Dinner with a Professional Chef

One of the best things about Spanish school is the people we meet. Interesting people from all over the world come here to visit and many of them decide to study Spanish on their vacations; and, there are people like us who have moved here and are trying to learn Spanish. Among the latter are our friends Atsuto and Rieko from Tokyo.

Atsuto and Rieko both speak English very well and have lived in the US. In fact, they met in Las Vegas where Atsuto worked as a chef at Spago. Yes, Atsuto is a professional chef who went to CIA (not that CIA, the Culinary Institute of America) in New York, worked at Spago for two years and is now seeking to continue his career in the amazing food mecca that is San Sebastian.

In the meantime, however, he agreed to cook a meal that we hosted with two other classmates, Richard and Alena, who are from London, although Alena is originally from Slovakia (see I told you our classmates are interesting). Richard and Alena recently got married and are on an extended honeymoon. And, when I say extended, I mean six weeks in Spain, four weeks in Japan, a week in Moorea and five weeks in New Zealand!

So, Atsuto and Rieko, who acted as his sous chef, came to our place and prepared an amazing meal for the six of us. The food was a fusion of Japanese and Basque. First, he made a Japanese omelette with foie, walnuts, a fig, and a balsamic sauce. If you have never seen a Japanese omelette, they are made in a special rectangular pan and are folded with chopsticks (!) until they are thick. The process is very intricate. I cannot convey how good this dish was, but here is how pretty it was:

The second dish was gyoza (Japanese dumplings) filled with crab (in this case fake) and other secret ingredients, served with a light lemon dipping sauce. Again, the picture does not do the dish justice, but we cannot convey taste, so you will have to trust us. They were good.

Finally, Atsuto prepared delicious baby-back ribs coated with a breadcrumb and cheese concoction and savory soy/balsamic sauce. Unfortunately, we were all so involved in enjoying the meal that no one took a picture.

With dessert from a local pastelaria, and plenty of wine, a wonderful time was had by all. Even better, Atsuto liked cooking in our kitchen so we are already planning another dinner. We wonder what he will come up with next.

Hasta Luego.

Jeff and Shana