Day 20 at The Culinary: Brazil and India

Today I got to eat a lot of interesting food.

Because students are graduating, it seems like all of the kitchens are on a different schedule. So, getting meals has been an adventure. I woke up late, knowing that Banquet will be closed for a while, and decided to go to lunch on my own schedule.

When I got to K16, there was an enormous line stretched almost to the front doors of the building. I knew right away that I wasn't going to try eating there. I saw some friends at the back of the line, and I asked them what was going on. They said that, because Banquet was closed, everyone who would eat there is now searching for food elsewhere. K16 is quick and easy, so everyone decided to go there.

I decided to press my luck. I went past K16 in search of a kitchen that was open without an insanely long line. I stumbled upon the Americas kitchen which only had one more dish. Guess who got it, suckaaaa!

-- Salad with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette and Queso Fresco
-- White Rice
-- Moqueca do Frutos del Mar with Shrimp, Scallops, Mussels, Clams, Squid, Coconut Milk, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes and Cilantro

Queso Fresco: A Latin American rendition of cottage cheese made from skim milk

Moqueca: A traditional Brazilian seafood stew

Frutos del Mar: Portuguese for "fruits of the sea", referring to an assortment of seafood

I got the last plate from the Americas kitchen, and I was extremely satisfied that it was Brazilian. I find Brazilian to be some of the best food there is. I like to think of it as tropical mix of most Spanish-speaking countries' foods. 

This was definitely one of the better meals I've had here. I do love seafood, and here was a tropical seafood stew that was all mine. The salad was pretty good, but it would've been really plain if it weren't for the queso fresco. It added a nice, fresh saltiness. The rice was good too, but when you think about it, it's hard to go wrong with white rice. 

Once I disposed of the shells from my mussels and clams, I was left with a glorious pile of seafood and tender vegetables, all in a coconut based soup. All of the seafood was delicious, and the liquid in the bowl was scrumptious. The peppers and tomatoes were very tender, so it all became a soft, warm meal.

After I finished my food, I went to dispose of my plates when I saw my friends from the K16 line entering Farq.. All I had to do was show them my empty plates, and they knew I got lucky. So, they enjoyed their food as I left to go back to my room.

When it came time for dinner, there was a problem. It was still Brazilian at Americas, and I really wanted some Brazilian. There was a long line, and I wasn't exactly towards the front. When they opened up the kitchen, the plates went really fast. Before I knew it, they were out of everything. I was pretty close to the front at that point, and I knew that I, along with everyone else who would now have to find food, would have to go to the nearest open kitchen. Asias was right next door, and it was Indian. I try not to get food from a kitchen when they're doing a country I've already tried, but it was a mess at the time. I knew that I would at least have to get a different menu item than last time, and I did.

 

-- Lamb Shorba

-- Tandoori Chicken (Red), with Naan, Samosa, Yellow Rice, Purise, Bondas, and Mango Chutney

Once again, I cannot really explain what these things mean. However, I can give my thoughts. It contained chicken in a tandoori sauce, naan bread, potato samosa, yellow rice, odd-looking dipping sauces, and mango chutney.

The chicken had great flavor, but a little too much of it. The sauce was overpowering, and hindered me from finishing it all. The naan was tastier this time than the last, and the samosa was a really good addition. I also loved the fact that this plate had mango chutney, chutney being a sweet pile of reduced fruit, because pretty anything with mango is awesome, and this is condensed mango. The rice was average, and the soup was a thousand times better than the last. The lamb inside wasn't rubbery this time, but perfectly cooked, and the broth was fantastic.

After dinner, I had another big tasting in Product Knowledge class. Today's section was on mushrooms, stalks, and shoots. Here's what we tasted:

- King Oyster Mushroom(Trumpet Royale)

- Maiitake Mushroom

- Dried Shiitake Mushroom

- Morel Mushroom

- Chantrelle Mushroom

- Fennel, raw

- Artichoke Hearts

- Rhubarb, with strawberry

- Parsley Root

I took notes during my tasting, and I will explain what I thought about these varieties.

The king oyster mushrooms were bland, but soaked up a lot of butter. Therefore, they tasted like butter. The maiitake mushrooms were, according to my notes, the only mushroom I enjoyed. They just tasted like a salty mushroom. It just went downhill from there.

The dried shiitakes were reconstituted with moisture during cooking. I don't know what they were cooked in or with, but they tasted like a mix between soy sauce, propane, and cigarette water. Then we tried morels, an expensive variety. They were cooked in loads, and I mean loads, of créme fraiche (basically butter). In the end, the morels tasted like spongy butter. The chantrelles tasted like salty worms. They had the texture, shape, and size of worms. 

After those mushrooms, it got better. The fennel was raw, so I knew what to expect. It was delicious and I had tons of it. I don't really care for the flavor of artichoke hearts, but I tried it anyway. It had the flavor I thought it would have, and I refused to eat the rest. The rhubarb with the strawberries were phenomenal. The parsley root was something special for our class. Apparently they aren't commonly found in general, and so when our teacher found them in the storage room, he decided to have us taste them as a treat. I didn't know what to expect at all. Supposedly they're grown for the root, which looks like a cross between a parsnip and a carrot, and you don't use the leaves. They were blanched, and then sauteed in butter with garlic and maybe something else. They were my favorite part of the day's tasting. The parsley root had a pretty neutral flavor, and I like to think of it as a boiled carrot's consistency with the flavor of a potato. It was really good.

It looks like we have eight new additions today: morel, king oyster, maiitake, shiitake, rhubarb, parsley root, chantrelle, and queso fresco. And the list of foods I've never tried before coming to the CIA grows even larger!

Until the next post,

Eat well, then eat more