Last week I started the 2010 Pan-Latino cooking series at IQliving and at the LCBO.
Happy to report the two first classes were sold out.

It’s great to see how much interest has grown in Latin cuisine, not just in Toronto, but all over Canada as well.
It has been a long road trying to introduce my roots and culture, but finally it’s paying off.

And just yesterday, I was invited by the secretive CB to do the ultimate Pan-Latino dinner… Stay tuned.
Four more classes planned for March, April, May and June.
Dates and times here.

Last night’s class was at the Summerhill LCBO kitchen.
On the class menu that night:
Arepa with local queso fresco, organic avocado and basil

Tiradito of wild bass with posole relish

Escalivada with fresh pickled fish and pan al ajillo

Four-chili-marinated flank steak with pico de gallo

Ingredients: local queso fresco, posole, chillies, yuca, sweet peppers, eggplant, Arina PAN and much more.

Yours celebrating Latino food and culture
Carlos

Case in point is the Hallaca, which is made through Central and South America and has many manes like Tamal, Hayaca, Tamale, Envulto, chachas, chalas, Humitas rellanas and the list goes on.

Hallaca with chicken salad and picadillo[ Oriente style]

In Venezuela making hallacas is serious business. When I was child living in Venezuela I remember seeing people having big discussions about whose hallacas were best.
It’s a family affair, the process is long and involves everyone, especially family members who reunite to make big batch to eat during ‘La Navidad’ or Christmas.

The Families work like an assembly line. The grandmothers clean the plantain leaves, which the hallacas are wrap up with, the Moms make the guiso [stew and fillings] and masa [dough], the youngest stuff and wrap them; the eldest tie them and they all cook and eat them.

Other interesting dishes that we make for Navidad are: Pan de Jamon [Ham bread] which is stuffed with smoked ham, panchetta and raisins; Ensalada de Gallina [chicken salad], Torta Navideña [Christmas cake] and Ponche Crema [eggnog]

Rolling up the pan de Jamon

Pan de Jamom

Pan de Jamon with chicken salad

Some of the ingredients for the Christmas cake and pan de Jamon
When talking about hallacas in Venezuela everyone will say “Las mejores hallacas son las de mi mamá” which translates to “my mom makes the best hallacas”.

Without Hallacas, Pan de Jamon, Torta Navideña and Ponche crema it would not be Navidad in Venezuela.

Thinking of those good memories, I decided to do something: I decided to do a class to introduce my style of Venezuelan cooking to new generations of Toronto foodies, who are looking for something different for this Christmas. The class took place last November 19 at the Kingsway LCBO.
I was very surprise by the great comments that I got from the guests at the class.

They really enjoyed the food and the history that it came with it.

Now you can have the change to taste this delicious dishes at Arepa Cafe, which is located at 490 Queen Street West.

Special thanks to lcbo’s Joanne Leese for your continued support on celebrating Latin American food and culture through my cooking classes.

Yours, celebrating the holidays, Venezuelan style,

Carlos

Together, we devised a way to pull together a Spanish language lesson — with a nod to Rosa’s Living Spanish language school — while simultaneously conducting a Latino cooking class, which was my contribution.

We sold out to a very happy crowd of Hispanophile foodies hungry for knowledge. They also got a lot of laughs, a little talk on wine, courtesy of Anne Theunissen of Pacific Wines and Spirits, and some great Latino food.

The evening was successful for us on another level too. We had some media in attendance, which resulted some great coverage. Canadian Immigrant magazine profiled us in a feature article in the January, 2008, issue, which gave us national exposure.

Sun TV was also there and invited us onto an episode of Canoe Live a few weeks later for a dual live-to-air interview, while also broadcasting the photos we took of our class that night.

So much fun and so many great outcomes have to be followed up with even more, so we’ve decided to do another four classes this year, the first being in the spring.

Stay tuned for further notice.

To all the attendees, from both Rosa and myself, thanks for a great night.

Yours in good press,
Carlos

The LCBO has picked me as their Featured Chef for the 2008 Winter Season Cooking Education Program.
This is my second Latin Fever Series for the LCBO, and the first time in seven years that a South American chef has been chosen to be Featured Chef.

It’s also a testament to what I’ve been working on – establishing Sabrosito as the go-to Latino cooking teacher and gourmet-party caterer

At the Kingsway LCBO kitchen

Talking about my roots and celebrating Latino food and heritage have given me the chance to expand people’s understanding of this cuisine.

It covers great many cultures, is influenced and developed by three continents, 23 countries, and many island nations.

For me, La Cocina de las Americas, or The Cuisine of the Americas, is rich, fresh, humble and beautiful, like many other world cuisines, let’s face it.

But just as people’s perception of Italian food has evolved far beyond spaghetti and pizza over the last 20 years, this is the age when popular awareness of Latino food will go far beyond burritos and guacamole.

More and more, people are going to be working on their guisados and tiraditos. They’re going to be expanding their ideas about cactus and chocolate [more on that soon] and daring to buy and cook boniato [white sweet potato] and chayote [vegetable pear]

I see it when I work on dinner party menus with my clients. I see it in the faces of the people who participate in my cooking classes.

I love what I’m seeing.

For that, I say, Gracias

Specials thanks in particular to the LCBO’s Joanne Leese and Rita Stephens for their recognition of my work and continued support. It’s always a pleasure working with you both. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.

Pick up a fresh copy of the Educational Program Brochure at your local LCBO. Take advantage of their great roster of classes.

Yours in good food and Latin Fever, LCBO-style
Carlos

I met Rosa Maria a party that I hosted in 2002, but it wasn’t until this year that we really started talking. The subject? The relationship of language, food and culture.

We were having dinner at Torito one night, and she mentioned that she’s taking culinary courses at George Brown College, and that’s when the conversation got very interesting. Before we knew it, we were on the subject of how we both teach in our prospective fields and that maybe we could do something together. Like a cooking class.

“Let’s do it!” she said.

And this how it’s going down: Living Spanish with Sabrosito

M E N U

Special thanks to Esther Benaim of Great Cooks for opening the doors of her beautiful cooking studio to us, to Anne Theunissen of Pacific Wines and Spirits, who is going to pour the wine and tell us a bit about her matches, and to Stephanie Ortenzi of Pistachio, for helping us get our message out.

From Rosa Maria and I, Muchas Gracias

Yours in good food and new adventures,
Carlos

The first time I heard about her was through Andrew Gardner, when he was at Splendido, back in the day. Her name would crop up in the food press from time to time, and I finally met her in person at Terroir in March.

She was attending with fellow Dish-er Elena Embrioni, whom i originally met when she was still at Southern Accent. Elena introduced us, and we had a quick chat. Then I got the fateful call from her, with the happy news that she was inviting me to do a class.

The focus was barbecue and beef, and comparing cuts of meat, with different marinades

It was a great success, and they’re going to have me back, which makes me very happy.

Here’s the menu:

*

Salmon en papillote on the grill w/ fennel & red onion

*

Heirloom tomatoes, baby arugula, cider vinegar & basil oil

*

Mixed grill of beef tenderloin, rib eye and flank steak
w/ their own unique marinades*, sweet potatoes, watercress salad

[*I gave the tenderloin a Mediterranean treatment, with rosemary, garlic, sea salt and bay leaf; for the rib eye, I went "Mama-style," which is celery, carrots, onions, garlic, thyme and dry white wine, named in this case for Lidia Bastianich; and for the flank, I went Asian, lemongrass, chiles, fresh orange, garlic, coriander seed, sesame oil and soy]

*

Charmaine’s chocolate truffles
Exotic fruit platter w/ dragon fruit, papaya, lichee, pineapple, mango

*

Stay tuned for more upcoming cooking classes and dates.

Yours in good food at the grill
Carlos

Jessica was calling to find out if I’d do a cooking class a friend’s anniversary. Her friend’s husband loves to cook and is hungry for culinary knowledge.

They invited another couple, and a cooking demonstration became a casual, elegant evening with old friends, plus me. What a pleasure.

Here’s the menu:

*

Celery soup w/ sweet shallots & porcini oil

Pan-seared curry sea scallops w/ citrus salsa crudo

Roasted Ontario rack of lamb w/ sweet potatoes, asparagus, grape tomatoes & Niagara pinot noir reduction

Queso fresco, guava jelly & pan tostado

Concepcion, Los Ancones & Porcelana Truffles from JS Bonbons
Three Venezuelan Single-Origin Chocolates
Fresh cherries

*

Yours in good food
Carlos