Chef spices student workshop with Latin flavors
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
Chef Taji at hands-on workshop with students
Chef Taji Marie chopped jalapeños with the warning, “If you aren’t used to this, use gloves and don’t touch your eyes.”
She doused halibut with lime juice and plunked it on top of sautéed vegetables with the admonition, “I know you don’t all like fish, but believe me, you will love this.”
She introduced students to smoked paprika, Jamaican Pickapeppa sauce and acai juice from the Brazilian rain forest. She explained how to refry a sauce to concentrate flavors, how to clean a molcajete with rice and water, how to get a good crispy crust on a grilled pork loin to lock in moisture and flavor.
Simple Red Chili Enchiladas with Zucchini and Corn.
At the 4th annual Culinary Enhancement Workshop in Derby Dining Center, the Los Angeles chef grilled, blended and cooked up a Latin menu that encompassed Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and the Caribbean Islands. Chef Taji, executive chef for Simple Gourmet, demonstrated Mediterranean food for the 2007 workshop.
“You can’t make sweeping generalizations about Latin flavors,” the chef said.
Mexico is filled with regional diversity that started with Aztecs and Mayans, she said. Key flavors are tomatoes, onion, garlic, chilies, citrus, cilantro and corn. Most of what we know about Mexican food is Tex-Mex, she added.
Caribbean taste was influenced by indigenous people, African slaves and European immigrants and usually involves a mixture of heat and sweet – chili and fruit.
Students Shaakira Grant, left, Hannah Tetter and jalapeño pepper.
In South America, flavors have a mellow complexity and are less spicy. Europeans had tremendous culinary influence, as does the Amazon rain forest, she said.
Chef Taji dispensed practical advice, too:
- To release flavors, add spices such as cumin, chili powder and cayenne to the hot oil in the cooking process.
- Roasted chili peppers have richer flavor and are not as spicy.
- Remove seeds from dried chilies. They are bitter and have lost flavor.
The Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management and Dietetics sponsors the annual event. Missy Schrader coordinated the workshops on March 6 for professionals and alumni and on March 7 for students.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 and is filed under Dean's Blog.