Sensory Blog Post

The new food I tried this week was Romanesco Broccoli. My dad and I decided to go up north to go shopping at some of the farms because on the weekend we were going to make our own Bomba, which is spicy Italian hot pepper oils so that we can give it out as gifts for Christmas and we needed a large amount of hot peppers. At one of the farmer's markets I noticed this strange and yet beautiful vegetable, the Romanesco Broccoli. I had no idea how to cook it or what to do with it so we bought two. The meer shape and structure of it was magnificent. My mind kept trying to figure out how I  was going to cook it and I am always up for a challenge.  

After we visited the farmer's market we went to the grocery store and they had wild pickerel on display and decided to pick some of those up. Then and there I decided to make dinner: wild pickerel, with a warm charred Romanesco salad with parsnip puree.

     When creating the dish I thought about the delicateness of the pickerel, the smoothness and sweet notes the parsnip puree would give and the nice smoky and spicy flavours the warm Romanesco salad would give. The Romanesco salad was made by charring some of the buds, obviously and placing it in a roasting pan with some freshly sliced chilli, and a mire poix and some white wine given to my family that was made by one of our neighbours. I cooked the Romanesco broccoli as I would of either broccoli or cauliflower in that I did not overcook it so that it is soft but undercook it so that it still has its crunch and the sweet clean notes that are associated with broccoli and cauliflower. The warm salad really complimented the pickerel as the pickerel did not have too much flavour but more so with texture. I thought it was a perfect pairing as the salad was crunchy, the fish was cooked so it's still tender on the inside and soft, and the parsnip puree just soaked up any juices from the fishes and the salad and acted just like a sauce. There was a lot of umami in the warm salad because I added some anchioves which just melted in the dressing whilst it cooked. The broccoli had a toasted nutty sort of flavour and just a little bit of bitterness but not an overwhelming sort of bitterness it just sort of had a soft note in the background.

Seared Wild Pickerel with warm Romanesco salad served with parsnip puree

     I really enjoyed the Romanesco broccoli and I would probably use it again. For the recipe above I didn't want to create a dish with this beautiful produce that someone would typically do with a broccoli or cauliflower as it was so different and unique that I knew most people probably would not have seen it or cooked with it. 

     I always encourage my friends to try something that makes them uncomfortable because life shouldn't always be about being in comfort it should be about moving outside of your bubble and living on the edge. If one's life is just kept in comfort that life is not a life well lived. There are so many things to learn about the world and especially in the culinary world that if we close the shutters to these opportunities we might as well just leave the profession.

     The next food I am going to try is something I have tried before but haven't made it yet or made it at home. Come the colder season I will be making my own homemade proscuitto as well as cure my own italian pork sausages and let them cure and age in my cantina ( Italian for cold room) with my homemade bomba's as well as the hot pepper oils and hot peppers stuffed with tuna in extra virgin olive oil. I cannot wait to see the results and hear what other's think of them. The great thing is about doing this is I haven't done it before and it is something I am very interested in learning more about and if I make mistakes along the way that's fine because that just means more learning and you always learn from your mistakes.

Until next time,

K.M.W.

Simple Marinara Sauce

             

Kevin's Perfect Tomato Sauce

I get so annoyed when I hear my friends tell me that they went to the grocery store and bought canned tomato sauce when it is super simple to make, you know exactly what goes in it and you can control how it' made. This is a very versatile sauce that can be used for foccaccia, pizza, panzerotti, and homemade pastas.

 





Serves 4 people

Ingredients

5 cloves of garlic sliced thinly

1 medium sized onion small dice

6 Large Roma Tomatoes, large dice

2 sprigs of Fresh Basil

4 Sprigs of Fresh Italian Parsley

1/2 cup of red wine (one that you would drink)

3 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Above: Bucatini Al'Amatricana with purple basil  
                                                                             florets and the simple

 

Cooking Method

1.      Place a medium size sauce pan on a burner and add the Extra Virgin Olive oil and let it heat up

2.      Just before the olive oil smokes add in your thinly sliced garlic and let it cook and lightly roast in the olive oil. After it becomes a light golden hue add in your diced onion and let it caramelize.

3.      After the onions turn into a light caramel colour add in your red wine and let it reduce to half.

4.      After the wine has reduced add in your fresh diced tomatoes to the pot and let it simmer on medium high heat and stir occasionally

5.      After about 30-40 minutes the tomato sauce should reach a texture somewhat similar to thick cooked oatmeal. The tomatoes would have broken down into a sauce. When it has reached such point add in some Basil Leaves & some chopped Italian parsley.

6.      Season to taste and serve with some fresh homemade ravioli. It is up to you whether you want to take out the tomato skins or not. I like to leave it in so it's more rustic.

Cheers,
K.M.W.

Biography

Hi my name is Kevin Wong. I am a first year student in Culinary Management at George Brown College in Toronto. I have loved food and the joy and art of cooking since I was in grade 1. The passion grew when I first heard my mom making tomato sauce in the kitchen and I loved hearing the sizzle of onions caramelizing in a pan with olive oil and that's where I learned my first recipe. Ever since then I have always had a hunger and thirst for learning more about cooking whether it be the latest technologies being used like sous vide, or the uses of many ingredients, or even ingredients that are foreign to me.

   I have always enjoyed eating out and therefore I love to cook. If I see a recipe or a famous dish at a restaurant, I would always want to try to make it myself and then sometimes go to the restaurant and compare the dishes all dependable on if the price is affordable. The reason I want to become a chef is because I cannot see myself in an occupation that does not involve food. Recently I competed for Masterchef Canada for it's first season. It was not for me to actually be on the show although that would have been nice it was just to compete and learn and meet other people that are just as passionate about cooking and food as I am. I was able to meet Michael Bonacini and Chef Claudio Aprile as well as one of the Master Tasters from Masterchef US.It was definitely a great learning experience.

Before coming to George Brown I was working for Compass Group Canada as a Chef Manager at several of their units around the GTA from The Globe & Mail to the Royal Bank managing the food within the building. In that position I provided customers with a variety of different cuisines such as teriyaki beef lettuce wraps, baked ziti, among other things. In regards to cooking and eating my philosophy is I will try a dish twice so I can know whether or not I like it or an ingredient this way I will be able to know what it tastes like before I judge the ingredient.

Through this experience going to George Brown I hope to network with fellow students and hopefully we will all become successful in this field and know where we came from.

I

This is me making Roasted Bone Marrow on Roasted Garlic Crostini with a mini parsley salad and smoked salt after having a craving watching Fergus Henderson cook it in his restaurant, St. John's in London.