Chef Shola Response - Bella

Yesterday we went to Studio Kitchen in Philadelphia and met with Chef Shola Olunloyo. Studio Kitchen was located in an old school building that has been converted into a contemporary loft complex with some of the original school properties. For instance, Shola’s small kitchen was very modern with big windows and new walls but still had the original hardwood floors and even had an original chalkboard in his room. Other than this, it was very difficult to tell that his kitchen was not brand new because it was filled with fancy culinary appliances such as his various vacuum machines and industrial oven. His counter was made of heat-tempered glass, which was beautiful and also allowed him to put hot pots and pans down without damaging the counter. As a very organized person, my favorite part of his whole kitchen was the spice rack. Stretching from the floor to the ceiling, Shola had hundreds of small Tupperware containers labeled with the names of various spices, many of which I had never heard of. Shola also had many stainless steel pots and pans, which he said are the ideal kinds of cooking containers. I decided immediately that if I didn’t enjoy the presentation, at least I got to see such a beautiful kitchen. See, I was not completely sure what to expect of Chef Shola after one of the articles we read described him as egoist. I was worried that he was going to be bragging about all of his accomplishments and credentials the entire time and we wouldn’t actually learn anything. However, Chef Shola turned out to be a wonderful, generous, and informative man who taught us many different cooking techniques and tips. Shola started by cutting a rindless watermelon in half and then placing one half into a vacuum sealer and then serving us a piece of each half. The half that was not in the sealer was okay but was clearly out of season, evident from its pale pink hue and bland taste. The vacuum-sealed piece, however, was a brilliant red (many kids remarked that it looked like salmon) and, when eaten, turned out to be extremely juicy and sweet, as if it was from a completely different, in-season watermelon.

Just like that, within five minutes of his several-hour presentation, I was hooked. Shola’s ability to explain the science behind his techniques was impressive but was still easy to understand without much background knowledge, which shows what a good presenter he is. He explained that the vacuum sealer had dispersed the juices inside the watermelon, causing it to seem much juicier overall. Shola also showed us how to make aerated chocolate mousse using a chamber vacuum machine, which we froze and then ate at the end with liquid butterscotch on top, which ended up being delicious.

Shola explained the importance of the percentage on chocolate packages as just a few percent can significantly alter the taste. For the aerated chocolate, he used Manjari chocolate 64%, which was quite rich but still rather sweet. We told Shola that we were going to be experimenting with chocolate chip cookies and he suggested that we use the 50% version of Cacao Barry chocolate chips, which is much sweeter than the 64%. He also suggested that we try substituting liquid glucose for white sugar in the chocolate chip cookies and even supplied us with a container of the glucose to use. Shola also made us a fresh pizza using the pizza oven on his balcony and actually made noodles in front of us that he then cooked into a delicious pasta dish.

Shola was very kind and made a vegetarian pasta dish for those of us who do not eat meat.

My two favorite cuisines are Mexican and Indian and Chef Shola, who eats out quite often, gave us some restaurant recommendations that I am excited to try. For Mexican food, Shola suggested Taco Riendo and for Indian food, he suggested the restaurants on UPenn Campus and Ekta in Bryn Mawr. I really enjoyed visiting Studio Kitchen and meeting Chef Shola Olunloyo and am looking forward to our trips next week.