Three's company

Three's Company was a TV show in the late seventies about two single attractive women and a young man, Jack Tripper, sharing an apartment to beat the high cost of living. He was considered the perfect roommate because these two ladies, Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) and Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) did not know how to cook while Jack was a student at a local cooking school.

Today, the number “Three” is still relevant since our topic is about a culinary college, the International Culinary Arts Academy Cebu (96 P. Del Rosario Extension, phone 4182988) and the Trio Menu Concept was the theme for the Culminating Dinner Event last May 24 of the graduating students.

And if you check the records of the school, your favorite food columnist is always present in all graduation dinners because the food served in this school is legendary!

Deviating from the regular sequence of formal dinners like appetizers, soup, main courses, the Trio Menu began with the first main ingredient, crabs, and the following dishes sprung from this component: Crab & Mango Salad with Russian Imperial Caviar and Caper berries, Crab Cakes with Sweet Pineapple Relish, and the Crab Ravioli with Tomato and Roasted Sweet Corn Relish. You have to decide which dish to start (all were served in a single plate) and I ate from left to right, mango salad, crab cake and ravioli.

If I could invite all my ever loyal readers to share this dish: a nearly magical sensation in your palate of the combination of the crab with mango then the richness of the caviar tempered by the caper berries and pushed gently by a sip of Cape West Sauvignon Blanc. Unfortunately, invitations to such affairs are extremely limited!

The second ingredient was Salmon and the following dishes were served: Cured Salmon and Goat Cheese Terrine Salad, Salmon Sushi Roll with Saffron Mayonnaise and Crispy Shallots, and the Poached Salmon with Cannellini Beans, Haricot Vert and Coconut Cream Sauce.

My favorite that night was the sushi roll and when you have sushi, you expect rice to accompany the salmon. But not in this school, with Dean Jeremy Young and Chef Christian Purisima around, to cook, excuse me, mere rice! It was couscous and my loyal followers know that couscous is made from semolina wheat. By rolling and shaping  moistened semolina into spherical granules (like grains of rice) and coating with fine ground wheat flour, you have couscous!

Third ingredient was Organic Chicken and the following dishes were concocted: Organic Chicken Curry Pot-Pie, Phyllo wrapped Organic Chicken Confit with Foie Gras and Oven Roasted Tomato Couli, and the Pan-seared Organic Chicken with Fresh Mushroom Sauce.

Slight problem with three dishes served in one plate is that a spiced dish eaten ahead could overpower the delicate flavors of the next dishes. Options would be to eat the dishes with the delicate flavors, followed by the more spiced one. An alternative would be a sorbet to cleanse the palate; since it was not available, I followed the next choice, with more wine to soften the blow of the spiced dish. Very busy gyud   was the service brigade (also graduating students) assigned to the table of your favorite food columnist!

On the menu was the fourth ingredient, the US Angus Beef and the following dishes emerged from the kitchen: US Angus Beef Tatake Salad, Red Wine Braised US Angus Beef Short ribs with Prawn Pommes Macaire, and the US Angus Beef Wellington with Four Peppercorn Sauce and Baby Carrots.

The beef used in Tataki salad has to be grilled rare. Some of my friends are intimidated by dishes they cannot pronounce, like pommes macaire which is actually mashed baked potatoes. And beef Wellington is a dish named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st duke of Wellington (remember the battle of Waterloo?). It is beef coated with liver paste and mushroom, then wrapped in a pastry.

The latter dish is one of my favorites but it has a very complicated taste and texture. You bite into the crunchy pastry, followed by the earthy flavors of the duxelles (mushroom with spices sautéed in butter), very rich flavor of the pâté (often pâté de foie gras) and finally the luxurious taste of beef awakened by four types of peppercorns (white, black, green and pink). That night however, it was very easy to understand Wellington because the red wine, Fat Bastard (Shiraz) was eagerly poured into my wine glass.

All dinners, even great ones, have to come to a conclusion and the fifth and final ingredient (whew!) was Hazelnut and the desserts were: Warm Hazelnut Soufflé, Coffee Bavarois with Hazelnut Frappe and Coffee Hazelnut Opera.

It is indeed a very difficult assignment for your favorite columnist to eat all these dishes, dissecting the nuances and etching them to memory, while keeping good health and finally reporting to one’s beloved followers. But work is work and I have to make the annual pilgrimage to the culinary mecca that is called International Culinary Arts Academy Cebu.

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