'A Bite of Perfection' at The Meranti

I would like to share an experience when I got invited to a gathering entitled “A Bite of Perfection.“  It was a cooking demo experience with Chef Jackie Laudico a few months ago by the Saturday Brunch Club envisioned for The Meranti at Two Serendra in Fort Bonifacio.

It was a sunny morning with lots of lush green open spaces leading to the Dolce funciton room. The event started with a tour around Two Serendra. This was followed by Chef Jackie Laudico’s chocolate making demo.

Chef Jackie Laudico shared that pralines are common in Europe. These are the same chocolate pralines we see in chocolate shops like Leonidas and Godiva.These are also usually free from preservatives and made from cream, chocolate batter, and sweetener if needed. Flavors can also be added to complement with chocolate like coffee.

She also shared some choco trivia that pure chocolate melts at the human body temperature of 37%.

Chef Jackie Laudico Getting Ready

Chocolate Creation demo by Chef Jackie Laudico

With polycarbonate molds from Belgium on the table, Chef Jackie prepared Belgium and Swiss Chocolates, and a bottle of Grand Marnier (orange liquor) on the side. She started by transferring the warm chocolate from the bowl to the marble slab to cool it. Aside from maintaining the temperature stable, spreading around the chocolate continuously help good crystals are develop as well. These enables it to have proper gloss, snap, fluidity, and won’t easily melt in your hands when held.

Chef Laudico in action

Chef Jackie poured the chocolate into the mould where it is further cooled. Excess were scraped and the mold tapped. The tapping procedure removes tiny air packets from the inside.

Let it stand until a thin shell forms and pour out the excess.

By this time, you are ready to make the ganache (filling) and when the mold is ready, you can tap out the rest of the chocolates (non-shells). For pralines, it is ideal to have the shells as thin as possible, shares Chef Laudico.

Let it stay overnight to contract and have the chocolates breathe out.

The Video

And it’s done! Check out this video of the chocolate creation:

Buffet at Two Serendra

A hearty lunch followed with a buffet of roast Rosemary Lemon Chicken in white wine gravy, penne with roasted garlic with shrimp & basil, baked salt crusted whole salmon with dill caper aioli, Paella rice, free range chicken minestrone, Grilled vegetables with parmergiano, and a trio of chocolate mousse.

NomNom Club with Chef Jackie Laudico

As discussed in the Q&A with the project team, a similar concept and experience is what the creators of the Meranti have in mind – a 50 square meter Culinary Studio targeted to cater to the future Meranti residents’ cooking passion. Perhaps we’ll have another round of praline chocolates with Chef Jackie Laudico then. What a delicious idea! 🙂