Are you HUNGRY for knowledge ? Then stay tuned to this blog - a foodie's perspective on cooking and an in depth look at what goes on in the lives of students, faculty and the general public at SCAFA, the School of Culinary and Finishing Arts.
Dear SCAFAscribblers, We are fast approaching the opening ofSCAFA, scheduled for the 16th of September.
It has been a time-consuming, exciting and wonderful couple of weeks that have kept us on the tips of our toes getting everything ready to open our doors for you. We recently launched our social media campaign with rounds of ongoing email blasts and are so excited by the fabulous response we received and the level of interest people have expressed in SCAFA and the classes we plan to hold.
As one last tidbit, I'd like to leave you with some more pictures from the site as we get closer and closer to finalising everything.
Welcome to SCAFA ... Bon Appetit !!
Items on display in Demo Room
Watch our chefs in action in our beautiful Demo Room
Enjoy lunch ... SCAFE style
View from the inside
Ready ... Set ... Cook !!
Use your tools wisely
Items on display in our reception
Starting to build our school library .. plenty of reading material for our students
As previously mentioned in our last blog, the lights recently went on for the very first time in SCAFA !
While we continue to get ready for the launch of the school (keep on checking SCAFA FB and Twitter for updates on this) check out this video on our Youtube :
Also here are some pictures showing SCAFA as a Work in Progress:
I’m sorry for the very long
blackout – it won’t happen again. And the reason is that SCAFA is about to hit Dubai! So stay tuned for
important news and updates from me, including competitions and special offers
that we’re putting together for the launch.
Yesterday was perhaps one of
the most fun days for me when we threw a switch and for the very first time all the lights in SCAFA went on like
a Christmas tree
[ next blog coming up soon :) ]
We recently had another "SCAFA-Tasting" as we continue to work on the menus for SCAFÉ, our French bistro, which we’ll launch immediately after Eid.
Preparing the tasting
menus was Chef Haroon, from the Cordon Bleu (where else until we start
preparing the best chefs ourselves), working under the unforgiving watchful eye
of Chef Audrey. We think he did okay because he still lives and I know that I
saw Audrey smiling at the end of the evening.
The evening
was yummy and I am attaching some pictures for you to get an early flavour of
SCAFÉ .
Mise en Bouche
(Which is a setting for the mouth)
Chilled Cucumber Soup
Crab Bisque with Wasabi Chantilly
Entrée
Salad with Pears and Figs
Tuna Tartare
Plats Principaux
Shrimp and Pumpkin Open Ravioli with Hollandaise
Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto with Truffle Oil
Plat
de Résistance
Candied Lamb
Beef and Spinach
Lasagne
Des Petites
Douceurs (Sweet endings)
Red Berries Panna
Cotta
Chocolate
and Orange Mousse
The end of day
rankings, by vote, were:
1.
Chocolate
Mousse - No one can argue with a great chocolate mousse
especially when its made
with great Belgian chocolate.
2.
Candied
Lamb - Build it and they will yum !
3.
Risotto
- The truffle oil did the trick ... it smelt beautiful and tasted soo good.
4.
Ravioli
- My favourite dish of the evening ... the hollandaise sauce was
outstanding !!
5.
Panna
Cotta with berry coulis - Smooth ‘n' creamy.
6.
Lasagne - Solid stuff.
7.
Salad
with figs and pear - Light, summery with an explosion of flavours.
8.
Chilled
Cucumber Soup - Beautifully green and very fresh. A great dish for
Dubai.
9.
Tuna
Tartar.
10. Crab
Bisque – A chic dish with a wasabi Chantilly bite.
Well there you have
it, the results are out but we would love to hear from you and get your feedback
– how do you like the sound of the emerging menu, are there any favourites you’d
like to see?
I’ll keep posting so
please drop by so that you don’t miss out on the action over the next busy few
weeks.
Surprise ... by definition a surprise is to cause or to feel wonder, astonishment , or amazement at something unanticipated.
And in today's modern world food and cuisine are both huge playgrounds that fill people minds and stomach with surprise and delight.
But did Alvin Leung aka the 'Demon Chef' take the element of surprise to a whole new level?
Watch the video and read on ... : )
Alvin Leung is the creator of "Bo Innovation' a 2-Michelin star restaurant situated in the busy city that never sleeps, Hong Kong.
Alvin Leung's Mission: To change people's perception of food. To remove phobia of foods and make people more adventurous to new dishes.
Having dabbled in engineering Alvin has brought a new crazy culinary art form to life by bringing science and food together.
What makes Alvin special from the other impressive chefs who use molecular gastronomy in their kitchens, is that Alvin is able to de-construct traditional / ancient Chinese recipes and re-construct them into something extraordinary.
One of the recipes that he has been able to de-construct is a very famous Chinese dish called "lap mei fun"
(which is preserved meats with rice). Alvin transforms the preserved meat (liver and sausage) and makes it into an ice cream with a bit of rice for texture. So when you eat the meal ,you are bedazzled by the look of the dish; you just can't put your finger on why something that tastes so familiar is coming from something that looks so different.
The main reason as to why I found this video so interesting is because of how people perceive presentation of food and the importance of the overall look of a dish. From the clip, it is very clear the visual presentation of food is very important when consuming a meal. Like the saying goes "you eat with your eyes, not just your stomach".
When considering the types of classes that are offered at SCAFA, our students will soak up different types of cuisine and their historic background from Stir Fried Chicken through to Florentine Steak. We will theoretically de-construct the main elements and techniques from each style of cooking.
Classes in 'molecular gastronomy' will soon be offered as part of our enthusiast classes. This class will be very popular so that students can try and create the same Alvin Leung creations at home to 'wow' their families and friends.
Just
came across this video on youtube and thought it was an amazing clip.
When
I saw this clip, it made me think of the saying in the animated movie
"Ratatouille" :
... Anyone
can cook
...
Lilly
and Audrey are a young and talented culinary duo. Both of the little
chefs started to cook from their own kitchen from a very young age.
By watching how their parents prepared food, the twins were able to
pick up the art of cooking from the age of 5.
Since
then, they have been conquering the culinary world one spoonful at a
time.
Lilly
and Audrey have created many fabulous recipes ranging from "Orange
Lassi" to "Citrus Smoked Salmon with Crostini", but
the Bumini is one of their quirkiest recipes that has been created.
After
preparing what looks like a normal French roll sandwich, the final
preparation involves placing the sandwich in a paper bag on resting
your bum over the sandwich until it becomes as warm as you would like
the sandwich to be.
This
sandwich is vegan friendly as well as curiously creative.
I
would like to urge everyone to try this once at home with the kids,
or even if you run out of time and need to heat your sandwich in a
hurry.
What
I liked about these little chefs is the message they give to other
kids and grown ups alike : Cooking
can be delicious, fun and healthy.
Having
appeared on shows like Good Morning America and the Ellen Show, this
twosome have catapulted into stardom and have a huge
Twitter and Facebook following.
Mary-Kate
and Ashley Olsen better watch out, here come the new twins!!
