Chef Jun Tanaka, previously head chef at Pearl restaurant, is a regular on various cooking shows and one of the founders of Street Kitchen, which serves bistro food to people on the go. But my feet were firmly in place when I found myself in his presence at L’ Atelier des Chef, London. I was there not to stalk him out (although I can see how one would, he’s easy on the eye as well as being a very accomplished chef), but for a cooking class he was leading for Discover the Origin.
Discover the Origin is a European Union campaign that raises awareness around five Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products: Bourgogne Wines, Parma Ham, Douro wines, Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese and Port. The primary functions of having a PDO status is that it helps to protect the heritage, character and reputation of food and drink, by ensuring that imitations can’t be reproduced under its name, so in turn guarantees origin, authenticity and production methods.
The event kicked off with a glass (in my case three glasses) of light, fruity and sparkling Crémant de Bourgogne, Maison Louis Picamelot with a little intro from Tanaka who talked us through the menu he designed to showcase the PDO products. We then nibbled on some very delicious Parma ham (aged 24 and 30 months) and Parmigiano Reggiano (aged 22 and 30 months). I’ve tried the Parmigiano Reggiano before at a ‘Cracking’ event, so knew what to expect there and it was just as fab in taste as before.
Parma Ham and Parmigiano Reggiano
(Image courtesy of Fleishman Hillard)
The hams were proper ham, none of that pumped with water and drugs rubbish, but lovely authentic ham made using simple, but carefully maintained methods that go back centuries. The younger of the ham was velvety rich, not too salty and slightly sweet. The older was similar but with a stronger, meatier, depth of flavour. This was paired with a Redoma White (Niepoort), 2011 and Saint-Véran, Domaine de la Croix Senaillet, 2009.
The class at work (Image courtesy of Fleishman Hillard)
We were then set to work, guided by Tanaka, on two easy-to-do recipes: baked chicken with Parma ham, and honey roast root vegetables and baked fruit en papillote with crème Chantilly. I was stationed with the very lovely Ren from Fabuilcious Food, Deborah from Licked Spoon and Parma ham representative, Elke. The quality wines flowed freely and I chatted merrily, (I took a particular liking to the Redoma White). After a series of peeling, pouring, chopping, grating and wrapping our dishes were ready to bake.
Chicken wrapped in Parma Ham
And the results were good; we grated some Parmigiano and lemon on the chicken that gave a refreshing hit to an otherwise very rich dish. The wine pairing this time were two reds, one a Ladoix 1er Cru, La Corvée, Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand, 2008 and the other Post Scriptum de Chryseia, 2010. Both had its merit but for me I would have preferred one of the white wines with the dish instead.
Baked Fruit with Créme Chantilly
The baked fruit was the winner for me. We used star anise and cinnamon, which gave it a warm, spiced flavour and with a dollop of crème Chantilly was truly delicious. To finish we had two Ports; Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port, 1996 and Quinta do Noval 10 year old Tawny. To be honest I sort of lost track of the last set of wines – Port is not really my drink.
It was a fun informative day and great meeting the representatives, Tanaka, bloggers and journos. I’ve Discovered the Origin – you should discover it too.
Many thanks to Discover The Origin for the invite.
