Putting Our Best Plate Forward

Soy cured salmon

Both Rosaria and I have been a little remiss in the lack of posts in the past week. No, we haven’t been asleep at the switch or hibernating during the cold snap since Christmas, although it’s tempting. Actually, we’ve done something that neither one of us has done before: we’ve entered a cooking contest of sorts. For those of you who know us, yes, you read correctly, a cooking contest.

Ceviche in coconut

What that entailed for each of us was to prepare one dish to be plated before a panel of judges reviewing, tasting, and evaluating our culinary creation. We spent most of last week figuring out what to make and present. In the process of doing that, I photographed most of the possibilities, or food candidates, as we made them. Initially, I thought I was going with a small seafood pasticcio, and Rosaria quipped that she was going to make and present MY soy-cured salmon. In that she thought of using it before me, I acquiesced. But then after sleeping on it for a night, Rosaria decided to go in another direction, leaving the door open for me to sneak in and grab MY soy-cured salmon back. Clearly, my preparation and execution was much less work than Rosaria’s dish. She whipped herself up into a fury of culinary energy and, ultimately, she made the prettiest and best tasting dish she’s ever prepared, and to my eye, it was the best plated dish I saw at the contest’s viewing.

Ceviche in parmigiano crisp

So how did we do? If I’m being a little circumspect about all this, it’s for a reason. I don’t want to jinx the whole thing, for one thing. Second, I don’t want to say too much in case this all comes to nothing; however, both Rosaria and I as individuals passed the first hurdle, and we were invited to participate in the second round of this contest which we both successfully completed. We are on our way to level three. When I have more to share, you’ll be the first to know. In the meantime, I’ll show some of the images of what we made, plated, and photographed.

ceviche - closeup

Curried seafood salad in parmigiano crisp

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