WORLD CUISINE - WEEK1

World Cuisine - Week 1
World cuisine is going to be a hard class. It is more intense that the other classes I have taken, only because the work load is higher. In my other classes we are cooking four to five dishes in class. In world cuisine we have been cooking eight or nine. Anyhow here's the menu for week 1

-Spanish Tapas-

Squid with Caramelized Onions-

This is a great dish as the flavors are simple and exposed. The onions mellow tremendously when caramelized and really meld well with the squid.

Bacalad - Hash

This is really just a simple simple hash with olive oil and some poquillo peppers served with some herbed bread. It was good, but nothing special.

Garlic Shrimp-

This is a classic, shrimp sauteed in garlic and herbs very quickly over high heat. These are wonderful when done correctly, which these are. The danger is in overcooking the shrimp, causing them to be too firm and less juicy. This dish is served with dome herbed bread as well.

Ham Fritters-

I honestly wasn't too impressed with these. These are just a bechamel with some ham added then breaded and deep fried. And that's exactly what they taste like. We added some potato to give them a little more texture and the result was an increase in general "fluffy-ness" but the flavor didn't really change.

Potato Omelet-

Another dish that I couldn't take any credit for. G made this and did a wonderful job. The picture shows pieces cut from the whole. It is a large omelet that is finished in the oven. I had a hard time not eating all of this.

Cheese and Olive plate-

Here we have parmesan cheese marinated in olive oil and herbs, olive tapenade, olives stuffed with peppers and anchovies, and tomato bread. This plate had a few issues in my opinion. I sliced the cheese too big and the flavor was overpowering for the "bite size". The tapenade could have used something else to mellow it and mix the flavors together better. The olives and anchovies had a briny taste because of, well.. the olives and anchovies. I think a stronger and possibly sweeter pepper would have really helped to balance this.