Worcestershire Sauce

I really enjoyed my Saturday in Advanced Foods. I think the team building game we played was a perfect way to get to know one another, allowing each one of us to bring something to the table both in ingredient and skill. Further, it allowed us to enhance our communication, problem-solving, and improvisational skills by forcing us to work as a group and create something new.

The game-a culinary version of Yankee swap-consisted of each class member picking a number, and then, according to the number, picking from a table filled with wrapped food items or “stealing” another person’s food item. The foods were then to be used in an unknown game. I lucked out with the high number of 22, which allowed me to see most of the food items before my turn.

When my turn came, I was all set to grab the walnuts from Marcus because they are so flexible, but as luck would have it, a turn or two before me, Worcestershire sauce was revealed. When Sarah pulled it out of the bag, she seemed so disappointed. This only made me want it more to allow her to get another chance at picking an ingredient that would inspire her. My only hesitation was that I figured it should probably be paired with lamb, but I figured I would give it a try.

Let me explain: I LOVE Worcestershire Sauce. I grew up with it. In fact, it is the one condiment I had in my dorm room in college because I used to make guacamole with it for my friends on the hall. My mother is from Milwaukee and Worcestershire sauce shows up in many of her childhood recipes from the afore mentioned guacamole to marinades to vegetable dishes to…well I don’t think she has a cookie recipe with it, but I will have to get back to you on that one.

After we each had a food item, we were told to get into groups of four. When choosing a group, my immediate reaction was to solely focus on the food. I thought Worcestershire sauce would go well with either meat or vegetables, so I ended up grouping with lamb chops, peas, and mushrooms. In fact, come to think of it, it did not even cross my mind to pick based on the holder of the food. Reflecting, I must have just trusted that everyone in the class was pretty competent and capable of working in a group, but perhaps it was just luck that I ended up with the complimentary and inventive group of Jess, Maria, and Rachel.

Jon, then, sat us down and told us to create a restaurant special which prominently featured all of our food items. We were also told to give our dish a name, define the type of restaurant it would be served in, and price our dish accordingly.

We all immediately started assuming that the lamb chops had to be served very traditionally-marinated, on the bone, dry cooked, with vegetables and a starch on the side-so much so that we actively had to pull back and meditate on Jon’s out-of-the-box ‘chocolate scrod’ example from earlier in the class. After some heated discussion and a look at the spices in the kitchen, we decided to go ahead with a traditional cooking and presentation style of grilled lamb chops with rice and a pea-mushroom medley, but to bring in an Indian (well Indian to the American palate) flavor into the taste of the food by adding spices to the marinades and cooking waters. (Coincidentally, according to http://www.cuisinenet.com/glossary/worcstr.html citing from The Raj at the Table: A Culinary History of the British in India by David Burton. London: Faber and Faber, 1993. p.72-73, Worcestershire sauce was actually originally an Indian recipe which was then marketed in England by Lea and Perrins in the mid 1800’s.)

I was really impressed our groups improvisation while cooking. The lamb chop marinade consisted of garam masala, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, honey, and other spices which were combined until our group felt it was strong enough to compliment the taste of the lamb and not get lost in the grilling. Also, the spur of the moment combination of cinnamon-flavored water and mushroom stock really elevated the flavor of the rice and took it from being just another starch on the plate to something very special. The final element-the reduced marinade that was drizzled over the plate-really took the dish from ordinary to extraordinary and allowed it to complement nicely with the other ‘specials’-a spinach and bacon salad, a potato gratin, a waldorf-style salad, and a poached salmon with saffron rice.

Ok, so this is the point in the posting that I must confess I really do not like lamb (as if you could not tell already). Even just a hint of the taste in a broth will make me want to spit it out. This weekend, though, I felt I needed to be a part of the group and at least taste our final product. The marinade pleasantly surprised me, and complemented the lamb very nicely. I was very happy that I took a taste because I think the quality of the final product was exceptional. I would absolutely recommend this dish to anyone who likes lamb (and even to people who don’t dislike it).

Now a little bit more class reflection:

I am the type of person that learns very well with all the information upfront. I like to be conscious of the skills I am trying to learn while I learn them. Therefore, I would have enjoyed a bit more explanation or preparation ahead of time to be able to work off of through out the day. That being said, I realize that that was one of the skills Jon was trying to get us to develop-improvisation-and that while my regimented nature may be good for SOAP notes, diet education, and other aspects of my life, any entrepreneurial aspirations I have will certainly benefit from reflecting and learning as I go along.

Some of the many practical skills I learned were:

1. Always leave room on the plate for the server to grab-important especially when drizzling marinade or other sauce on the plate.
2. Let the meat stay on the grill pan until it gets loose enough to come off by itself-don’t force it.
3. Pairs are hard to plate, so try to have three or more (or even just one) to make a dish more appealing to the eye.
4. Flavor water to be used for cooking grains-especially in a grain as bland as rice.
5. Saffron yellows as it sits-good to know when trying to avoid neon food.

While many of the skills might seem basic to any professional chef, keeping them at the forefront of my mind while cooking should prove very useful for me down the road.

Yankee Swap Mystery Basket

During my culinary career I have worked with several forms of mystery baskets. At culinary school there were the practical exams that one needed to excel in in order to move to the next class. I have also used mystery or ‘clean out the box’ meals as family meals in both restaurants and culinary school. This was an interesting spin.

What made this meal difficult also made it fun. We did not know the kitchen very well so (nor did was the station set up properly), several times during the prep we had to stop and hunt around for utensils and bowls. At school or at a job, you know the people you are working with so you are used to the way they move in the kitchen, their skill sets and their speed. Working with new people in a new enviroment it took time to ease into working together.

As far as who did what, we kind of cut up whatever was in front of us. Maria seemed to have good ideas about the marinade so she put it together and we all tasted it. It tasted great, I think reducing it masked the flavor of the garam masala. We should have used more of the powder. The black mustard seed added a nice amount of heat.

The ingredients we had made things fairly easy to figure out. Baby lamb chops, cremini mushrooms, frozen sweet peas and Worcestershire sauce. Having lamb chops was a bit difficult because we kept on coming up with ‘classic’ ways to prepare the chops. I am not very creative. I like good old-fashioned savory foods. At home this is how I cook. But for the sake of the class we needed to be a bit creative. My classmates took care of this part. We decided pretty quickly to make a vegetable medley with the veggies and marinate the chops. But we needed to figure out what type of marinade to use to add flavor and make the dish interesting and different. We decided on an Indian flavor, using garam masala powder. The Worcestershire sauce kind of took over. The timing was a bit off as well, but that will improve when we know the kitchen better and get used to the class.

Background knowledge was something that I could not get out of my head. Since I have spent much time in the kitchen I have a few learned habits that I cannot get rid of. Cooking red meat, sear (or grill it) then finish in the oven (this changes if cooked on an outside grill). Rice, do not look at it for at least 12 minutes or so. As long as the heat is low and there is enough water it will come out fine. If there is a flat top available use it!

The chops came out great! Actually everyone’s food came out great. The plates were all beautiful, the food was delicious and there were some very interesting ideas that people put together with their food picks.

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog! I look forward to reading your reflections and seeing the pictures from this week!

A reminder to link to useful resources and use the texts if it helps.

Also, a reminder of your assignment for this week:
-Bring foods from a select flavor profile
-Blog!
-Some of you will present.

Thanks for a great class! I look forward to seeing you on Saturday!