Cooking In Barbados With Chef Marcus Samuelsson Slideshow

During a cooking demonstration at the Fairmont Royal Pavilion at the 2010 Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival Chef Samuelsson made coconut-crusted fried chicken and grilled snapper with tomato broth.

 

Chef Samuelsson On Who Makes The Best Fried Chicken, Him Or His Sous-Chef...

"We're two weeks away from opening a terrific place in Harlem, Red Rooster," said Chef Marcus Samuelsson as his sous-chef, Michael Garrett watched the demonstration.

 

"I'm really, really, really excited about this," Chef Samuelsson continued. "There we're going to cook American comfort food, like fried chicken. I'm a pretty good fried chicken-maker but I'm only the second best on my staff. My sous-chef Michael, we've done taste-offs with both of our fried chicken recipes, and he has won every single time. But I'm not giving up on my fried chicken yet because it's damn good. There are a couple of things that everyone can do to make good fried chicken. There are a couple of things Michael and I agree on."

Coconut-Crusted Fried Chicken Demo

"Then we're going to marinate it," said Chef Samuelsson of the chicken. "And since we're in the Caribbean we're going to use coconut milk. I'm going to throw in some herbs, a little bit of hot peppers. Know your audience. If you're going to cook for people who like heat, then use the peppers. Curry paste, garlic, and ginger and I'm just going to marinate this. And guess what if you don't have time just pan-fry it. But of course, the fried chicken will taste better if you fry it."

Coconut-Crusted Fried Chicken.

"Breadcrumbs, egg whites, then back in the breadcrumbs, not just breadcrumbs, but coconut flakes too," Chef Samuelsson instructed before frying some chicken."

Chef Samuelsson Serves Coconut-Crusted Fried Chicken.

"Breadcrumbs, egg whites, then back in the breadcrumbs, not just breadcrumbs, but coconut flakes too," Chef Samuelsson instructed before frying some chicken."

Chef Samuelsson's Coconut-Crusted Fried Chicken.

"If you're doing legs without bone, or breast cure them for about two hours," the chef noted. "If you're going to cure the whole bird do it overnight in salt water."

Snapper A La Plancha With Tomato Broth.

"I was thinking, how can I make grilled snapper with some tomato broth and keep the Caribbean in mind?" confided Chef Samuelsson. "Lime leaf, white wine, tamarind. Adding in tomato, a little bit of miso, white miso. White miso for chicken and fish, dark miso for other meat."

Cooking WIth Lime On the Grill and A La Plancha

"Limes are difficult to get juice out of," the chef noted. "If you put them on the grill and then squeeze them you get a lot more juice."

Snapper A La Plancha With Tomato Broth

"So you reduce some white wine, add garlic, chilies, and ginger," said Chef Samuelsson. "We'll create sort of a sour tomato broth. One of the greatest things about traveling is that you learn about other cultures. Like having doubles in the morning, or roti, and not necessarily cultures that you read about so much. But those trips changed my palate."

Snapper A La Plancha With Tomato Broth

"I love tamarind for grilling fish, or in a broth," the chef said.