HOUNÖ Combi Ovens for Gastronomic Cooking Workshops

In his daily practice, he heads the kitchen at Hôtel de Matignon – the official residence of the French Prime Minister. On this occasion, Chef des Cuisines, Mr. Denis Rippa, hosted the first ever L’Atelier des Gourmandises; a culinary workshop and Joutes Culinaires Toqu’en Herbe; a cooking contest for children, both of which took place at the Marché Gourmand in Saint-Witz, France, on November 10th 2019.

This was also the first time Mr. Rippa cooked with HOUNÖ’s CombiSlim combi oven, yet not the last time.

Top chefs impressed with the advantages of the low-profile CombiSlim

The culinary workshop was honored by the presence of three very interesting personalities each offering their cooking sessions. 12 attendees joined 45-minute long workshops, where each chef cooked a simple gourmet dish in 15 minutes leaving the participants 30 minutes to reproduce it.

First up was Chef-Restaurateur Dorian Wicart from the La Grange aux Loups in Apremont, who recently has been awarded “Young Talent” by the gastronomic guide Gault et Millau. Mr. Rippa describes his cuisine as being “bold, authentic and seasonal”, and the result was a menu of tiger shrimp ravioli and beautiful hazelnut cappuccino.

Second session was led by Michelin-starred Chef Julien Lucas from La Table du Connétable in Chantilly. He brought a recipe for macaroni stuffed with Macau artichokes, foie gras and autumn uncinatum Tuber truffle to the table.

Finally, for dessert, Chef Brice Connesson, Chocolatier and Pastry Chef at La Passion du Chocolate in Chantilly refined the quality of his chocolates in a plate of autumn salat with ephemeral mayonnaise with great chocolate, citrus and roasted dried fruits.

Using the CombiSlim ovens for their beautiful creations left all chefs with a similar impression. Mr Rippas sums up the advantages that they experienced:

Passing on the passion for cooking

“For you, cooking is often a task, for others it is a job and for some of us it is a real passion. But for your child, it’s like tinkering or playing. When they cook with you, your children develop an increased interest in food and new flavors. They are also more likely to taste a dish when they play a role in its preparation”,Mr. Rippa explained about the idea behind the children’s cooking contest, which was reserved for children at the age between 9 and 11 and turned out very successfully.

He continued, “Cooking is indeed an ideal mode of expression for children, it allows you to learn while having fun, to satisfy your need for conviviality, to stimulate your creativity, to promote your autonomy, to acquire a little discipline, to develop the taste and finally, learning to eat a more balanced diet. Cooking workshops flourish here and there in order to give, from an early age, a good culinary education.”

Again, the participants had the CombiSlim as their instrument in preparing their dishes for the judging panel and the ease-of-use was yet again emphasized for the deployment by children.

Mr. Rippa concludes:

CombiSlim benefits

• Feature rich combi ovens
• Fast cooking cycles
• Consistent standards of food quality
• Maximum yield
• Optimum control
• Functionality and operator safety
• Small physical footprint for operations where workspace is limited