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Vivian and I flew down this morning to attend tonight's Art of Salt cooking school taught by Alex Guarnaschelli - the Executive Chef at Butter in New York.

The class menu was:

Fish "Crudo" accompanied with:
- Herb Salt
- Lemon Zest Sauce
- Salsa Verde

Paired with a 2005 Las Brisas Blanc



Beef Filet "Diane" with Salt-Baked Potatoes

Paired with a 2002 Catena Cabernet Sauvignon



Apples and Glazed Cherry Tomatoes with Salt Caramel and Vanilla Ice Cream

Paired with a 2003 Chateau Lamouthe


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Alex, despite her cold and 5-months-pregnantness, was entertaining and highly informative. The class involved much less learning to cook for me than it did hearing her talk about salt and the wide forms for salt and saltiness.

She used finished brines, salty other foods (like capers or pickles), and substitutes like vinegar to serve the role of salt. She also discussed the not-horribly-pretentious salts like table salt, kosher salt, fleur de sel, and gray salt.

In addition, she cooked a great Steak Diane, which has long been a staple of my father's culinary arsenal.

Lastly, the thought of cherry tomatoes in a dessert with salted caramel blew me away. But it was fantastic.

Now, after all that .. um .. we're off to dinner.

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Tags:

food , california , half moon bay , ritz carlton , alex guarnaschelli , butter restaurant , half moon trip 2007