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Saturday, July 29, 2006
Luke who’s cooking
By Jenara Regis Newman
Luke is Luke Cagnon, executive chef of Marco Polo Plaza. A hands-on chef, he leads a culinary team in creating and visualizing food prepared for the most discriminating. So it was with some nervous expectation that I, along with some media colleagues, joined this team to create a meal fit for food critics.
The whole-day program began with “marketing” that took the invited media team to specialty food outlets for the ingredients of that evening’s dinner. Then, after a hearty meal at the hotel’s Café Marco, we set out to do our assigned tasks.
The menu consisted of Vodka Cured Salmon with Pickled Apple, Goat’s Cheese and Pommery Cider Dressing, Pan-seared Duck Ravioli on Gingered Beef Root with raspberry pink peppercorn reduction, White Asparagus Soup with Lobster and Morel Flan, Sake and White Miso Marinated Red Snapper, Grilled Oyster Mushrooms, Seaweed Gnocchi and Carrot Ginger Broth, with Coffee Tart with Chocolate Sherbet and Brandy Snap for dessert, plus Wood Oven Fired Breads and Dips and Decaffeinated or Regular coffee or tea, A formidable menu, indeed. How were we expected to do all that in an afternoon?
Fortunately, we were not alone, and Chef Luke was all over the place working at “ninety miles a minute.” Some of the marinating and curing were already in the process and I was assigned to slice the morel for the soup, sauté it with pre-diced onions and garlic and, while this was cooling, I did the basil to go with it in the making of the morel flan. This done, I was asked to slice the asparagus but, as luck would have it, I tended to squeeze the stalks, leaving a mushy mixture. So Aissa took over. Thea was sautéing something in the other stove and honey was doing the beets. We had a break, then we went to the pastry section to see how the coffee tart was done, after which it was time for us to help in the wrapping of the duck ravioli.
We were not there for the final concocting of the things we prepared as people had to dress up for dinner which was to be served at the right temperature, hot or cold, as the case may be.
At dinner, at which I was absent, the various foods were presented with Chef Luke’s eye for a great presentation (to go with the great taste), with accompanying wines presented by Christian Purisima, assistant F & B manager.
All in all it was fun and fine experience which I know I cannot duplicate in my kitchen!
P.S. Though I was not there for dinner, I did taste the pre-made dessert, the recipe is given below.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 29, 2006 issue)
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