Top chefs
We all know that the chef is the new rock star. From the broody sexiness of Anthony Bourdain to the almost porn-like approach of Nigella Lawson, to the earthy allure of Jamie Oliver, everyone — thanks to a plethora of cooking shows — is now a gourmand in his own right.
Thus the reason to upgrade this merry season with Gaggenau’s state-of-the-art kitchenware, which doesn’t just cook but creates experiences. Let’s get to the McGyver angle first. There’s the cool iPod-like configuration of a Gaggenau oven (it works with a detachable knob so you can get the precise temperature and heats what needs to be heated — nothing more, nothing less) and its smart Fahrenheit action.
Marielle Santos-Po and Stephanie Zubiri heated things up at Living Innovations’ kitchen showroom. The privileged few and handpicked members of the press got instant cooking lessons from the two young food aficionados who prepared a three-course meal in an exquisitely designed Bulthaup kitchen using Gaggenau appliances right before their very eyes.
German-made Gaggenau is the leading manufacturer of elegantly designed built-in kitchen appliances such as ovens, ventilation systems, dishwashers and modular cooktops that offer five-star restaurant-cooking capabilities to the home chef while Bulthaup creates and designs classic, elegant, and convenient solutions for the kitchen space.
Simple Cooking With Sophisticated Gaggenau
Marielle Santos-Po is an executive at the family-owned Cinderella Marketing Corporation, and on weekends she turns into a culinary homemaker to hubby Leo Po of Century Tuna.
A self-confessed foodie, Marielle loves to cook and immediately volunteered to do the tuna bruschetta using her husband’s latest product, corned tuna.
She gave an interesting tip when making the crispy, tasty bruschetta: “Before spreading your topping on the bread, toast it slightly in the oven, then lace the bread slices with olive oil before you put on your tuna mixture.”
She prepared a mixture of garlic, tomatoes, artichokes, onions, Kalamata olives, parsley, basil, vinegar, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar and spooned it on golden brown bruschetta. After topping it with loads of mozzarella cheese, she popped it in the Gaggenau Single Convection and left it to bake till the cheese melted.
The Gaggenau single convection oven is equipped with 12 heating modes to assist in the perfect preparation of a wide variety of gourmet meals. “With push button speed, a user can convert the temperature mode from Fahrenheit to centigrade. It needs little maintenance after use because it has a device that pulverizes grease and food particles left after cooking,” said Living Innovations’ Ferdie Ong.
A couple of minutes later, Marielle’s tuna bruschetta was served and savored by the group.
Stephanie Zubiri, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, prepared her rum-flamed prawns with asparagus pasta, exercising her gourmet magic sautéing and flambéing the fresh prawns — all on the Gaggenau Cl 491 cooktop.
“The unique feature of this cooktop is that you can easily adjust the heat using its detachable magnetic control knob that works like an iPod wheel, allowing you to adjust how hot you want the electric burner to be simply by turning it,” adds Ferdie Ong, proprietor of these kitchen marvels.
“I like using this kind of stove because you get even heating,” says Stephanie, who recently turned into a culinary entrepreneur with her Epicurus Inc., a catering and food consulting firm.
The piece de resistance was the oven-baked bread pudding with a creamy cinnamon sauce. “The bake and steam feature of this oven made my pudding really moist,” says Stephanie. The best chefs in the world know that steaming without pressure is the healthiest way to cook food because it’s gentle, it preserves vitamins, nutrients, texture, and color. Gaggenau’s Combination Steam and Convection oven provides the perfect combination of hot air and humidity, making vegetables crunchy and roasts crispy on the outside but succulent on the inside.
After all the cooking was done, the Bulthaup counters, which are made out of a synthetic stone called Corian, remained spotless and ready for the next cooking innovation.
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Living Innovations exclusively distributes top-of-the-line European lifestyle brands such as Minotti living room furniture, Gaggenau kitchen appliances, Bulthaup kitchen systems, and outdoor furniture brands such as the popular Dedon. The showroom is located at the 2/F Makati Shangri-La Retail Arcade along Ayala Ave. and at 46 McKinley Road, Forbes Park. For inquiries, call 830 2230/ 812 2649 or visit www.livinginnovations.ph.
