We had the privilege of being invited to her personal home for a cooking class, join us as we discuss our time with Lisa Pattman. Lisa owns a catering business and has an impressive amount of experience in the chef world. Her options include catering for corporate events, cooking classes and private parties. Located in Midland Park NJ, Lisa started her culinary discoveries at the Institute of Culinary Eduction in 96′ (previously known as Peter Kump’s). After graduation, she had the opportunity to work with The Food Network at its start. From working under Emeril Lagasse to Mario Batali for a couple years, Lisa decided on her next adventure. She now has been operating a catering company since the early 2000’s.
We spent the evening with a cooking class. The menu and idea’s were all from Lisa. Her concept was asian inspired. We started the evening with a “deconstructed” pork Shumai. The pork melted in your mouth. The flavors of alliums from scallion, garlic and the richness of soy sauce. The first snack enhanced our palate and created a crave for more to come.
The next course was a salad. Now, this was not your traditional salad either. The highlight of this salad was shredded green papaya. The texture was almost of chilled watermelon with a more fibrous bite. The salad was tossed with pulverized tomatoes, and a paste of nuts, raw garlic and herbs. The salad was then dressed with fish sauce, raw sugar and garnished with chopped nuts. The use of fish sauce replaced the addition of salt. The salinity is found highly in fish sauce. A little goes a long way!
Our appetite continued to grow and the talking of cooking started to fall in place.
“Do you like spicy? If so I really want you to try this and tell me your thoughts.” said Lisa.
She hands us three shot glasses and a bottle of a liquor I was not recognizing. “Menjurje De Ancho Reyes”, was a ancho Chile liqueur. The shot was sweet to the lips, the floral essence of pepper on our palettes to the end of spice. Long story short we loved it. The drink was actually a apertivo, meaning a liquor of high alcohol to help with digestion after a big meal. Sadly we drank this in the middle of our meal, but either way loved it. Thanks again Lisa!
While Lisa caramelized shiitake mushrooms she explained the next course. Bibimbap! This dish was focused on a few key components: sushi rice, vegetables, egg and gochujang (fermented chile paste). It also had nicely sautéed spinach and pickled sprouts. We ate the bibimbap out of dolsot bowls. These bowls are made out of stone and retain heat much more than typical glass or acrylic. These bowls can actually be used to cook with as it will be blistering hot. For our pleasure the bowls were only used to keep our food nice and hot for good conversation.
After already being full from all the food, we were offered dessert which we couldn’t say no to. A large full bowl with crushed vanilla wafers peaked on top, and under were beautiful layers of banana cream, sliced bananas and vanilla wafers. The perfect sweet end to a spice filled evening.
Lisa wants to continue to grow her business, clientele and introduce people to good, healthy cooking styles. Interested in a party or perhaps a lovely fun cooking class with your loved one(s)? Check out Lisa on her instagram and to book an event, check out her website!
-Nash Reba @bestfoodsnj
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