Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Washington Apple Cooking Demo by Vicky Ratnani


A few days back I had a great opportunity to attend an apple cooking demo by Chef Vicky Ratnani.It was also another chance to meet fellow bloggers as well. The demo was organized by SCS group,as a part of creating awareness about the different types of apple available and exported to  India.The venue was 100ft Boutique Restaurant,Indira Nagar,Bangalore.

SCS Group is a Gurgaon based agri business firm specializing in international trade,marketing and communication related to food and is a pioneer in nutrition based marketing.

 Washington State Apple Commission is a state mandated yet self governing body of apple growers and packers around Washington State. Washington State (not to be confused with the capital Washington DC) is a prominent apple growing state in US right from 1870s.Generally its a leading agriculture state and its favorable climate of dry warm summers and cold winters have made it top in the Apple industry.

An apple surely keeps the doctor away,but How?
Apples are known to improve lungs and also in the prevention of colon cancer and are a source of dietary fiber to help aid digestion and healthy weight loss. Do check out this article for more info.
(Courtesy Washington Apples)

There are thousands of varieties of apple and the top nine are given above.Almost all these are available year round and 7 of them are already a regular sight in high end supermarkets courtesy the SCS Group.

Apples in Cooking
Though all the varieties can be used for snacking,each variety holds it own and differs from the other in scent,flavor,texture and taste.Some like Grannysmith are tangy and best for salads and bakes especially pies.Golden delicious has a mellowed sweetness and a different texture and is also good in baking and salads.Though cooking with apples is a rare thing in India we can surely try out new dishes or rather dress up the authentic recipes making full use of the taste and texture of different apples. I feel  granny smith will be an excellent addition to dals and other snacking apples can also used for making chutneys etc. 

Coming back to the cooking demo,given the chef's penchant for desserts and the Hero of the day being good ol' Apple ,I was thinking of sweet treats and baked goodies,but the chef surprised us with his innovative dishes using apples.

We were treated to a Colonial style Pumpkin Apple Bisque,an Apple Jackfruit salad and finally a main course of risotto with browned apples and hazelnuts.

If you think that each was a sweet dish then you are wrong. The bisque tasted wonderful of its curry seasoning and was pumpkiny yellow,but the apples-rather the tartness of the granny smith and the mellowed sweetness of the golden delicious- stood out.Ditto with innovative apple jackfruit salad and the risotto.


It was a delight to watch the chef  cook in his trademark style seen in Gourmet Central.He stressed on the basic tips of making sushi ginger or a simple vinaigrette etc. and also exhorted us to try out apples in our daily cooking and to add a twist to the traditional dishes like malpuas,jalebis etc. He was patient in answering queries and also came to our tables to show even the small changes or the stepwise cooking.The best part was the tasting of course. It was like having the cake and eating it too. We were also given complimentary apple baskets having different types of apples inorder to encourage cooking with it.

The other foodies who also shared this delicious opportunity with Yours Truly  are Deepthi Shankar(Deesha), Suma Rowjee,Madhuri , ShubhadaAliena Varghese(Ally) and Irin. A wonderful after noon well spent with friends and in the company of an expert chef,thanks to  the SCS Group and Washington State Apples.



6 Comments:

lubnakarim06 said...

You are getting enough time to post these delectable posts....hope u r having fun time with loved and dear ones there....happy to know that u had wonderful time all together....

Priya Suresh said...

Seems u had a wonderful time all together, never know that we can make so many delectable dishes with apples,fantastic post..

jayashree said...

Glad to know that such exciting events happen in blore. But also sad to realize that it happened without me.
It would me a great occasion to meet up with the happening bloggers of blore. Pl keep me in the loop for the next event!

Unknown said...

Loved to know all about apples :)

Swathi said...

Looks like you had great time. Nice write up too.

Anonymous said...

Hey it was in 100ft rest !!! omg I missed it, I always love to atrtend such events, chck caperberry and weber grill by manu chandra (yet to be posted)
btw nice to know that u have a wonderful time toghther, even we enjoyed very much at caperberry.
just obsrved that u have linked apple sorbrt to my event, pls mail me the details and thanks for ur entry
pls keep me in loop for future events

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