Traditional Indian Flavours Cooking Class

It has been since the early days of spring when we had our last cooking class at the LCBO. Last weekend Paul and I had a two hour demonstration cooking class - Traditional Indian Flavours. The class featured chef Jasjjit Singh who is featured on numerous cooking shows here in Ontario. You may recall previous posts about classes we have taken which were offered by the LCBO.

For those of you who aren't from Ontario, this is our government run liquor monopoly. It is the largest purchaser of wine and spirits in the world and at the same time it pumps billions of dollars into the government coffers and provides Ontarians with an excellent supply of wine and liquor (to say nothing of funding health care and education). Over the past few years they have really focused on the education side of wine and liquor . . . cooking and the appropriate wine pairings is a natural extension.

The LCBO store near our house is equipped with a large room where they hold tastings and cooking demonstrations three or four times a week. Previously we have taken a cooking class, a summer blender drink class, A Mid-summer Feast From Niagara, a martini class , a wine tasting class of Beringer Wines, a Fall Flavours Class, and a Taste of Italy to name but a few of the classses we've enjoyed.

One of the great things about classes at the LCBO is that they pair each dish or course with wine. I was curious to see how they would manage with Indian food because it is notorious on wine!

The first dish was chicken korma with Shahi Rice Pulao. It was spicy but absolutely amazing! I loved the heat even if the woman beside Paul did not - she kept saying she didn't like spicy foods nor curry . . . ummm . . . why are you in an Indian cooking class then?

This first dish was paired with an excellent Gewurztraminer. I didn't any wine would have paired with a spicy dish like this but it worked.

The second dish the chef whipped up was a delicious pumpkin curry wich was served with Naan bread.

This was paired with a newly released riesling from Ontario - again the pairing was quite effective.

For dessert the chef made a special yoghurt based treat that was full of nuts, saffron, and cardomom - wow! It was really delicious. Who knew yoghurt could taste so good?

This was paired with a sweet wine - a late harvest wine - sweet but not as sweet as the famous Canadian treat ice wine. Yet again, it worked. The folks at the LCBO sure know their stuff.

Comments

[Barb Cabot]

Jerry, this food looks so good. Indian is one of my favorite ethnic cuisines. The cooking school facilities are lovely. It's great that you and Paul enjoy these classes together. Thanks for sharing.

[diana]

This is an example of government at its best :)

Seriously, first of all, you guys are very lucky to have such a progressive liquor control board. What a great idea to get people thinking about food and wine together -- maybe normal for *us* but not necessarily for everyone, and it helps with the responsible consumption of alcohol. Second, the food looks good enough to make me dive through my screen.

[ACB]

Chef Rohit Singh, guest chef at Culinary Institute of America (CIA), St. Helena, California used an Evo Professional Tabletop to cook Indian breads at the Slow Food Nation event at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Chef Singh and his team served about 5,000 Indian breads from Evo and other equipment to 60,000 guests in attendance in the Bread Pavillion. Lesley Stahl of 60 minutes was there to profile the event.

[Jerry]

Barb - it does make for a nice time out!

Diana - who knew that government did good things? LOL I know there are those who would disagree.

In Canada we need to do more to encourage the 'lifestyle' of food - something I think the Europeans have done a far better job of.

Thanks ACB - that would have been fascinating to see.