CLUB-BING! COOKING PASTA WITH MARGARITA FORES
By Ana de Villa – Singson
You asked for it…we’re reprinting it. First reprinted in the May 2022 edition of Assumpta, we are reprinting the AAA Club-bing’s Cooking debut with no less then Chef Margarita Fores. She demonstrated the making of her Cibo bestseller, Pasta Telefono. Many of us have cooked this to rave reviews…now you can do too! Reprinted in full…with the video too! Get cooking! Enjoy!
Club-bbing! The fun, fun, way to meet up with old friends, make new ones while learning something excitingly new, was off to a roaring start in April!
Of course we had to kick off with an Old Girl…and no less than Asia’s Culinary Queen, the much bemedaled, multi-awarded chef, restauranteur, TV personality…none other than Margarita “Gaita” Fores ! With 47 alumnae zooming in from all points of the country and the world , Margarita took us through a Master course on Pasta 101, zeroing in on her Cibo top seller, Penne al Telefono. For an hour and a half she regaled us with tips on how to cook pasta, most memorable of which was to throw 2 fistsful of sea salt into the water for boiling pasta. “It should take like the sea!” so pasta is flavorful even before the sauce is added. She debunked many pasta cooking practices that a lot of us religiously do. It’s a no-no to add olive oil when boiling pasta. Why? The oil will coat the pasta noodles making it harder for the sauce to wrap around the pasta. Never rinse cooked pasta with cold water, just refresh it with some of the water in which it was boiled. There were so many tips…and I am sure you want to know every one of the. Gaita generously shared them! Happily, we have a video! Watch and learn.
Look at the giant vat of Penne al Telefono… I jokingly said I would send my driver to get some! Look how delish it is and how professionally Gaita flourishes the peppermill and grater! Yummy!
She enthralled us all with her cooking prowess but even more, with her generosity in sharing valuable trade secrets. She even shared the exact recipe of Penne al Telefono, posted below..and because cooking isn’t just about the recipe, but the process as well, she allowed us to post the video of her demo class. As I told her after, I think the secret of her success is her generosity in sharing her knowledge with others, her desire to elevate cooking and educate people along the way. How many restauranteurs would share the recipe and the video of their top selling dish?
Happy Cooking and Baking Clubbers!
As we all know, the proof is in the pudding…and learnings are transformed into knowledge only when we practice what we were taught. Intrepid souls that our Cooking & Baking Club members are, several of us ventured to create our own Penne al Telefono. Mine was met with excellent ratings by my hubby and son and I had to cook it twice in the span of a week…it was that good! Even better is that you can try it… here are the recipe and the video…foolproof tools in making your own Pasta Telefono at home. Cook, eat…and love…the authentic way…the Margarita Fores way! Enjoy!
The AAA BATCH REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE that brings you Club-bing! They are your Club moderators too.