Workshop Weekend: Ceviche Nights and a Sugar Paste Afternoon

Hey Guys!!!

Welcome back! It's a beautiful sunny April day here in Honduras and even though its well after lunch time, my cups of coffee haven't worked yet. I've been struggling with getting out of bed early, despite my alarm blasting my ears out. Truth is, I've been staying up late reading and no matter how sleepy or tired I may be, I can't seem to put the book down. Good thing though...I'm a book worm. 

Sunny view of the garden

So, I recapped much of what happened before, during and after Easter week in my last post. These past few days, I haven't spent much of my time in the kitchen. Instead, I have "tried" to enrich my kitchen knowledge. I say "tried" because I've become a lazy gal. And I've picked up on my reading hobby. I've gobbled down 5 books in the past week, and I couldn't be prouder. I don't think I read that much last year in total. True, I've read the books before, but I still get excited about them. 

I do believe I wrote in my previous post about my cake orders for the month of April. I've taken very few, mainly to focus on writing more. It has more or less paid out, but without me concocting something in the kitchen, I seem to be lacking material to write about. So this past weekend, I took two different courses. 

Preparing the first dish. We
were surprised the sauce had cheese.

Friday evening, I joined my aunt and my sister for a night of Culinary Therapy. In short words, a group of at least 7 people, who not necessarily know each other, get together and cook a meal of sorts. In our case, we were of group of 9, some who knew each other, but most of us were seeing new faces. The cooking lesson of the night was Ceviches and the art of preparing them. Most of you might know what a ceviche is (raw fish or seafood cured in citrus juice) and Friday, we would be preparing six different types. Once the entire group had arrived and received a welcoming drink, the head chef, a Peruvian one in fact, told us a folklore story of how it is said that ceviches were invented in Peru. He set straight some misconceptions we all had about preparing the dishes, like leaving the fish in lemon juice for a couple of hours or even overnight, when in fact, the lemon juice is the last ingredient to be added. 

The finished result

He quickly prepared the first Ceviche on the menu as a demo: A sea bass, jalapeño, and canchita mix. While doing so, he emphasized the importance the freshness of the fish or  seafood to be used is. Because there is no heat involved, there is no "cooking" of any kind. Therefore, fresh fish is vital to avoid food poisoning. He was done in a little less than 15 minutes, all while explaining the steps. And it was delicious. We then got assigned numbers and divided into three groups. We would all be preparing a different ceviche. 

Only ceviche on the menu tonight

As you can see, the ceviches we prepared were a Red Snapper with Tamarind and Nori, Octopus and "Curil"* in a Curry sauce, Conch (snail) and Coconut with Thai basil, Squid with tropical fruit and avocado and Shrimp in a Passion Fruit and Mint melee plus the one the chef made for us. My group was assigned the Conch and Coconut Ceviche and our first step was to chop up the snail. If you've never seen or touched raw conch, it might be weird. It is common here in Honduras, especially in the coast. It is soft meat, although if overcooked, it becomes rubbery. With the meat in cubes, we then chopped scallions and some red onions and grated fresh ginger for its juice. 

While almost everyone was chopping onions in each group, we were laughing. The chef had informed us that in Peru, crying while chopping onions was a sign the person was prone to jealousy and almost all of us had reddening eyes. It was impossible not to cry and laugh. There were too many onions. Of course, that is not why we cry. We cry because once you chop up an onion, you're breaking cells. The onion releases a sulphur compound that reacts with water in your eyes, which then becomes sulphuric acid and it burns. This causes you to water it down, hence tears. You can find many articles online on the subject. I'm guessing the first person to ever chop up the root got scared. 

When we finished with the chopping, the chef then toasted in a frying pan the coconut, added it to the bowl with the conch, onions and ginger juice, mixed it up, chopped some basil, added it, seasoned with salt only and finally added the lemon juice which group number 2 had gladly squeezed. While he tasted, we were handed coconut shell and jicaro bowls and we all tried the second ceviche. It was good, but I was beginning to think ceviche just might not be for me. Too much acidity was giving me heartburn. Thankfully, I lasted the night and had fun continuing the class. I refrained from eating much, which was a bummer, because I was hungry. 

The ginger came through and developed new flavours.

The next one in line was Octopus and Curil. Curiles are bivalved mollusks, which are consumed raw in their own juice. Some people are really put off by them, but they're quite tasty. They're slightly bigger than clams and are found near mangroves here in Honduras. Up till that night, I had never seen one still in its shell. We were shown how to crack them open, and I did feel a pang of guilt and sadness knowing the little creature would be eaten alive. The octopus was cut up, the onion was chopped and a little salt and lemon juice later, we were tasting the third one. 

One of the few that has fresh tomatoes.

So far, it was last on my list. The fourth one was one of my favourites: Squid with a tropical twist and avocado. We cleaned and chopped the squid (first and last time...too slimy), peeled and cut the mango, added some fresh pineapple chopped some more onion and into a big bowl it all went. The avocado, salt and lemon juice were added last and we all tried. I think I liked it for its sweet and sour taste and for the fact that the avocado brought the acidity down to a tolerable level for me. 

Sweet and Sour...I do
believe it was my favourite.

The fifth one was done in a jiffy. The shrimp had already been cleaned and placed into a bowl with the passion fruit juice and seeds and chopped mint. It was seasoned the same as the others, with salt only and lemon juice. It was a nice combination, although most of us agreed it was not appealing, since the shrimp was not the nice pink color we usually see in shrimp cocktails, for example. This of course due to the type of shrimp and the fact that it was uncooked. And lastly was the Red Snapper and Tamarind mix. This one was yummy. The chef had the task of slicing and cubing put the fish. The kitchen had already prepared the tamarind paste: (Boil the tamarinds in water, once soft, press again a double sieve to obtain a thick paste) and with some chopped onions we had, it was all mixed together. The nori was added, the salt was added and finally came the lemon juice. 

This one was one of the tastiest.
Tamarind paste is an excellent addition.

I think most of us were astonished at how quickly the procedure actually is. We all had our reservations when it came to seasoning. Most of us have different tastes. In my case, I'd reduce the lemon juice a tiny bit and would attempt to use sour oranges for a sweeter taste. All in all, we were happy and content and the chef was glad we had been a fun group. I think he might have a date later on. One of the girls was keen on him and he simply blushed and laughed. It, of course, added the breaking-the-ice moment and we became a tight-knit group throughout the night, despite being strangers. 

The Ceviche Masters!

I did leave with a  queasy feeling in my stomach, so I drank lots of water. I managed to sleep in for a bit, but I woke up before 10 the next morning. With not much to do, I read some more. A little after lunch, I got ready and left for a Gumpaste Workshop at a local store. It focused on sugar paste flowers. I had already taken classes with the chef in charge, so we chatted a bit, while we waited. We started soon after, making for the first time, sugar paste. It is a similar procedure to making fondant, with the added ingredient being tylose. It is what gives the paste elasticity. Similar to gelatine being used when making fondant. As soon as we finished, we began making the first flower: a rose. It was a slow procedure, which required patience. In the end, mine fell apart...I used to much "glue". It had looked beautiful, but hey, a little more practice and I'll get the hang of it. This flower did cost us much of the allocated time. So much, in fact, that we rushed through the others. We managed to complete 2 out of 3.  We got to the last one but it time was almost up. It was done halfway through. We did learn to make 2 more others. I guess what I'm trying to say is, that if you're getting in the business of sugar paste, make time, lots of it, and make extra whatever it is you're making. In our case, sugar petals and flowers. 

So much work for a small flower.
Patience is the key.

I got home a little after seven in the evening and almost immediately sank into my book. I fell asleep close to 2 in the morning. The following day I made an Espresso Pound cake to take over to my grandmother's house. I hadn't been in almost a month, and I needed to butter her up. It worked. In the afternoon, I got ready for a ballet recital I was supposed to attend. My younger cousin would be playing the piano, and we were all invited. I wasn't keen on the idea. I was sleepy, I wanted to read and mostly, I cursed the day people thought meetings of that sort were appropriate for a Sunday evening. I wasn't Social Sally you can say. Which is why I bit my tongue later. I was taken aback by how much I was into the performance. A Christian-American Ballet company graced our stage with two acts delivering different morals. The music played a big part in the entertainment, as the acts featured many of Danny Elfman's scores, he being known for his contributions to Tim Burton's films. And I love Tim Burton. Actually, most of my entire family does. It brought us a little closer. 

I was actually disappointed when the recital finished. I would have gladly stayed for a third act. But it was done and it was late. That didn't stop us from finding someplace to eat before heading home. I was still tired and still sleepy, but I gobbled some more chapters from my book and I was out like a light. Monday was a bank holiday, which I took to be my new Sunday. So I did what I usually do on Sundays and that is nothing. I did nothing more than read, have coffee, have some more coffee and read some more again. I decided to bake for the sake of it (I felt guilty not having baked during the week) and in no time, I had a delicious chocolate shortbread in the oven. It's delicious. It looks like a brownie, it tastes like a brownie, but it's shortbread, yummers! 

Bite sized equals perfect sized...
I've eaten more than half.

I have been trying to catch up on my shows, and I have succeeded in most of it, but my books are too engaging and before I know it, 2 hours have passed and I'm nearing the end chapters. I began this post yesterday, and because I realised I had nothing productive to do in the city once I got there, I came back home and read some more. I felt guilty for not writing, but not guilty enough to type away. But here we are. Its well into the afternoon and I'm contemplating my 3rd cup of coffee. I just finished my fifth book and I'm onto my 6th. I also have a cake in the oven which will require my attention later. 

Despite my stress this morning, thinking of the several wedding cakes I have coming up in the second half of the year (months away and I'm jittery already...), life is good. I still have no idea what I'll be doing later on in life, but today I smile, horse teeth and all and I can't wait to see what the week brings on. Also, congrats to my younger sister on her new job!

Until next time. 

xx