Chef Demo at The Spice and Tea Exchange!

We've blogged here before about The Spice Shop on Orange St. in Lancaster.

In this piece, we'd like to report on something new The Spice and Tea Exchange has begun.... and it's something we *really* hope they continue!

We had the good fortune to attend the first ever 'Cooking Demo' The Spice Shop hosted.  It was mentioned the event might be held monthly, and that would be 'A Good Thing'.

What it was, put simply, was a shop full of chairs seating folks who are interested in good food.  At the front, a local chef who demonstrates some foodalicious goings on.

The evening we were lucky to attend, the chef was Meghan Young, owner and head chef of Characters Pub.  She brought with her a saute chef as an assistant, and a whole bunch of spectacular goodies. The theme for the evening.... TACOS!

Not just Tacos.... but TACOS!  Seriously upscale offerings using premium ingredients and simple preparation techniques.  It's absolutely clear the Chef knows her stuff, loves good food, and also loves to wow her guests with seriously good flavors. (She spoke about her trips to Mexico and training at one of the premier Mexican restaurants in NYC)

Chef Young doesn't seem used to public speaking, but her obvious love of the subject carried her through the entire evening.  She began with a dissertation on Tequila, a topic she's apparently quite knowledgeable on.   To back up the talk, a quick demo on making a spectacularly good Margarita with mango, cucumber, and Habanero sugar (Available at the shop).  Everyone was given a tasting portion, and it was memorable.  Herself is quoted as saying  "Whoooo.... My Lips are burning!".  It really was an exceptional margarita, and the cucumber made an unexpected hit with us. (Himself was kind enough to let me finish his too. It was soo good. The Chef shared with us some great information on the importance of buying decent tequila. That sugar though! Hot stuff! But tasty! )

Moving on, Chef showed us all how to make a traditional Guacamole from scratch (in a molcajete aka big ass mortar and pestle), in minutes.  Again, plates of Guac and fresh tortilla chips were prepared for everyone, and again.... outstanding fare. (om nom nom)

Moving on even more, the Chef and her assistant prepared fresh tacos of beer steamed shrimp with Guac and jicama-pineapple salsa (WAY good stuff!!).  All prepared from scratch as we watched, with a running monologue on methods and techniques.  Yes.... questions were taken and answered. (Turns out I love Jicama! She gave us a ton of cool ideas to use it in different ways. I am excited to make it a part of regular cooking.)

Following this... tacos with duck breast, pico de gallo, and smokey crema.... and a seared tuna taco with wakame-cabbage slaw and wasabi aioli (this was an outstanding taco!).  Every last bit prepared from scratch, demonstrated in detail, and shared with all plate by plate.

The cost to attend was only $15 each, and that included $10 in free spices and tea after the event (totally our choices!), and so much 'tasting' that it was roughly a meal (Himself wanted to call it a "light" meal, it was honestly a full meal, but we are chunky and eat too much!).  Detailed recipes for everything we tried were also handed out. (It was a really cool way to get to see the way each dish incorporated items from the shelves at Spice and Tea Exchange. It was also an amazing way to try some new foods, that I may not have normally been excited to try. Example, I don't eat a lot of duck or tuna but they were fun prepared this way and I would eat tuna made like this, again! The sesame crust with the tuna was delicious. )

We know there's no way The Spice Shop is making money on this, but it's a sweet way for local foodies to learn from top notch local chefs.  At the same time, it's a good introduction to what is perhaps the best spice shop in Lancaster County.

As we were ringing up our 'free' spices and tea, plus the additional we bought, we asked the nice lady to please put us on a list for automatic inclusion in every future event.  It's a wonderful flavor filled evening, and an astounding value!