Rotti!

I did another consultancy project today. Got a call last Friday night just when I was crazy busy for my Saturday wedding. Rotti with Curry they requested. Wednesday 2pm, recipes, tasting samples and demo! I thought, hey, I got Monday and Tuesday, so yes it is! For some reason, they changed it to Tuesday…. Eeeek! Rush again!! Good thing rotti has been an obsession of mine a few years back. My first taste of this flakey Indian bread was in Singapore! I loved this bread the moment I had it! Practice, practice, practice. Finally, I got my recipe from one of my chef instructors in culinary school. He worked in Malaysia for a while and got to travel around the region. I remembered I had to learn it “FAST” since that was for a television segment, and of course, since those were orders from the Chef ! -- “Elaine, this is how you do it (while showing the motion) flip it really thin. Get it? Now give me 10 of those!” Obligingly, I said “Yes Chef!” Not really knowing if I could indeed throw that dough in the air with out embarrassing myself. The first few tries were full of holes! Hahahahhaha I quickly folded it to hide the imperfections (eeeek). I was getting quite better from 4 to 10 though. It was fun! I was happy I learned it.




Teaching it this time gave me a different high. The owner of the Asian Café I was doing consultancy for was really happy. She said she had been trying to do it and ended up with a biscuit-like pastry. I served it with different kinds of curry dishes. Beef, Chicken, Seafood and Fish. The Business Unit Managers of the company I’m working for were pleased, the resto owner was really happy.

Over tasting, the mood dwindled a bit with the conversation of the tragedy that happened in Glorrieta. They had a branch there, quite near the area where it happened. Good thing no one from her staff got hurt. One of her staff shared that it was really bad, they heard 3 explosions, the first one was quite weak, some did not mind it, the 2nd explosion was the big one, it caused the destruction. The 3rd one made it even worse. There are rumors going around that it was mismanagement of the electrical circuits. No one really knows what the cause is. Its quite scary sometimes to think that to be at the wrong place at the wrong time can totally change someone’s life just like that. Sometimes I just wonder why things like these happen.

Food Shoot

Recently finished our photo shoot for the calendar of a flour milling company this week. It was a long project consisting of over 36 different recipes. After weeks of meetings and recipe testing, finally we have reached the finish line. Its a great experience to be able to work with food in a different angle. This time, its how it will look more than how it will taste. I particularly did a few adjustments as to the consistency of my mousse so as it be able to withstand the heat of the spotlight. Every detail was planned and each person has thier own contribution to the set. I made the desserts and garnished it. The food stylist added a few more touches to make it even look lively on camera. The set director was very particular about the over all look of shoot and of course the photographer took a shot adjusting the lighting as necessary. We worked long hours that day. It was fun though and well worth the time and effort!

All Natural Purple

Before I sleep tonight, I though I should do my purple yam filling for tomorrows bread. I am testing a recipe for a food company's 2008 calendar shoot this coming week. Well preparing the filling in advance will save me some cooling time tomorrow, so while I sleep it will just be chilling in my fridge.

I started on it. I got the yams from the market 2 days ago. I was searching for the perfectly all natural purple color! I did not want to add any artificial coloring if possible. I guess I'll just trusted my instincts. I got myself a large piece of yam. about 1.6K. Well I could not get anything smaller, because they won't allow me to cut it up. I don't want the smaller ones. I remembered one of my helpers in the province told me that for you to get a purple yam with a deep violet color, you have to choose the longer larger ones. Be carefull not to get the older ones though that might have a tough flesh. I don't know if thats a fact but, well followed her advice and brought what I though was the right size and weight and shape.

I was actually pretty excited to cut it up to see if I got the jackpot!




Well I did! Look at the lovely color. Deep purple. Isn't that beautiful? Went on with cooking it and turned it to my bread filling. Tomorrow or hmmmm.... later in the morning the yeast will be working its wonders again.

Durian City!

How do you know you have landed in Davao? As soon as the plane door opens, take a deep breath… inhaaaaaaale Ahhhhhhh…… yes! You’ll be able to confirm it! It was a business trip this time. I did a cooking demo and conducted a seminar for a milling company last week. It was the Mindanao Culinary Festival. There were competitions among professionals and students as well as shows and exhibits. It was a three day well attended event. I’ve met a lot of Chefs from Culinary School instructors to Restaurant and Business owners both from Manila and locally.

Day 1: To have Durian was at the top of my list before I even started packing for the trip! Indeed I got my wish! Gigi, The QA manager for the Davao sector of the milling company I was representing, bought me one whole fruit! They have a lot of varieties and the one that I first tasted was the Arancillo. This Durian variety is actually the small kind. It has large seeds, not the usual fleshy, cloudy ones (the Puyat Variety) that I imagined it to be, but the flavor is really strong. Its not for the faint of heart.

Day 2: I judged a culinary competition. Plated durian desserts! Whew! Over 22 different durian plates. That was indeed a lot. Lesson learned??? “Eat in Moderation” (Well in this case, I couldn’t, Its my job to taste everything!) , after the event that day, I went back to the hotel. Felt a little dizzy there. ☺

Day 3

Rice, my old college friend and her husband Mark has a durian farm. They toured me around Davao and even bought me to Paradise Island for brunch! Well, I can say they serve really good calamares!


They tried to bring durian for me, but the resort did not allow for us to have it inside, so we went to their place and had the durian there! It was the fleshier cloudier version!



The one that I was looking for. It was great, though with a really full stomach from lunch, (paella, fresh coconut juice, fish and all), it would not fit in my tiny intestines! Thanks Rice!


I got my wish! Hahahaha! a bit more than what I was expecting but truly a memorable food experience.