking about. that being said, not a soul on the table left anything back on the plate. the spices gave it a kinda jerk flavour and the well executed waffle played a nice supporting role.

you can expect some swag from an event like this. what i didn't expect was to get one of the most suggestive swag bags i've ever come across. a shot of beefeater gin, some blue waters, a small colgate, a nature valley granola bar (nutty), 2 durex condoms, eclipse gum, monster coffee energy drink, a 15% off coupon for the naughty grape and a 10% off discount card for the lulu-rue boutique. according to cheryl lala's response to my twitter post "subtle like a ton of bricks!"

all in all, i think it was a nice way to spend a sunday. nice food, nice drinks, nice vibes. the team mentioned that they are trying to do 3 per year. i wouldn't mind if they have it in the same spot. chaud works. and if people really do make it le brunch and not le late lunch by being seated at 11 would be cool too. something different... good show. keep it up.

INTERNATIONAL CULINARY FESTIVAL take 1

the first day of the big event at the jean pierre complex/hasely crawford stadium was as unexpected for us as one of kes the illusionist's tricks to an unsuspecting patron. why?

well we expected a great show from iron chef garces (yes english, i did see him chop up the nuts with his knife like he was slicing paper or something). after all, he's an iron chef...

we expected to stumble upon some of those fine products that pop up at events like these...

we expected to see some friends of the blog, like Brian from the tobago blue food festival entry...

we even expected some good entertainment like the ever comical, ever lyrical nuts landing...

steel pan... check.

and tambu bamboo... check.

but we didn't expect to be that moved by the young culinarians competition. i mean, the excitement, the passion on display and the performances by all the teams involved was out of this world. and this is just the semi finals.

it was really nice to see the students making the most of the iron chef's presence.

surely a once in a lifetime opportunity that any motivated, aspiring chef would love.

of course we're going to show you the recording, but seeing it live is a whole different ball game.

check out the video below, but come down today to the finals and check it out live: