International Culinary Cuisine Classes - French Bistro Cooking

Saturday, 26 of May , 2007 @ 6:32 am

Tags: The Diamond Hotel, French cuisine, French food, Bistro

My mom could not attend this week’s International Culinary Cuisine Class at The Diamond Hotel, so I gladly took her place. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I mean, how often do you get to learn from the executive chef of a world-class hotel known for having some of the best restaurants in the country?

This week’s theme was especially enticing - French Bistro Cooking. I’ve heard the word ‘bistro’ before but I wasn’t sure what it meant. I am tempted to say that ‘bistro’ is a kind of restaurant in France, but from what I learned today, bistros and restaurants in France are as different from each other as restaurants and cafes. Cafes are for, well, coffee; they rarely serve food there, save for sandwiches. Restaurants have full-course meals. French bistros do not serve “delicate food”, and have relatively simpler meals that are served quickly (I have heard from my friends who have gone to France that one must really wait for hours before their meal is served), made with ingredients fresh off the market.

Chef Jean-Pierre Migne definitely made this whole experience fun. He was not very hands-on with our class, but I still learned a lot of cooking techniques from his cooking demo. He is a very good teacher, and a very funny guy, too. I think he has been in the Philippines for quite some time, because he got the common Filipino expressions right - from using ‘di ba and sige na, to referring to the chicken as manok, to saying “Kawawa naman ako” when no one was volunteering. Ha ha! How adorable. You would love him if you meet him.

Chef Migne taught us two things I won’t forget. The first one is not to “pulverize” the food we cook. He noticed that Filipinos put the fire on too strong when they cook - “atomic cooking”, he calls it. Cooking with low-fire does the job just as good -or even better- without pulverizing or ruining all the good stuff in your food, like fiber. He also said that cooking isn’t a science - it’s about creativity. He said, the reason why cookbook recipes don’t really turn out as great as we hoped is because the author doesn’t reveal all of his secrets, to allow us for freedom and creativity in our dishes.

Before we started, they served us what Chef likes to call a “French breakfast”, which is just coffee and croissants. Apparently, Parisians aren’t big on breakfast. I must say, The Diamond Hotel has really, really good coffee. They charcoal-roast their coffee at the Ko Hi Kan at the ground floor. One of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had.

We learned four dishes today. According to Chef Migne these are the usual dishes one would find in a French bistro. By the way, the food in French bistros vary in different regions in France. Chef Migne is from Brittany (and is very proud of it), so his food reflects the influence of that region. We were taught how to make two appetizers (one of which is a salad), a main course, and a dessert. The names of the dishes made it sound so complicated to make, but they’re actually pretty easy. All the dishes in the demo were served for our lunch at Restaurant Le Bellevue. You know, it really is the “most romantic restaurant in the metro”. I can only imagine what the lovely Manila Bay looks like at night from the 27th floor.

The first dish was Gratinated Oysters and Mussels with Mushrooms and Garlic-Herb Butter. I love oysters. Just typing that out made my mouth water. I finally know why they place oysters on a bed of salt. Oyster shells are uneven, so if you cook them without the salt, the ingredients (the oysters, butter, etc) will spill out of the shell. Pretty neat, huh. Using pebbles will do the trick, too.

I love this dish. The melted mozzarella was heavenly. And the oysters and mussels were huge! They served this dish with some white wine from France.

Next was the Fried Camembert and Crabmeat in Pocket-Phyllo paste and Mesclun Salad with Dressing. I will now add Camembert on my list of favorite cheeses. And the dressing was very unique - apple juice, sesame oil and vinegar. I love it. The assorted lettuce made the dish more colorful and appetizing.

The Pan-fried Chicken Breast stuffed with Cured Ham and Emmenthal Cheese, and Pont Neuf Potato was our main course. Wow. I don’t even have adjectives to describe how delicious this was. I can still taste the salty ham and oregano, and the red wine sauce. Exquisite. They served this with French red wine.

By the way, Pont Neuf is the “real French fries”, according to Chef.

But the dessert, Flambeed Strawberries with Green Peppercorns and Basil with Vanilla Ice Cream really takes the cake. How ingenious is that, mixing together the sweetness of strawberries and vanilla ice cream with herbs and spices? This is what Chef Migne meant about being creative with food. You might surprise yourself by creating excellent dishes by combining the most unlikely of ingredients. They also included some toasted ensaymada. The Diamond Hotel, according to Chef Migne, has the best ensaymada in the world. And I would definitely agree.

After lunch, we received certificates of recognition. Then we had a photo op with Chef Migne. I would show you my picture with him, but my arms looked too fat so never mind. Ha ha. I uploaded it and my other pictures in my Multiply, although you cannot see them if you’re not a contact. (Sorry, I don’t add anyone I don’t know in real life. ;p )

This whole experience makes me want to pursue that Hotel Management dream even more. I can really imagine myself doing this forever.

I highly recommend attend one of their classes. Here are the schedules for the next two sessions:

June 2- Traditional Cooking Class by Chef Junichi Sekiyama
June 9- Thai/Vietnamese Cuisine by Chef Mel Taylo

For reservations and inquiries
call Events Lounge +6325283000 or email events@diamondhotel.com

For 2,500 pesos per class, you will be entitled to a live cooking demo by the Diamond Hotel Chefs and complimentary snacks and lunch. Participants also get a 5% discount on jewelry from Jewelmer and are automatically included in the raffle for the prize of PHO 2,500 Jewelmer Gift Certificate.

Diamond Hotel Philippines
Location Address: Roxas Boulevard cor. Dr. J. Quintos St., Manila, Philippines 1000
Telephone: (632) 528-3000
Fax: (632) 526-2255
Email: bizcenter@diamondhotel.com
Website: www.diamondhotel.com

Category: Food

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