The three culinary experts for the special Celebrity Chef Demonstrations utilized some of their favorite produce items to create bite-sized samplers for the audience at the New York Produce Show’s Culinary Concert in the Park, which was the designated staging area for these chefs to perform.
Ben Pollinger, executive chef at Oceana in Manhattan, prepared three separate produce-oriented dishes for the event.
“I served a cauliflower with a Meyer lemon, orange and fennel vinaigrette, with pistachios and green olives,” he said. “My other dishes were Lady apples served with root vegetable cassata, a sweet and sour take on fruit cassata; and sweet potato pancakes with sautéed shrimp and a mango and ginger sauce.”
Pollinger is known for his creative use of seafood with the best ingredients from a global pantry, but is a big believer in using local produce.
“I used a combination of wholesalers, small farmers who sell directly to the restaurant and a farm co-op or two,” he said. “Local is important. Anything I can do to shorten the chain to bring product from the region that will be fresher, generally grown on the smaller scale, is good for the environment and good for flavor.”
His menu at Oceana is often inspired by the produce that is available to him from the area. “I do cook seasonally, so while pretty much anything is available at any time of year, I focus on things that are growing in the region,” he said. “I’ll feature tomatoes in the summertime and early fall, root vegetables and apples come winter time. You have to be flexible to a degree, but you can do a lot with what’s available locally.”
Chris Marino, assistant Chef De Cuisine at Waldorf Astoria’s Peacock Alley Restaurant, was very impressed with the show and all the companies represented.
“This whole atmosphere is great and having all these people together in one place is wonderful,” he said. “I had the chance to come in and walk around at the beginning and meet some great people. The quality of the new products — whether it be tofu or vegetable-based meat products — was really interesting as well. There’s a lot going on in this industry that people need to be staying aware of.”
Chef Marino is known for his “Power Breakfast” at the restaurant, as well as an a la carte lunch menu, and a distinctive dinner of small plates and traditional selections. Its this menu that he drew upon for his produce preparations at the show.
“I started with our newest interpretation of the Waldorf Salad, which includes celery, green peppers, chili pepper and is very Mediterranean inspired with feta cheese, capers and a very fresh-focused flavor,” he said. “I also prepared a butternut squash tortellini, taking advantage of the great flavors available to me.”
Currently, Waldorf gets most of its produce from Baldor Specialty Foods, thanks to a corporate relationship its parent company, Hilton, shares with the produce distributor, but Chef Marino does supplement his produce from time to time with other regional offerings.
Also on hand at the show was Chef Rich Landau, known for his delicious vegan dishes at the vegetarian-inspired Vedge in Philadelphia. The author of several best-selling cookbooks, Chef Landau uses the carnivore’s palate he grew up with to translate vegetarian cuisine to a broader audience.
Source: PerishableNews.com
