Chai Tea Ice Cream

Nearly ten years have passed since I traveled to India – once by myself and another time with my Australian friend, Sharon – and I can still remember savoring the chai tea there. There is something about tea infused with spices and rich, creamy milk that makes it such a soothing drink. Preparing it back here at home doesn't quite compare. Obviously the energy of a place contributes to the experience. The excitement that comes with traveling and seeing new cultures, meeting new people, and eating delicious food definitely heightens one's senses. India is a magical place and leaves you in a daze of sensory overload. I can't wait to return one day with Marcelo. I vividly remember the decadent chai tea at the Osho International Meditation Resort. The resort was one of the many highlights of my trip.

Osho International Meditation Resort

This beautiful meditation resort is situated in Pune, which is approximately 220km (137 miles) southeast of Mumbai. It is a stunningly peaceful and lush oasis in a city that has a population of nearly 5 million people. I knew little about the center before going and, of course, family and friends warned me about potential "brainwashing". Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Aside from the grounds being incredibly beautiful, the atmosphere was serene and safe – a nurturing environment where you could focus on yourself. You could partake in as many or as few meditations, classes, therapies, and activities as you cared to. There wasn't ever any pressure from anyone to do anything. It was your prerogative if you wanted to swim in the Olympic-sized pool the whole time you were there. Doing your own thing was appealing to me.

I, personally, took advantage of the various meditations, divine massages, and interesting classes and all were very special. My favorite meditation in Buddha Hall was Nadabrahma. In between meditations and activities, you could replenish yourself by eating at the various restaurants and cafes on the premises. Most of the produce is organic and grown by the commune itself. You could tell that care was given to the food because it was always exceptionally tasty and interesting. Being that the commune attracts visitors from around the world, a wide range of flavors and cuisines are available.

Chai often becomes part of our morning ritual at our house. So I thought why not make this decadent drink into yet another decadent dessert. Infusion plays a powerful role in ice cream making and you can easily come up with exciting flavors by following a few simple steps.

Using the Basic French Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe, substitute the vanilla bean with the following infusion:

Chai Tea Infusion Ingredients:

8 tsp.		Red Label Tea
1		cinnamon stick, broken
1.5"		ginger, julienned
1/2 tsp.		cloves
1 tsp.		cardamom seeds
1/4 tsp.		freshly grated nutmeg
3		whole star anise
1/2 tsp.		masala chai

Directions:

1. Bring the milk, cream, and infusion ingredients (tea through masala chai) to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator for more intensity.

2. Strain and press against the solids to extract all of the dairy mixture. Re-measure the strained liquid. Items such as coffee beans, nuts, tea, etc., can absorb a lot of liquid and will alter your formula. Top up the mixture with milk to make 500ml. As you can see below, the tea absorbed quite a bit of the liquid (nearly 17oz. is needed to equal 500ml).

3. Bring the infusion to a boil again and proceed with the Ice Cream Recipe as directed.

Tagged as: [ basics chai dessert icecream indian infusion recipes tips travel ]

Food Industry Jobs | My Interview With a Yacht Chef

As part of a series on various jobs in the food industry, I am pleased to introduce you to my friend and former classmate, Tracy Smee. We met during the full-time culinary program at NWCAV and I was intrigued by her plans to take her new and improved cooking skills aboard and float around the world.


How did Tracy wind up working on boats? While working in the Tech industry, Tracy took a vacation to Thailand in 2000 and on a whim enrolled in cooking classes at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. She had never been interested in cooking before but loved attending classes and learning more about food. While watching CNN in the airport on her way home, she saw the Tech industry literally fall apart before her eyes and contemplated what kind of career she should take on next.

Having done some freelance writing in the past, Tracy started investigating ways she could travel around the world and get paid for doing it. Her research ultimately led her to apply to Craigslist for a deckhand position on a boat in Vancouver, where she undertook a very adventurous job and, as fate would have it, met an incredible guy.

Her boyfriend, Captain Jason, grew up on a lake near Minnesota and was naturally around boats all of the time. When his mother decided to purchase a trimaran to sail around the Caribbean and across the Atlantic, Jason's curiosity and interest to join her led to a desire to make sailing a full-time job. He has gained a wealth of information cruising around the world and has extensive knowledge on both building and operating boats.

Together they left Vancouver, cruised the Caribbean and Central America for ten months, and then took a job in Northern Brazil overseeing the construction of a yacht. During those next ten months in Fortaleza, Tracy worked alongside the owner, a devout Foodie, to develop the galley and assist her with cooking on board. Tracy learned a lot and also drew a tremendous amount of information from the owner's volumes of Cooks Illustrated. After traveling on board the yacht from Brazil to Florida, and working in that area for a while, Tracy and Jason returned to Vancouver to take on their next project.



During the construction of their latest undertaking, Tracy knew that they wouldn’t be in the water for some time and began looking for professional culinary training courses. She sought to increase her skills on board and move towards a job on the boat that allowed her to be more creative. She chose NWCAV for the length of its program and the number of techniques that were covered.

How did you find the pace of the program at NWCAV?

We moved rapidly through a great deal of material, and I loved the pace. I learned much more than I expected about ingredients, flavors, cooking techniques, menu planning and plating, but also about how a professional kitchen works, the business side of food service, hygiene, nutrition, organization, food costing, and even farming and environmental issues related to food production. I initially thought that a lot of these topics were less important to me but they turned out to be especially applicable to my situation.

Did the program target your needs specifically?

The program at NWCAV taught me how to get organized and how important advanced preparation and a game plan is to get through service time. Food safe guidelines are extremely important anywhere in the industry, but, especially when you're not on land, you cannot afford to make anyone sick. Techniques such as butchering large cuts of meat into individual portions and cuts, how to use trim creatively, and how to buy, prep, and store food for maximum freshness were covered. The seafood segment at NWCAV definitely gave me insight on what I can do with live lobster, fish, and crab. The specific cooking and knife skills I learned in the course would have taken me years to develop on my own. It really built up my confidence and I feel I can tackle almost any recipe no matter how complicated, and I'm more inclined to experiment with my own creations. The products we worked with were top quality, and there was never a feeling that we were making ‘the cheap school version’ of any dish. For example, my lobster bisque had too much cognac.

In what ways did the program help you to grow?

After working somewhat solo for so many years it was great to be part of a team, too, and to hone my communication skills, creative problem solving, menu brainstorming, and work on my ‘control freak’ issues with a diverse bunch of personalities. Many friendships were forged in the heat of the kitchen! In the final few weeks, the Chefs really pushed us out of our comfort zones and we managed to rise to the occasion. We created amazing food together during our final, which we served to our friends, family, and professional industry judges for grading. What a blast! I grew a great deal professionally and personally over the 15 weeks, and will always look back at the course as one of the most dynamic and rewarding times of my life.

Was there anything that you didn’t like about the program?

I know that this sounds like a valentine to the school, but there is really nothing that I can find fault with. Okay, maybe they need to upgrade their salad spinners, and bigger locker rooms wouldn't hurt.

How do you view your overall experience at NWCAV?

There's no doubt, my experience at NWCAV far exceeded my expectations. Most important, the Chefs – their incredible passion for teaching and for food, their patience, vision, encouragement, whip-cracking and wise-cracking – all three Chefs gave enormously of themselves, setting the example. We needed to let go and become personally invested as well. More than instructors, they became our mentors and friends.

Okay, back to boats. When Tracy initially spoke of working on boats with her boyfriend, I had not tuned into the fact that these weren't little boats. Perhaps it was her unpretentious demeanor that made me assume that she worked on very casual boats like the many that I see around Vancouver. However, Marcelo and I recently were invited aboard Yacht Necha, and were wide-eyed as we approached the dock at the Mosquito Creek Marina in North Vancouver.


This stunning, 94’ custom expedition yacht is larger than most houses and is on the market for a mere $8,990,000.00USD. We enjoyed a fabulous tour of the yacht and were treated to a delicious meal that Tracy whipped up in the galley.


Click here for more pictures of Yacht Necha.

What do you like about your job?

Clearly I get to travel to exotic places and I am lucky that I get to do it alongside my partner. We both love waking up to a beautiful view and witnessing gorgeous marine life along the way. With my enhanced cooking skills, I am able to move from a deckhand or stewardess position to working in the galley as the yacht's Chef and as my experience increases, so does my pay. Often Yacht and Charter Chefs can easily earn six digit incomes. It is an incredible way to save money because there is nowhere on the boat to spend your paycheck as both food and lodging are covered by the owner.

If you like to be in control, this could be the job for you, as your responsibilities demand that you orchestrate the show. There is a huge learning curve. Consideration has to be given on how to utilize food in the correct order. For example, you have to think about using your fresh arugula and romaine lettuce first before your cabbage, allowing you to stretch salads throughout a 2-week stint at sea. To avoid waste, serious menu planning and advance preparation of frozen goods (stocks, sauces, and one-dish meals) is of the utmost importance. Food costing, storage space, and researching where to provision have to be taken into account for these longer sails.

How will you manage different taste buds on board?

Working on a boat will force me to be creative. Regard has to be given to dietary needs and picky eaters have to be catered to. Back-up plans are always needed. I will send future guests a questionnaire to help me plan ahead, but if someone catches a mahi mahi that day and I have already defrosted steaks, I have got to be ready to turn on a dime, with a smile.

How often will you get to visit a store?

It depends on the length of the trip and there are many unknowns. Once we do dock in that foreign land, a few things need to be taken into consideration. Will I be able to speak the language and will I know where to seek out the freshest food? What if the produce doesn’t match my menu? What happens if I leave land and discover the flour I bought back at the port has bugs in it? I need to think of all of these things and have alternatives in place to be able to make nutritious, delicious food even from canned and jarred goods too. Flexibility is extremely important.

What are some of the challenges of working on board?

The hours are very long and they are spent in close quarters. If you like your privacy too much, this may not be the job for you. Different sized boats obviously come with different challenges and it all depends who you are working for. Private boats are usually more casual. The owners are generally boating with family and friends and are more at ease. Charter boats can be very demanding when people are paying upwards of $75,000USD per week to cruise. The highest quality of food and service are obviously expected.

What ways can one apply to work on a boat?

Working with a broker can be useful, as they know what buyers need crew and which of their associates and friends are looking to hire. There are professional web-based agencies such as Crew4Crew where crew can post their resume and qualifications and captains/owners can pay to log in and view these resumes. In larger port cities such as Florida, there are agencies that deal with specific boat sizes (i.e., boats over 100’) and provide crew placement. Anybody can be crew but you do need to have a STCW safety course under your belt. Around the world, qualified crew walk the docks checking for jobs. They carry their resume and portfolios with them and talk to boat Captains. Other crew resources include The Triton, Crew Unlimited, The Crew Network, and Elite Crew International.

What kitchen item can you not be without?

I can make so many things in my cast iron Dutch oven. It enables me to brown, stew, slow cook, deep fry, roast, bake or boil. It also works on my induction cook top.

What is your favorite food?

Just about anything from the sea, luckily! And spinach.

Tracy’s Book Recommendation

Girls Who Dish!: Top Women Chefs Cook Their Best by Canadian Women Chefs. That night on Yacht Necha, Tracy prepared us the Halibut on Wilted Spinach with Pancetta Mignonette by Deb Conners (shown above), which was superb.

If you have any questions about working on boats, send Tracy an email at firstmatesmee at gmail dot com.

The word is in. Tracy and Jason are busily preparing to take Yacht Necha on a 2-month cruise to Florida. Bon voyage guys!

Tagged as: [ boats chef industry interview jobs nwcav travel yacht ]

CHOCOLATE!!!

Immediately following our mid-term exam, we began the highly anticipated series on CHOCOLATE! There isn't anything in the pastry kitchen that excites me more. Chocolate is luxurious and oh so comforting. There is a certain degree of giddiness that occurs inside every time I eat chocolate that is really delicious.

I knew I met my soul mate when I discovered that my husband liked chocolate more than I did! He is the ultimate chocolate monster and has a dessert imagination that goes beyond what I could ever conjure up. I'm amazed at times how he can put the gooiest desserts together when I think that there is little left in the pantry.

I wanted to keep an open mind during the course of both culinary and pastry to discover if there is anything that I'm not aware of that would really interest me and ultimately direct me in sorting out where to go next with this career change. Even though I love cooking and have enjoyed baking pastries and breads, nothing has grabbed me the way chocolate does. It summons that exhilaration that I used to feel when I ran my on-the-side, home-based chocolate business years ago.

There is a portion in one of Steve Pavlina's blogs that talks about discovering and making the best contribution you can. "Once you do discover your purpose, the next step is to summon the courage to act on it.  For some people this is an easy transition, but for others it’s the most difficult step of all.  Don’t let the challenge discourage you.  If you have a big purpose, then your task is to grow into it.  If it takes years, it takes years. "

Sometimes I feel that it is taking me years to figure out what my best contribution can be and perhaps I will wind up creating and supplying beautiful chocolates once again. In the meantime, I need to grow into it, develop my skills, and take things one step at a time. I put a lot of pressure on myself to figure things out NOW and make things happen NOW. I have always been that way. As I become clearer on which direction that I want to go, I also need to be patient. The timing will happen as it is supposed to.

This picture was taken in Barcelona, Spain, at the Valor Chocolate Shop. I was sicker than a dog at the time but would not leave Spain without drowning myself in chocolate. They served a bowl of melted chocolate and the gooiest chocolate cake ever. Marcelo and I devored it and even though my stomach hated me, I was in heaven.

Tagged as: [ barcelona chocolate nwcav pastry spain travel valor ]

Sumptuous Meals | Kampa Park Restaurants - Prague, Czech Republic

In 2004, Marcelo and I spent 10 days in what turned out to be one of my most favorite cities in the world. Prague is a stunning city in every sense. We wandered through cobblestone streets for hours on end and gazed at ancient buildings and all of the art that poured out of every nook and cranny. We ate delicious meals every day and came across the mouth-watering, celebrity frequented, "Kampa Group Restaurants" owned by Nils Jebens.

In 1994, Nils opened the first of his restaurants on the Malá Strana riverfront in Prague.  During communism the Czechs were not allowed to travel freely and discover unique ingredients beyond the Iron Curtain. Variety lacked and the cuisine suffered. To fill the void, Norwegian-born Nils set out to revolutionize and introduce fine dining in Prague. The first restaurant he opened, Kampa Park, is situated right on the water beside the magnificent Charles Bridge.

Once Marcelo and I discovered these gems, we quickly planned to fit in every remaining meal at the Kampa restaurants. I still remember the delectable wild mushroom papardelle at Square. The asparagus risotto was also gorgeous and tasted just like freshly picked asparagus. And the coffee was to die for! I often wish I had a bottomless pit of a stomach where I could just eat and eat and eat and never get full or gain weight. Square was an elegant but casual restaurant that paid attention to detail, provided snappy service, and presented its food beautifully. At Bazaar, now called Cowboys, Marcelo ordered an incredible sole dish bathed in the most delicious butter sauce. And at Hergetova Cihelna the view of the Charles Bridge was remarkable as was the food.

On the last night, I purchased their "Park Life - Kampa Park Cookbook". It explains the journey of opening the different restaurants and the destruction that they had to deal with when the "Thousand Year Flood" of 2002 ruined Hergetova Cihelna. After six months of renovations, it re-opened to be better than ever. This guy has done admirable work and gives entrepreneurs something to aspire to. The cookbook contains amazing recipes and he advises novices to refrain from getting ahead of themselves. He stresses mise-en-place (have all ingredients in order before executing a dish) and after testing the recipes a few times to send Kampa an invitation for dinner. I'm not at that stage yet but one day I may extend the invitation ;)

Every now and then I am brave enough to pick up his book and give one of the recipes a try. If you are ever in Prague, make sure you go to at least one of his well-priced restaurants. I guarantee that you'll be hooked! And if you can't make it there just yet, surely you will find some inspiration from the menus on his website.

Click here for more pictures from Prague.

Tagged as: [ czechrepublic kampapark prague restaurants travel ]

The Island Experience Adventure Spa at Ilha Grande, Brazil

In the midst of shifting into a totally new career path plus moving to a new city, my husband and I decided to take a 2-month trip to South and Central America this past February and March. This type of opportunity where the both of us could take time off doesn't come often so we took advantage of it and visited Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Panama. Why do I blog about this so many months after the fact? I can definitely say that travel has impacted my life greatly and has made me appreciate different cultures, cuisines, ingredients, and styles of cooking. It is my hope to continue blogging about past trips that have influenced me in many ways, especially gastronomically.

We planned to visit Marcelo's family in Uruguay and that meant A LOT of eating so we thought that a bit of hiking on this trip would help to balance it all out. Ok, I'll admit, even if we weren't visiting family we would still be consuming more than usual; isn't that the number one activity while on vacation? Between my husband and I, we have visited many countries and the cuisine is what excites us most, rather than visiting yet another church, monument, or museum. So with the guarantee of adding some extra weight, my husband began researching planned activities on the net and discovered The Island Experience Adventure Spa.

The "adventure spa" sounded incredible. Situated on stunning Ilha Grande, Brazil (an island southeast of Rio de Janeiro) is a beautiful, privately-owned lodge that offered a week long program full of hiking, yoga, kayaking and other activities. On top of that, it was a detox week - no caffeine and no alcohol - fresh food, all vegetarian (with the exception of fish served twice), and everything calculated to give you the exact amount of calories that your body needed. At the end of each day, everyone received an hour-long massage. We decided to sign up for a week near the end of our vacation. Nicole, the travel administrator, is fantastic. Her travel support is unsurpassed. She is extremely friendly and answered every question that we had to ensure a smooth arrival and departure.

The first day, our small group (there is a maximum of 10 people) met and was transported by boat to the island. Everyone at The Island Experience was very welcoming and kind. Adriana, the on-site nutritionist explained the meal plan to us and we could choose to be on the low-calorie option (1500 calories per day) if we wanted. 8 out of 10 people opted for the low-calorie plan. I, proudly, WAS NOT one of them (although I did discover that the only difference between the regular meal plan and the low-calorie plan was that I received a vegetarian sandwich for lunch, in addition to the salad that everyone had). Anyone could also ask for seconds at dinner if they wanted.

The first night at dinner was the only time that my "non low-calorie meal" was different from everyone else's meals. I felt like I was on Survivor at one of those challenges where someone wins a food reward and has to eat it in front of the others. Boy, was that ever uncomfortable! But I didn't care too much as panic set in for me that first night, thinking I was going to starve and cursed myself for not sneaking some sort of food contraband in my suitcase...but surprisingly, I was not hungry and I will be the first to admit that I do not eat like a bird. I never have been that "I'll just have a salad" sort of girl.

I don't think that either of us realized how intense the week would be. Each day began by receiving a knock on our door at 6:00 a.m. By 6:30 a.m., we were on the pier doing an intense one-hour yoga session with Juliana, the incredible yoga instructor. Our bodies definitely woke up! The view and the sound of the waves was a beautiful way to start the day.

At 7:30 a.m., we were eating one of Adriana's nutritional breakfasts, which consisted of fruit, freshly squeezed tropical juice, and usually granola. By the way, the regular soy milk in Brazil naturally tastes like our "vanilla flavored" soy and it is delicious.

By 8:30 a.m., we were on our way to hike or kayak or do a combination of both. And this wasn't a sort of hike where you whistle as you stroll along. These hikes were intense and immediately got your heart rate up. Kayaking wasn't a short paddle either; it was usually for 1.5-3 hours. There were times throughout the week that I thought I was going to cry because it was so tough but I stuck it out as best as I could. The incredible scenery rewarded each challenge. We would hike to glorious beaches and revive ourselves in cool waterfalls and swimming holes. Both my husband and I agree that we have never sweated that much in one week. Without our camel backs full of water, lots of sun screen, and the well-timed snack or suco (blended tropical drink), I'm sure we would have croaked.

After a full day of activity and stopping to have our packed lunch, we would make our way back to the lodge. You had just enough time to have a quick shower and change before an optional relaxing one-hour yoga session that stretched those tired muscles. We then proceeded to get those muscles beautifully massaged for another full hour by the local massage therapists. I love getting massages and I can say that they were some of the best that I have ever had. We strained our bodies quite a lot on those hikes and kayaks and what surprised us most was with the combination of yoga and massage, we never woke up stiff where we couldn't move.

Every day the hikes and the places we would kayak to would become more intense. The last day was the best and also the most challenging. We knew we were in for it when even the guides decided to put on hiking boots (their feet are so accustomed to the trails that every other day, they would hike wearing flip flops or go barefoot). We hiked up to Papagaio, known in English as "Parrot's Peak", a 3000 ft elevation on one of the hottest and most humid days that week. The fast ones made it to the top in 2 hours of straight  climbing - every step went up! My group did it in a little over 3 hours but I should stress that it's not a competition. There are always 3 guides on the hikes which works really well as there are usually fast, medium, and slower-paced people so you aren't pressured to keep up with the entire group. The view at the top was beautiful but I also knew up there that we still had to go down. My legs were very tired and downhill feels even harder when the trails are that steep. Ok, I had a mini-breakdown but I made it. The views, as the guides promised, were spectacular. Above is a picture of one of our guides named Bob. His comment was "Can you believe this is my office"?

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. If you are up for a really difficult challenge and you want to cleanse your body, beat it up, and get it pampered - definitely. All of the staff are fantastic people and it was a pleasure to meet them all. Everyone was well educated on the areas, the flora and fauna, and the food. If you want to personally challenge yourself, it is a wonderful experience. I should also mention that activities in the evening included Samba dancing, Capoeria, and painting.

Is it for couples? Well, it wasn't really a "couples getaway". It is a week to challenge yourself at your own pace and discover your own personal strengths and weaknesses. You hike and kayak at your own pace, yoga is an individual activity, the massage is on your own, and so by the time the day is over, you are so tired that there isn't much time for anything else. I'm actually surprised that there weren't more men that signed up because it is such a tough challenge. (For all the guys out there - go! You'll meet a lot of single women!) We are both really grateful that we did it. It was a very memorable island experience and has inspired us to continue exploring yoga.

So, you might be asking: how has this influenced me gastronomically? Well my husband and I both learned that we can survive by consuming a lot less while still remaining extremely active. Also, the ingredients Adriana used were simple, mostly vegetarian, tasty, and put together in ways that gave your body a lot of needed fuel. She didn't rely on heavy sauces or my husband's favorite - butter! She used herbs and fresh, local ingredients. Oh, and by the way, we actually lost those dreaded few pounds of vacation weight in one week!

Tagged as: [ brazil hiking ilhagrande islandexperience kayaking massage meditation travel yoga ]