Text 2568, 109 rader
Skriven 2008-02-16 23:06:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: V-day dinner
====================
Roslind and I enjoyed an absolutely superb Valentine's Day dinner.
There was seating for just 12 couples in an intimate setting, the
foyer of a large, new, beautifully designed, public building.  In
the foreground a 20 foot by 40 foot, floor to ceiling, picture
window looked out onto a rock courtyard irregularly landscaped with
glacier scarred boulders and wild birch and pine trees all bathed in
soft flood lights while the snow fell gently like a scene in a
Currier and Ives postcard. In the background a sloping natural rock
outcrop had been preserved indoors as the architect had designed the
building around it. The rock rose twenty feet and had a staircase
carved into it leading to the upper floor.

The menu was ambitious and by and large carried off quite well. Due
to the setting the dinner was alcohol free. But the mocktails were
delightful and the de-alcoholized wines served were adequate.

We started off with a punch-like mocktail composed of a blend of
orange, pineapple and mango juices with grenadine and ginger ale.
Naturally it lacked the kick from spirits but was still a very tasty
sip in its own right.

I was somewhat hesitant over the amuse-bouche which was a watermelon
soup with a shrimp garnish as I couldn't imagine the two flavours
marrying up but it turned out to be delightful. A single jumbo shrimp
was poached without skewering or butterflying so that it curled up
into a half circle. Normally a chef tries to avoid this but two
shrimp assembled head to head form the shape of a perfect heart,
appropriate for Valentine's day. The shrimp was lightly brushed with a
mild chile oil and combined with a small cube of honeydew melon
with a toothpick and used to garnish a shooter glass of chilled
watermelon soup which was heavily salted and seasoned generously
with mint and cilantro. The chile oil, salt and cilantro paired up
nicely and the honeydew and mint brought together the disparate
flavours of the watermelon and shrimp quite well.

The more substantial appetizer which followed was most excellent.
Triangular wedges of beef tenderloin were skewered, rolled in
pistachio dukka spice and grilled. (Dukka is an Egyptian blend of
cracked roasted chickpeas, hazelnuts, coriander seed, cumin and
black pepper that is usually eaten by dipping pita bread into olive
oil then the dukka. Substituting pistachios for the chickpeas and
hazelnuts was brilliant.) It was accompanied by a delightful salad
bouquet in a vase. The vase was made by slicing a cucumber thinly
lengthwise, rolling it into a circle and standing it on edge on the
plate. The circle was stuffed with a variety of baby greens
carefully inserted stems down with the leaves fluffed out to form
the bouquet. A little pomegranate molasses for the beef and a
yogurt based dressing for the salad rounded things out. There was
also a spoonful of couscous; the usual... there's not a lot to be
said about cous cous.

The wine with this course was a de-alcoholized Cab Sauv that tried
to but really couldn't match the real thing. It was quite thin with
a vinegar nose.  

While waiting for the main course we were offered a beet sorbet as a
palate cleanser. It was heavily, perhaps too heavily, spiced with
star anise and would have been improved with lighter touch with the
spice.

The main course was breast of chicken stuffed with minced shrimp and
a mild goat cheese. This was perfect; roasted just a pointe so that
the breast meat remained wonderfully moist. It was drizzled with a
roasted red pepper sauce with a hint of roasted chilies, a potato
galette (heart shaped of course) and oven roasted asparagus and
cauliflower.

The wine was a de-alcoholized Chardonnay which was again somewhat
flawed.... sweet with a nail polish bouquet.

The dessert course was a black Forest chocolate mousse wrapped in a
chocolate trellis, topped with pistachio and cherry flecked white
chocolate bark and served with a tart cherry compote and vanilla
creme anglaise. There was just the slightest hint of ground chile in
the cherries which was a nice touch. Very tasty and wonderfully
garnished, plated and presented as were all the preceding courses.

The accompanying "wine" was a delightful peach "champagne" which was
absolutely wonderful. So it turns out that some de-alcoholized wines
or non-alcoholic ersatz wines can be decent beverages after all.

We finished with Red zinger tea and a wonderful small but intensely
rich chocolate truffle again with a subtle dusting of chile.

The menu touched on all the Valentine's symbols: red things, heart
shaped things, phallic things. (They should have had an oyster
course though to be complete!) The plating and presentation was
ornate but flawless; the dishes intricate but by and large well
executed. Each course was heavily seasoned; the theme had been "hot
cuisine" (a play on words on haute cuisine.)

Now here's the kicker. We had dinner at the Catholic High school and
the dinner was prepared and served by the Vocation Trade School's
cooking students. They were all kids in grade 11 and 12! I was most
impressed. The charge was $80 per couple with all the proceeds going
to help fund various student projects. So the money was doubly well
spent. I was totally amazed by the kid's talent and the abilities of
their teacher to bring them along so far in just 3 semesters.



Cheers

YK Jim


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