The Ladies of the Round Table

On Thursday afternoon I had the pleasure of catering this year's opening event for the lovely "Ladies of the Round Table" of Manitowoc County. To kick off their season entitled "Global Trends", David & I prepared various foodstuffs from all over the world. I also received the opportunity to educate them on dessert trends from 8 different countries of my choosing.

I may vary from my usual blog form to bring you a new & unique post. No, that doesn't mean there won't be pictures.....sheesh! In fact, there will be 5x as many photos as normal! How about that?!!? Ok, let's go! I hope you enjoy the trip. First stop:

"Le Monde"

"Le Quiche"

"Le Yum! Yum!"


For lunch we served a variety of Quiche. They could choose from:
Organic Broccoli & Cheddar
Organic Spinach & Garlic w/ Pepperjack Cheese
Mushroom & Black Olive
Asparagus & Toasted Pine Nut
Cheesy Garlic w/ Caramelized Onions
'Crustless' Quiche w/ Montery Jack & Diced Red Bell Pepper

We plated everything up, with an accompanying Caprice Insalata which is an Italian salad using only fresh organic tomatoes (I chose cherry tomatoes), a bit of fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil & a dollop of black olive paste. The plate was finished with 2 baked Parmesan crisps.

After lunch, I spoke about global food trends, dessert trends & common ingredients found in foreign kitchens. I am not really an 'Oriental jin', I just play one on TV.

"Tres Sex-ay"

We begin our trip around the world with POLAND. Please, sample one of these Polish Sugar Cookies called "Ciasteczka" that David is passing around. They are made with boiled mashed egg yolks, sugar, flour, butter & a hint of vanilla. That's all! Delicate & delicious.

Next we are off to BRAZIL! OH! You MUST try one of these! "Quindin" (pronounced keen-deen) are a rich creamy blend of yolks, sugar & butter with a macaroon-like bottom of coconut & a hint of lemon zest.

Now on to HUNGARY. Here, David is passing "Piskota Fank" for you to sample. It is a Hungarian Doughnut. They are made with an eggy yeast base, then baked, NOT fried, with a dollop of vanilla bean pastry cream in the center.

***Sing Along***
"I felt the raaiins dowwwwwwn in AAAAAFRICAAA....."

So let's stay where it's warm & dry & eat a "Samsa" instead! It's an almond sesame pastry baked in filo dough & glazed with syrup (usually found in Tunisia).

ALL ABOARD! This boat will take us on to THAILAND for some simple yet delicious "Coconut Bananas". Sliced bananas boiled in lightly sweetened coconut milk & chilled. Refreshing!

What? Are you getting tired already?!!? Well then, let's make a pit-stop in TURKEY for some fine, strong coffee & a bite o' delight. Lokum, aka Turkish Delight, a soft confection made with rose water & rolled in powdered sugar. MMMmmm....it is such a ..... *searching for the perfect word* ..... oh ..... such a ..... such a what? *GASP* OH! I've GOT IT!!! It's such a 'Delight'! :-D

Looks like David has the last tray! We must be in SPAIN & those must be "Tortas de Aceite"! A light & crispy cookie flavoured with Spanish cracked anise. Made with extra virgin olive oil. Not just good, but good for you, too!

We finished our presentation & allowed everyone to ask questions. The hottest topic that afternoon centered around Butter. I explained the difference between:

European Style Butter (YAY! The BEST! REAL butter.)
Regular Unsalted Butter (Second best with more water content.)
& finally
European Butter Blend (BLECK! :-P Don't buy it. It's just a little bit of butter mixed with stuff jin won't eat.)

The ladies had NO IDEA that Real European Style Butter can even be found in this area! Enter a HUGE plug for Humpty Dumpty Eggs in Reedsville (Hi Mark & Shelly! :-) cos that's where ALL our butter comes from! I had to repeat the name 3 times, so everyone there could hear me!

When the questions died down, I spoke briefly about Japanese confectionary, also known as "Wagashi". Wagashi is said to 'uniquely reflect it's creators ideas'; it is made by hand with all natural ingredients. Each guest received a 'Wagashi Take Away Box' created exclusively by Me n D.

On the box I printed stickers with the "Kanji" (Japanese system of writing with symbols) for:

LOVE
BEAUTY
&
CONFECTIONARY

Nestled inside each box was another mini trip around the world. A visit to:
Germany for a "Trier Square"
England for a "Currant Scone w/ Lemon Curd"
Italy for "Tiramisu"
France for a "Petit Four"
& a small "Brioche" bun.

Well, what do you say, think I'd make a good traveling companion?