Elle & Vire French Touch Challenge: Chef Melanie Rodriguez, First Place (Gold)

Momentous Firsts.

Chef Melanie’s first year in Global Academy
Newly-Launched Elle & Vire French Touch Challenge*
First Place (Gold) for Chef Melanie and the Philippines in this Category
*http://www.hotelnewsme.com/…/elle-vire-launches-french-tou…/

Barely a year as Chef Instructor at Global Academy, Chef Melanie Rodriguez represented Global Academy in the first ever French Touch Challenge of the prestigious Elle & Vire brand. In this competition, Chef Melanie proudly brought home the gold!

Part of the prize for this achievement is the attendance of a two-day Hands-on Training Course in the kitchens of La Maison de la Crème et Elle & Vire in Versailles, France. A hectic 2-days it was, under the tutelage of no less than Chef Sébastien Faré
Executive Chef and Trainor .

Under Chef Sebastien’s seamless culinary baton, a productive and enriching experience as fabulous as the hero product, brought about these gustatory greats:

DAY 1:
Appetizer:
Season Vegetables with Maitre D’Hotel Butter – Leeks and Asparagus cooked Al Anglaise, Chioggia Beetroot with Elle & Vire Professionnel Gourmet Butter Unsalted 82% fat, flat- leaf parsley and lemon

Main:
Scallops as a Painting – Seared Fresh Scallops and Puréed Sweet Potato with Elle & Vire Professionnel Sublime Cream with Mascapone in a Lemongrass and Squid Cream Sauce.

Dessert:
Minute Cheesecake with Chestnut Purée, Spiced Crumble and Passion Fruit Sauce

DAY 2
Hor d'oeuvres:
Lobster Medallions Toast with Lobster Sauce Butter

Soup:
Velvety Chestnut Puree with Pan-Fried Foie Gras with Smoked Potato Espuma
Warm

Appetizer:
Eggcellent – Langoustines, Squid, Clams and Mussels with Shellfish Cream Sauce

Fish Course:
Baked Seabass and Truffle Butter with Parsnip Mousseline

Main Course:
Lamb Grazed in Normandy – Roasted Lamb Rack in Hazelnut Butter with Sautéed Broccoli, Rhubarb Stalks, Petit Pois and Fava Beans

Dessert:
Raspberry Nage with Almond Milk and Almond Espuma and Candied Lemon – Lime Zest

R&D:
Lobster with Smoked Potato Puree, Lobster Balsamic Vinaigrette and Spinach

“All the dishes we cooked were delicious and had their own charm. It was exciting for me to handle, prepare, and eat ingredients I don’t usually cook here in the Philippines like parsnips, fresh langoustines, lobsters, truffles, foie gras, chestnuts, and rhubarb. Chef Sebastien had an inspiration for a new dish made with smoked potato purée, lobster,and lobster balsamic vinaigrette. Indeed when inspiration strikes, create!

Although the techniques applied during the course were not alien to me, I was able to handle, prepare, and cook ingredients which are not readily available in the Philippines like fresh parsnips, fresh green peas (very different and sweeter than the frozen ones), Chioggia beetroot, and rhubarb. These fresh produce- in-season are remarkably flavorful.

Though not part of the training curriculum, Chef Sebastien brought us to a market where local restaurants get supplies, and I was like a kid in a candy store. Aisles of fruits and vegetables, truffles, beef, veal, rabbit, lamb, deveined foie gras, oysters – I wanted to take them all home. Amazing!

Though not my first time in Paris, it was still exciting and as spectacular as I remembered it. On this trip, I got to see more of what the true Paris is, apart from the Louis Vuitton. I loved the neighborhood formageries, patisseries and boulangeries. The smell of the freshly baked bread will always make me smile.”

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