December last year, YedyLicious was invited by our friends at The Asian Food Channel to take part at Media Lunch with Canadian Celebrity Chef Anna Olson held at Heat, Edsa Shangri-La. This event is the served as the second installment of Asian Food Channel’s Culinary Masterpieces. The first one happened when they brought Chef Martin Yan in Manila in which my article about the visit was published at Gala Magazine's October Issue.
With two programmes to boot namely ‘Fresh with Anna Olson’ and ‘Sugar’, both air at The Asian Food Channel, Fresh Flavours with Anna Olson is inline with promoting her new programme also shown at AFC, 'Bake with Anna Olson'.
Prior to the media lunch, a 2-day cooking demonstration was held at The Gallery, Level 3 of Greenbelt 5, Makati City where Chef Anna Olson impressed the guest with her flair for preparing delectable dishes such as Tourtiere (French Canadian Beef Pie), Calamansi Cheesecake and Pumpkin Crème Brulee Tarts. While I wasn’t able to witness the cooking demos at Greenbelt 5, the media lunch gave us a chance to witness Chef Anna Olson whip up 2 dishes she lovingly demonstrated while media indulged to a meal prepared by Chef Anna Olson herself with the help of some folks at Heat.
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| Canadian Celebrity Chef Anna Olson |
Using locally available ingredients, Chef Anna prepared dishes she adapted from her show for the media and other guests to feast on. Chef Anna was whipping up a traditional Canadian meat pie called Tortiere when the first dish for the lunch was served.
Chilled Grilled Seafood Salad was a delight in my palate. I love how refreshing the flavor was, an apt way to start a meal with a promise of fresh flavors. After the Tortiere, Chef Anna also demonstrate a hearty soup called Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk and Ginger. Since I've always loved ginger, this fare pleased my palate to bits. With different dimension of flavor incorporated in a single dish, the soup went perfectly well with the bread that Heat prepared for us.
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| Chilled Grilled Seafood Salad |
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| Freshly Baked Bread / Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk and Ginger |
Chef Anna Olson mentioned her appreciation to Pineapple so it was expected that her Arugula Salad with Pineapple, Pine Nuts and Piave Cheese will delight us, and it did.
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| Arugula Salad with Pineapple, Pine Nuts and Piave Cheese |
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| Roasted Rack of Lamb with Date Salsa, Three Onion Couscous and Vegetable Tagine |
For the main course we had Roasted Rack of Lamb with Date Salsa, Three Onion Couscous and Vegetable Tagine. Most of us in our table find our lamb a tad too rare for our liking so we requested to have it cooked a bit. When it was returned to our table, I enjoyed my fair share immensely.
Having gained fame when it comes to preparing baked goodies and other desserts, Chef Anna Olson mesmerized us with her Warm Chocolate Orange Truffle Tart with Salted Caramel Sauce and French Vanilla Ice Cream served for dessert.
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| Warm Chocolate Orange Truffle Tart with Salted Caramel Sauce and French Vanilla Ice Cream |
As if what we had feasted on were not enough, dessert buffet was also spread at one corner of the room for everyone to enjoy. Chef Anna Olson's Baked shown at The Asian Food Channel is one of the shows I take pleasure in watching and it was such a delight that I got the chance to sample her dessert creations. Of course, these sinful goodness were prepared with the help of equally talented chefs at Heat.
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| Chef Anna Olson at the dessert buffet |
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| Calamansi and Raspberry Mousse / Charlotte Royale |
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| Chocolate Hazelnut Napoleon / Coconut Mango Cream Pie |
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| Mini Cannolis / Strawberry Cream Tart |
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| Coconut Almond Madeline / Profiterole with Caramelized Sugar |
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| The Dessert Buffet |
Having met Chef Anna Olson in person gave me the inspiration to pursue my passion not just for cooking but for baking as well. There are some nuggets of wisdom and tips dished out I was able to grasp from Chef Anna which I find rather helpful. Good thing that although I wouldn't be meeting her again anytime soon, there's Asian Food Channel I could turn to whenever I need inspiration from Chef Anna Olson.
Want to learn delicious recipes from Chef Anna Olson? Catch her shows at The Asian Food Channel on SkyCable - channel 22, Dream Satellite – channel 27 and Cignal – channel 30. You may also visit www.asianfoodchannel.com for more information.
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