Grilled Chicken Supreme on Shallots & Leek Risotto
IT IS always a pleasurable occasion when I grace the culminating events of graduates of culinary arts courses in the Philippine School of Culinary Arts (PSCA) along Escario Street, Capitol Site.
Libia Chavez, School Director of PSCA, proudly showed us around the culinary exhibit during the Open House. Libia, who hails from Manila, was tasked to open the culinary school in Cebu City in 2003, a timely move to make the culinary school accessible to aspiring cooks and chefs from Visayas and Mindanao.
The Open House is an impressive display of the creations of the Pastry Classes that serves as the Final Exams of two batches of students in the completion of their Certificate in Pastry and Baking Arts.
The array of beautiful cakes for weddings and special occasions were breathtaking works of art. Cake Decorating involves a lot of talent and patience. And the students are learning the intricacies of baking and decorating from Pastry Chef Nick Garcia who has been with PSCA for six years.
An economist by profession, Chef Nick followed what he loves and took up pastry and cake courses in Culinary Institute of America and Wilton Cake Decorating Institute. We admired the cakes and pastries on display while enjoying and having our fill of selected pastries and hors d’oeuvres.
With the expertise and guidance of PSCA Resident Chef Hicham Merouane, the students prepared and presented the Final Dinner “Around the World on a Plate.”
Assorted Pastries
The countries included Greece, South America and Italy. Chef Hicham hails from Morocco but has made Cebu his home. My husband Ed and I were seated with Cebu Daily News fellow writer Jude Bacalso and Libia.
The Italian menu was served on our table.
For starters, we had Crostini with Tuna, Avocado, Pine nuts and tomatoes. Pine nuts are edible seeds of cones from certain species of pine trees. This is a very popular ingredient for pesto sauce. Toasted pine nuts are great sprinkled on salads but I simply love snacking on them.
The Orange and Onion Salad on fresh, crisp greens was very refreshing on a hot summer night.
Jude and I had curious, roving eyes for dishes served on the other tables. We both agreed that the Greek menu was interesting that included Chilled Cucumber and Yogurt Soup, Moussaka and Baklava for dessert.
With Libia on our table, we were also served Moussaka before our entrée. Moussaka is a Greek dish of aubergine or eggplant, ground meat cooked with tomatoes and topped with béchamel sauce and baked. Béchamel or white sauce made from roux (butter and flour) and milk is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine.
Our entrée or main dish was Grilled Chicken Supreme on a bed of Shallots and Leek Risotto served al dente. Risotto is a North Italian rice dish cooked in broth with constant mixing until creamy. The grilled chicken breast was excellent–tender and juicy that paired well with the risotto.
The classic Italian Chocolate –Vanilla Panna Cotta, sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded, was a delight.