Bon Appétit at MC

By Therese San Diego

Yesterday, the Miriam College French Club held a cooking demo where Monsieur Fanciz taught members how to make salads with a special French dressing, and French kaldereta with pasta. Too bad for those who missed it--the food was truly divine! Perhaps it was mainly because of the freshness of the ingredients, which Monsieur Fanciz said is always crucial in any dish.

Here are a few photos that will surely make your mouth water.

photo credit: Therese San Diego

It was the battle of the salads! The ingredients? Various types of lettuce, watercress, sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, beets, carrots, violet cabbage, hard-boiled egg, onions, garlic, celery kinchay, wansoy, spring onions, and basil. Smoked tanigue, pastrami and farmer's ham were also added.

Of course, a salad would not be complete without dressing. Monsieur Fanciz made a special dressing out of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, French mayonnaise, French mustard, iodized salt and white pepper, which had us all coming back for more!

photo credit: Therese San Diego

The mere scent of the herbs and spices emanating from the kaldereta made us want to try it right away, but we had to wait until the beef, pork and chicken were cooked before we could sample the dish! It was light but very flavorful. Monsieur Fanciz used tomato-based sauce with fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, leeks, ginger, onions, garlic, the same herbs used in the salad, and special spices including Herbes de Provence, rustic herbs, four colour corn pepper, cajun seasoning, and dry basil. The meats were first sautéed with the herbs and olive oil. Carrots, radish and mushrooms were added later.

photo credit: Therese San Diego

The kaldereta went well with the pasta wheels, which tasted great even with only butter and cheese. Other types of Italian pasta prepared were farfalle, tagliatelle and spirali tricolore. The butter was French and so was the Emmenthal cheese.



I bet you're already looking forward to the next cooking demo! Drop by Tour de France daily and you might just stumble upon the recipes for these delectable entrées.