Category : BasqueStage
Category : BasqueStage
So what’s got our BasqueStages Brenden and Luuk so interested?
Earlier this week we toured the Sammic factory. Sammic is the sponsor of the Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage, based out of Azkoitia, a village inland from San Sebastián. They make all manner of professional kitchen equipment, from immersion blenders to vacuum sealing machines to dishwashers. The factory, where they forge the metal and assemble all machines, is onsite with the business offices.
Luuk and Brenden got the VIP treatment and a personal tour of the premises.
With Amaia from marketing, they went through the whole process of making these high-quality machines, from start to finish. The top photo that has them so enthralled is the polishing machine, filled with tiny balls that shine up each piece of metal. Then, we took a tour of the studio, where videos (like this from our former stage Marco) are made to demonstrate Sammic machinery.
The boys got the red carpet rolled out for them…next time they’ll have their chance to star in one of the Sammic machinery videos…
In what has become more or less a BasqueStage tradition, we invited our brand new stages Brenden Darby and Luuk Hoffman to show their stuff Basque-style: in a traditional dining society. These txokos are the backdrop for both the most exciting and the most traditional meals in this corner of the world. So it’s only fitting that it be their introduction to Basque cuisine.
Brenden and Luuk prepared a five course (!) meal, starting light with a watermelon salad (featuring fresh and stewed watermelon) studded with jamón ibérico. Then sea bream with cucumber and coconut. Light, refreshing and delicious!
Then we turned to weightier plates of rabbit and pork. Brenden and Luuk did a great job with plating and sauces…you are looking at some talented stages (don’t forget to keep up with them on their blogs). Check out that rabbit three ways (on the right):
And finally, a sweet ending to a delicious meal.
Here’s to many more!
Yesterday was Luuk and Brenden‘s first day at Restaurante Martín Berasategui, the three-star michelin restaurant on the outskirts of San Sebastián.
So what did they think? Well, they’re catching up on their sleep and preparing blogposts on their individual blogs, but Luuk and Brenden paused to give us first impressions.
Brenden says:
“It was great! I was prepping with this guy for four hours, and he just happens to mention that he is the head chef at my favorite restaurant in California, which is Spago. Then he proceeded to offer me a job after the basque stage…. unbelievable!
And from Luuk:
“Easy first day. I got to do some really nice squid package. Really tricky, so I want to do it again tomorrow in order to master it.”
What will you miss from home?
I rarely get attached to a certain place. I like traveling and not knowing where I’ll land. Its mostly people that I will likely miss.Like my colleagues. Especially Robbert Capello a.k.a. Bubba. A cook I was always cracking jokes with at the Moerbei. Then there is the classes on monday that I will be missing. A nice change of pace from the day to day at the restaurant. Always a great learning experience I looked forward to each week.
What are you looking forward to?
The level of cooking without a doubt. New dishes and new friends on a close second.Then there is the beautiful landscape, pintxo bars and the beach.There is so much to look forward to but MB is the reason Im coming and not necessarily for the beautiful scenery. Its just a bonus.
What are you bringing?
My knives and new chef jackets off-course!They are necessities after all. The race bicycle for the weekends.This bike is even older than me and it shows! The gears are attached to the frame and one brake hardly works.Keeps it exciting when going downhill and only the front wheels brake is operational.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
A bit over a week ago, our Sammic scholar Ruth Selby had her hand at a cooking class for the people of San Sebastián. With one side of her family hailing from the Phillipines, Ruth has grown up with the flavors of this country, so we decided having her introduce them to San Sebastián was a no-brainer.
Above, you have empanadas. Some of the other dishes that Ruth cooked at a local gastronomic society were lumpia, a Phillipine spring roll, and bibingka, a sweet cake.
Another exotic night of cooking, starring our other scholar, Elisha, as sous chef.
Here you have the recipe for these tasty empanaditas.
“These golden pastry bites enclose a rich, savory filling of ground beef, crunchy vegetables and sweet raisins. Very similar to my grandmother’s recipe for empanaditas, this particular recipe is adapted from Memories of Philippine Kitchens, a cookbook by New York City restauranteurs Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa.” -Ruth
makes about 40 pieces
1 recipe Rich Pie Pastry, see below
½ pound dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in warm water, then sliced with water reserved
1 small onion, diced
2 small carrots, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 cup peeled and diced russet potato
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 cup diced chorizo (cured Spanish chorizo, not fresh Mexican chorizo)
3 tbsp raisins
½ cup frozen peas
4 egg whites, for sealing
4 egg yolks, for brushing
¼ cup milk, for brushing
4” round cookie cutter
Rich Pie Pastry
4 ½ cups AP flour
1 ½ tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled
3 eggs, beaten
Ice water, as needed
1. Whisk together flour and salt. Add butter and cut into flour using a pastry cutter (or pulse in a food processor if you have one) until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the egg until combined. Dough should just come together, with visible bits of butter. If not, add ice water 1 tsp at a time until dough holds together.
2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and pat flat. Divide into four equal parts and shape into ½” thick disks. Wrap four disks in plastic film and refrigerate at least one hour.
Empanaditas
1. Over medium heat, saute the mushrooms, onion, and carrot until soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the ground beef, until brown, another 5 minutes.
Add the diced potato, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and shiitake soaking liquid. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until potatoes have softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add chorizo and raisins, and simmer uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated, another 10 minutes. Stir in the green peas and cook just enough to warm through, 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adjust with salt/ soy sauce/ rice vinegar as needed.
4. Preheat oven to 375F. Remove pie pastry from refrigerator. Working one disk at a time, roll out to 1/8” thickness and cut the dough into 4” circles, saving scraps to reroll at the end.
5. Transfer circles to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spoon 1 tablespoon of filling onto each circle. Brush the edges of the circle with egg whites and seal into a half moon, using the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Repeat with remaining three disks of dough, filling all circles with ground beef mixture.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together yolks and milk. Brush tops of filled empanaditas with egg wash.
7. Bake empanaditas until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve warm.
Contrary to how our scholars Ruth and Elisha‘s blogposts may make it seem, BasqueStage is not all garden and gourmet glamour. And there’s definitely more to it than cooking in a three-star Michelin (even if that’s a pretty sweet part of the deal).
One of the important parts of the BasqueStage is filming videos. To prepare for the videos, the stages visit Sammic, the kitchen equipment company and sponsor of the program. There, they learn about the workings of Sammic’s many kitchen machines, and then film videos like this one:
The factory is located about thirty minutes away, in the small town of Azkoitia. The stages take a monthly trip to get the lowdown on the latest machines coming out of Sammic. Many of the machines are used in the kitchen at Restaurant Martín Berasategui, but the newest ones are still in Azkoitia, being tested and perfected. Good thing our stages are so photogenic!
Category : BasqueStage
As part of the Sammic Scholarship’s mission to introduce young cooks to the multiple facets of Basque cuisine, our scholars have recently spent some quality time in the countryside, with some very special animals.
Ruth and Elisha spent a few days on the property of Martin Txiki, an Idiazabal cheesemaker outside of Tolosa. This artisan outfit handcrafts Idiazabal cheese daily during the milking season. Our stages got to experience that firsthand, making friends with the local Latxa sheep, and even trying their hands at shearing.
On her blog, Ruth details the entire process of making Idiazabal cheese. To see it, click here.
photos courtesy of Ruth Selby