GCG Events-Destination Delicious
Published:Tuesday | April 12, 2016 | 4:13 PMKrysta Anderson
The light pitter-patter of raindrops could not damper the evening's savoury and sweet indulgence, courtesy of GCG Events. The festivities, dubbed Simply Outstanding, saw specially invited guests arriving in style at the Ruins at UWI, Mona, to learn more about the services provided by the company, and, of course, partake in the local dishes on display.
GCG Events, a subsidiary of Goddard Catering Group, has provided for and dominated the airline, industrial and event-catering industries for years. Since a successful run as the official caterer for the Cricket World Cup in 2007, they decided to put pen to paper, so to speak, and it was there that GCG Events was born. Their ultimate goal to raise the bar as far as catering services is concerned, regionally and even internationally.
Mr GCG himself, Daniel Schweizer, took to the stage and thanked everyone for coming out and showing their support. Born in Switzerland, Chef Schweizer unleashed his love for cooking, nurtured by his uncle who was a restaurant owner and chef in Geneva. He quickly realised that culinary arts would be his calling.
Specialising in French and Italian cuisine, he landed in Los Angeles, which led him on a journey to our green shores 25 years ago. He hasn't looked back since. His passion for Caribbean cuisine fused with his European style of cooking, creating culinary masterpieces with every dish and tantalising every taste bud it meets with bursts of unique flavour.
For palatable pleasure, there was so much to choose from; so let's take you on a tour, shall we? At the soup station, there was a choice of red peas soup, mannish water or smoked pumpkin soup, topped with spicy banana bread croutons. The salad bar had mixed lettuce with an assortment of condiments, namely Caesar, Italian and ranch dressing, balsamic vinaigrette, tomatoes, crumbled fetta cheese and many more. The hors d'oeuvres station included ceviche, a la minute bruschettas, sesame-crusted tuna with a balsamic glaze, and teriyaki rice noodles served with smoked salmon.
Salivating yet? Well, the flat bread station had everyone coming back for more with their variety of toppings blistered cherry tomato, fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomato julienne, shaved Parmesan cheese, smoked marlin, sauteed fresh mushroom, basil, chopped parsley, grilled pineapple, pesto - and it was dressed with a choice of mustard or ranch dressing, and balsamic glaze and garnished with micro greens.
And we could not forget the pasta station: seafood penne pasta swimming in a sea of cream sauce fused with brandy, pesto, white wine, onion, scallion, garlic and red, green and yellow pepper.
For the sweet lovers, they were satisfied with the likes of chocolate mousse, bamboo-steamed bread pudding with rum sauce, grilled fruit kebabs, cheese cake spiced with sorrel chutney and apple crumble.
Juices, sangria, champagne, Riesling, and red and white wines were all around and had a part in balancing the gastronomic delights as they enjoyed the evening's proceedings under the stars.