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Sammic Scholar for BasqueStage Marco Bahena was featured this week in Latino Leaders Magazine. The article is a great read if you’re curious about this young cook’s background…studies, competitions, failures and success. Here’s a little excerpt:
Success and acclaim don’t find you. Young Latino chef, Macro Bahena, knows that. He went looking for them instead. A recent graduate of Kendall College’s School of the Culinary Arts in Chicago, Marco already has earned both.The passion and respect he has for cooking won’t allow him to hype on those for long. He’s ready for the next set of challenges, which in Marco’s mind, isn’t the next internship or accolade. It’s the next dish, the next patron. That’s how Marco plans to leave his mark on the culinary world — one dish at a time…
“I take that competitive energy I have, and I apply that to food,” he said. “So it’s about going to work, going to classes and putting the extra time into go one-on-one with some of the mentors I have here: extra studying, extra work, extra energy — to put all of that back into the food. I think that’s why I am in the spot I am in.”
Read the rest here…
Category : BasqueStage
Our new Sammic scholars for BasqueStage, Marco Bahena and Cameron Rolka, are in the middle of their first days in the kitchen of Restaurante Martín Berasategui.
So, how are they getting along, in the heat of one of the world’s best kitchens? Where business is conducted (and conducted rapidly) in Spanish, Basque, and French, instead of their native English?
Marco tells us: “Things are good! First day went by really well for me. I gotta say, knowing Spanish is a real life saver. It has made learning and getting along in the kitchen much easier.”
Cameron says: “The day started off a little shaky…because it was my first day nobody really knew what to do with me and the kitchen has a particularly large amount of stages right now. I switched from Carne to Pastelería last minute because they could use me more. I’m still working through language barrier which is the toughest thing I have to deal with. I started keeping notes of any recipes, procedures, and Spanish words. Writing in my notebook helps a lot! Ready for another day to work harder and learn more.”
Good job and good luck, stages!
Category : BasqueStage
With their stage at Martin Berasategui right around the corner (tomorrow!), Marco Bahena and Cameron Rolka made their first visit to the Sammic factory in Azkoitia, Basque Country. Sammic is a company that produces food service equipment, such as immersion blenders, vacuum sealers, food processors, and dozens of other items. Sammic is also one of the sponsors of the BasqueStage program.
We met with some of the employees of Sammic and took a tour around the factory, to see how they make the machines that the stages will use in Martín Berasategui.
Particularly impressive was watching the molten metal be poured into molds for the custom-made kitchen machines that come out of Sammic. Then the pieces are polished, checked, and moved off to the assembly line. It was impressive to see the product go from raw metal to finished machine over the course of an hour-long tour.
We are in the middle of the 50th anniversary celebration for Sammic, and the halls were lined with photos from the old factory. Our guide pointed out decades-old pictures of some of his colleagues, who still work in the factory to this day!
Marco and Cameron, however, are most excited to get their hands dirty in the kitchen. After a week of free time, exploring the French and Spanish Basque Country and eating at some fine restaurants, they are ready to give those Sammic machines a spin in the kitchen. Good luck, stages!
Category : BasqueStage
Today we spent the afternoon filming with Tracy Chang in the studio behind Martín Berasategui. She prepared a dish part “Martín” and part “Tracy”: red mullet with ratatouille. The part she took from the restaurant was the salmonete, the red mullet, which is prepared simply yet exquisitely. The scales are left on the fish, and scathing hot oil is poured over the fish. The scales curl up as the fish cooks, resulting in a perfectly cooked fish and an impressive presentation.
Then, the “Tracy” part came in: ratatouille with ground porcini. The porcini mushroom, or boletus edulis, is a favorite mushroom here in Basque Country.
It appears in spring and fall, and can be found in nearly every vegetable market, a far cry from its scarcity in markets like the US. The typical preparation is in a revuelto, scrambled eggs, or grilled. Tracy used the flavor of the boleto to enrich her ratatouille, resulting in a delicious platter tasting of both earth and sea. Yum! Video coming soon.
Category : BasqueStage, Videos
Sammic scholar Athena Thickstun is back with a video for us, this time drawing inspiration from her American roots. The video crew arrived to a studio filled with the smells of cinnamon, sugar and maple syrup….cinnamon rolls! Athena shows us how to create the popular pastry, from the yeasty dough to the slightly tricky shaping of the rolls. The delicious filling of melted butter, cinnamon and sugar is sprinkled over the square of dough, which is then rolled up and sliced to bake. Athena modernizes her rolls with a cream cheese-maple icing. Que rico!
Category : BasqueStage
What to do when there is a special visit from Sammic counterparts (all the way from the United States and England)? During the yearlong Sammic 50th anniversary celebration? And when you happen to have two talented young stages from Restaurant Martín Berasategui at your service?
You ask them to show you what they’ve learned in their nearly six-month stage, by preparing a dinner in a gastronomic society, one of the hallmarks of the cuisine of Basque Country.
That’s what we did, and Tracy and Athena set out to meet the challenge. They arrived to the txoko, arms full of fish, meat, and knife bags. After an aperitif of olives, tuna and txakoli, they began preparing their menu. a classically Basque one. Beginning with fish soup, the meal continued showcasing the incredible fish available in the markets of San Sebastián with the classic kokotxas al pilpil.
Quickly declared (by lifelong kokotxa-eaters, nonetheless) the best kokotxas they’d ever tried, we moved on to carrilleras de ternera, or veal cheeks. This is a dish muy de moda, found in restaurants and pintxo bars everywhere. The BasqueStage version was served over a potato puree, rich with butter and pork stock.
Panna cotta, cookies and brownies rounded out the meal for dessert. All in all, an incredible meal. Chef Martín would be proud!