[Sca-cooks] Kiri, don't you have something to share?

[Elaine Koogler]

kingstaste at mindspring.com wrote:

>So, Kiri, are you going to tell the class about our trip to the Farmer's
>Market and Chef's Association meeting on Monday?  I haven't said anything
>about the natural food colors display or anything, I waited until you were
>back on-list.
>Christianna
>
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>
Yes, I was going to, but I wound up having to go into the office 
yesterday, so I'm just now catching up on "stuff".

We had a wonderful time at the Dekalb Farmers Market...it wasn't like 
any other farmers' market I've ever seen.  Lots of wonderful stuff, lots 
of wonderful prices.  My only problem was that I didn't have any way to 
get stuff home on the airplane!  Maybe next time I'll try bringing a 
cooler!  By the bye, Christianne, the cherries were the best I've ever 
eaten!! 

Then we went to a meeting of the Atlanta Chef's Association.  Wow!  The 
meeting was held at the Cordon Bleu school, and it was wonderful seeing 
the student chefs learning how to do various things.  A seafood company 
was the sponsor for the evening, so we were fed wonderful seafood 
dishes...I don't know the names of all of them, but they did include a 
delightful paella, a dish that included rice colored with squid ink, 
marvellous smoked salmon and homemade fresh mozzarella...served both as 
balls and as a "rollup" with proscuitto.  But, for both of us, the most 
exciting thing was a display of natural food colorings done in aspic.  
They used everything from truffles and squid ink (black) to saffron 
(yellow).  Many are colors that Alys Katherine described in her CA, but 
some were not there.  Of course most of us can't afford truffles...and I 
haven't secured access to squid ink.  But it was very interesting.  They 
even supplied a sheet with recipes.  The only color they didn't have was 
blue...I didn't ask them about using lapis...thought they might think 
I'm a little strange! 

During the meeting, a demonstration of seafood was done.  It turns out 
that there are all kinds of things that seafood shops/distributors do to 
sell their wares.  It was pointed out that there is a cold smoking 
process that can make tuna look fresher than it is...it evidently causes 
the blood line/vessels to resurface, giving the fish flesh a pinkish 
color that looks fresher.  Also, a chemical can be used on scallops that 
causes them to absorb water, making them look larger than they really 
are.  If you try to saute them and get water popping in your pan, then 
that's been done to them.  The bottom line was "get to know your 
merchant!"  which is good advice no matter what you're buying....

Lots of fun...very educational..thanks again, Christiane!!

Kiri