Malaïka Maxwell (left) introduces Anto Cocagne (right), the invited professional chef who conducted the second cooking workshop at Marina Fort Louis. (Robert Luckock photos)
MARIGOT--The first day of the third Gastronomy Festival’s popular cooking workshops with international chefs took place at Marina Fort Louis on Wednesday under a covered tent with the public testing their skills at individual cooking stations. Members of the media also put on their aprons to take part.
Three workshops were organised for the day, with the first one conducted by local chef Angela Marcenat who offers private chef services. The chosen dish for her workshop was Mahi Mahi, with a julienne of carrots and christophine in a lemon sauce.
Some of the cooks at their stations ready to start the workshop.
For the second workshop, invited chef Anto Cocagne, French but originally from Gabon, Africa, proposed red snapper marinated with spices, green mango, condiments and ngaï ngaï, a concoction of spring onion, chopped tomato, garlic and sorrel leaves. Cocagne is the author of the book Taste of Africa, has worked in many gastronomic restaurants and appeared on multiple TV cooking shows. She is a private chef and corporate consultant specialising in minimalist African cuisine with a distinct French touch.
In the afternoon it was the turn of children and their parents to try their hand at making desserts. The first workshop was conducted by invited chef Laurent Huguet who proposed a chocolate banana cake with mango syrup.
Angela Marcenat returned for the next workshop, offering a revisited Charlotte with boudoir biscuits and mascarpone. Marcenat was instrumental earlier in the second workshop, troubleshooting around the cooking stations, helping some cooks having difficulty keeping up with the recipe.
Malaïka Maxwell once again efficiently reprised her role as emcee and translator. The bonus after a two-hour cooking lesson was that one could consume one’s own creation, even if the final presentation left something to be desired.
The cooking workshops return again at the same location on Saturday and Sunday, November 18 and 19. Today, Thursday is the BBQ competition on Rue de République, Marigot, from 5:00pm onwards.
