De Gustibus Cooking Class with Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Cedric Vongerichten: Absolutley Superb

Hello foodies! A few days ago I went to a De Gustibus cooking class with Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his son Cedric Vongerichten. This cooking class was amazing. Both Jean-Georges and Cedric were interesting and had a lot of information to share. The food was so good, by just writing about their food, my mouth begins to water.

 Here is what the Jean-Georges and Cedric prepared:

• Santa Barbara Sea Urchin, Salted Butter, Jalapeno, Yuzu
• Meyer Lemon Gelee and Petrossian Caviar 
• Ribbons of Tuna, Avocado, Spicy Radish & Ginger Marinade
• Slow Cooked Halibut, Herbal-Chili Emulsion, White Asparagus
• Roasted Chicken with Spiced Jus, Chili-Onion Compote & Sugar Snap Peas
• Passion Seeds Sunflower

The Amuse-Bouche (An Amuse Bouche is a single or small bite, like an hors d'oeuvre) was the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin. The sea urchin was resting on a small 1.5' by 5' slice of pumpernickel bread with a thin slice of jalapeno, salted butter, maldon sea salt and yuzu.The sea urchin had an incredible texture and was very fresh. The jalapeno gave it a little kick just to make the dish exciting.

The first dish prepared was the Meyer Lemon Gelee and Petrossian Caviar. This dish was very refreshing and delicious. Jean-Georges scooped out the lemon pulp from a half of a Meyer Lemon. Cedric then made the gelee with water, Meyer Lemon juice, Elderflower, and Agar Agar (Agar Agar is the powdered form of a Japanese seaweed). Then the gelee was poured into the lemon cups and were left to sit at room temperature. Than they put creme fraiche, one dill pluche, and caviar. The caviar Jean-Georges used was Caviar Petrossian Paris. The caviar is sold at Petrossian in New York.

The second dish prepared was the Ribbons of Tuna, Avocado, Spicy Radish & Ginger Marinade. This was the best dish of the night by far and in my top five of the best dishes I ever ate. Jean-Georges also mentioned that this dish represented him as a chef and the flavors that he likes. The dish was plated with a spoonful of the avocado, salt, lime juice and olive oil mixture. Then it had three types of radishes on  top tossed with some chili oil. Then the tuna was placed on top and had more radishes on top . The dish was topped of with the ginger marinade drizzled all over. This marinade was incredible and could be used on anything like salmon or chicken.

The third dish was the Slow Cooked Halibut, Herbal-Chili Emulsion, White Asparagus. This dish was very good. The halibut was seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked in a convection oven set at 250 degrees for 12 minutes. The halibut itself was incredible. Jean-Georges said the best place to get Halibut is in Maine and Nova Scotia. It was on top of white asparagus and an herbal-chili emulsion. The emulsion was delicious with the fish and made with a lot of ingredients like Green Thai Chili (seeds and all), Green Finger Chile, cilantro root, cilantro, galangal (Galangal is in the ginger family and traditionally used in Thai cuisine), lemon grass, grape-seed oil (Grape-seed oil was used it is natural and has no extra flavor), and much more. This herbal-chili emulsion had a lot of components which made it so interesting and flavorful.

The fourth dish was the Roasted Chicken with Spiced Jus, Chili-Onion Compote & Sugar Snap Peas. This dish was delicious. The chicken was really good.When Cedric was preparing the chicken he coated the top with whipped egg whites and then dipped that side in bread crumbs. The egg whites made the breading lighter. The chili-onion compote was delicious with the chicken as well. Also the sugar snap peas that they used were the best sugar snap peas I have ever had. The snap peas were so fresh and big. They purchased them at the Union Square Market.

The fifth dish prepared was dessert. Jean-Georges and Cedric made Passion Seeds Sunflower. This dish was a bunch of meringue tips that touch each other in a circle, which made it look like flower petals with nothing on the inside. To make these circles of meringue tips Jean-Georges drew a few circles on parchment paper and put another piece of parchment paper on top so you can use the sharpie circle as a guide line. Then for the next part of the dish they made a Creme Diplomate. This was like a pastry cream and they filled the inside of the meringue tips with it. After that they took fresh passion seeds and poured them on top. This made the dish look like a sunflower. Besides the looks the dish was also incredible. The meringue was crunchy, the Creme Diplomate was creamy and the passion seeds tied everything together.

Besides talking about the food, Jean-Georges Vongerichten had some announcements and stories. Jean-Georges said that he has a new cookbook coming out this fall. This is Jean-Georges fifth cookbook. Also Jean-Georges said that his next restaurant is going to be quite unique. He recently bought a ferry and he is going to make a casual seafood restaurant on it. It will docked somewhere in New York City but that hasn't been determined. He said he just bought the ferry a few weeks ago so this restaurant won't be open for a while. Jean-Georges also said that he is looking to reopen Vong in a new location but as of now there is no big news on that. Also back in the kitchen or behind the scenes was Spice Markets chef, Anthony Ricco. He came out for a minute to greet everyone.

This class was probably the best cooking class I have ever been too. The food was out-of-this-world and both Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Cedric Vongerichten were amazing. Also, the spring season of De Gustibus is coming to an end which ends the new season of cooking classes will start in September. The cooking classes will be announced and go on sale somewhere around July 18. Keep checking back for more updates on everything food in New York City and Manhattan. By the way New York City Wine & Food Festival tickets officially went on sale today. Bon Apetit!

-Mike