WORLD GOURMET SUMMIT 2012 - GASTRONOMIC JAM SESSIONS

Every year, at the end of April, World Gourmet Summit is held in Singapore for food enthusiasts. It is a melting pot of world-renowned chefs and gourmands. The sharing of knowledge and the commrardarie is immense, all for the love of food. I had the privilege to attend a few events at the World Gourmet Summit 2012. The summit is an exciting mix of cooking demos, workshops and gala dinners at various local restaurants who collaborate with the visiting chefs. At the two day Gastronomic jam sessions, the chefs shed light on their areas of expertise. Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White and chef Ian Curly demonstrated dishes like Chateaubriand and Steak au poivre. It was interesting to note the different techniques used by these chefs to cook the same dish.

Local talent Chef Janice Wong shared her passion for desserts with the audience. She was very excited about fruit purees and demonstrated how she made fruit puree sheets and used them in colourful desserts.

Day 2 at the Gastronomic jam sessions began with a demonstration of an edible landscape by the Singapore Pastry team. The team skillfully demonstrated the techniques to form various shapes and put together a beautiful master piece made out of sugar and chocolate. The butterfly's glass-like wings and curly feelers were almost surreal.

The pastry demonstration was followed by a pleasant surprise for me, in my personal opinion. Indian chef, Vikas Khanna of the restaurant Junoon in New York city demonstrated a recipe for Sandalwood-smoked chicken with green peppercorns and Saffron. It was a very simple dish but the imaginative combination of the ingredients showcased the knowledge and talent of the young chef. I was very impressed by the chef's humbleness and his respect for Indian cuisine.

Next up was Michelin star chef Bruno Menard who took us through a slide show of his innovative dishes. It was interesting to note the Japanese influence in his Neo-French cuisine concept. Nordic cuisine has stormed the world gourmet scene since the inception of Norma as the world's best restaurant, 2 years ago. Following this trend, Chef Ronny Emborg from Denmark was one of the guest chefs at the World Gourmet summit 2012 and he did justice to the hype around Nordic cuisine. He and his Sous Chef demonstrated some spectacular dishes like Burnt Bread, Frozen Halibut, Potato Skin salad and a Malt Log Dessert.

Russian chef Anatoly Komm demonstrated dishes like a crab salad and Sushi-like rolls but made with typical Russian ingredients like beet root, potatoes, and mayonnaise. Chef Komm had a career in the world of Fashion before he became a chef and his culinary skills were rather eccentric and imaginative.

Another interesting segment at the Jam sessions was a cook off between two renowned chefs - chef Michel Sarran and Chef Susur Lee. They were both asked to cook Signature dishes using a theme ingredient - Truffles. Chef Sarran demonstrated a Truffle breakfast with Truffle Cappuccino and Truffle Yogurt while Chef Lee demonstrated Truffle-induced Squid ink and Sesame balls.

The final segment at the Jam sessions was a fun and exciting one by the celebrity Mixologist Javier De Las Muelas of the Dry Martini bar fame. He presented a slide of photos and videos of his bar and the innovative cocktails that the mixologist is famous for. His team demonstrated a drink called the Carnivore which is served in a pitcher plant placed in a martini glass. They also demonstrated a couple of beer-based cocktails.

The jam sessions were an eye-opener and was a truly rewarding experience. Although no written down recipes were shared by the visiting chefs, the sessions were informative and it was exhilarating to see the chefs at work, who showcased their skills and philosophies. This particular blog post is only part of a series of posts that I am going to be writing about the World Gourmet Summit 2012. Look forward to more news about the other events at the Summit.