Perfect Italiano's The Art of Cheese

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Perfect Italiano cheeses tasked Pinoy Eats World to hold the 2nd Mystery Dinner and I was so excited to be a part of it again since I had thoroughly enjoyed my first time here.

This meeting place was in Starbucks Magallanes, I arrived right on time and after a while, Chef JJ aka Aga Piolo arrived to whisk us off to an undisclosed location. The house turned out to be where entrepreneur-artist Aleth Ocampo-Mapa resides. She is famous for her Angry birds cupcakes which you can see here. Another interesting tidbit about the house is that Vilma Santos, Edu Manzano and Luis Manzano used to live there.

The 2nd Mystery Dinner was entitled The Art of Cheese, partly because everything we will be having includes some form of Perfect Italiano cheese as well as the location being the studio cum residence of Aleth Ocampo-Mapa.

Bread and cheese dip, which kinda reminded me of cheese pimiento because of the green peppers, served as appetizers while we were waiting for the 8 course Art of Cheese to begin.

Crabby Namee, named after Chef Namee Jorolan, served a the first course. Cream cheese, crab and Perfect Italiano Parmesan cheese encased in a crispy wonton wrapper. I just can't resist crispy fried concoctions like this. The wonton wrappers played a wonderful foil to the creamy mixtures inside. A bite yields crispy wrapper, cream cheese spiked with sharp Parmesan flavor and pieces of crab meat, lip smacking good.

Next up was Anti Vampire Sabaw (soup), which you might guess from the name contains loads of garlic.I was expecting the garlic flavor to be very strong but was pleasantly surprised that added lemon juice served to temper it and instead gave it a nice citrus taste.

Corny Mo. Polenta, tomatoes and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.The polenta was molded into squares and pan fried giving it a nice brown color and crispy texture, this reminded me of corn bread.

Cheese Louise.Angus beef slices on a bed of mozzarella cheese with crusty toasted Ciabatta bread. I was having a little trouble eating the big Ciabbata slice and making quite a minor mess with all the crumbs strewing around. I love the mozzarella cheese, mixing with the beef strips although I wish there was more of the beef. 

White Flower. A risotto made with Carnoroli, a longer grained, firmer and starchier grain compared to the more common Arborio. The risotto was firm, chewy and had a nice cheesy and creamy taste, contrasted by the strong flavors of the anchovy bread crumbs. I wish there was more of this risotto. I think we will be looking for Carnoroli next time in lieu of arborio for our home cooked risottos.

UFOs. Two pieces of scallops topped with Panko bread crumbs and pamesan cheese.  I loved the crunchy topping but wished they had seared the scallops for a different added texture to the sweet scallops. 

Chicken Bleah. An gourmet take on the common Chicken Cordon Bleu, using Proscuitto ham. Despite the small serving for each dish, I was actually a bit full by the time this was served. I actually liked the mozzarella cheese pasta at the bottom more than the chicken.

Honey Cream. I was hesitant to try this dessert after seeing parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar on the plate.  The cookie, chocolate chip and sea salt, is courtesy of Aleth's kitchen was a late addition not on the menu. Chef JJ had spied the cookies and the kitchen and procured them for an ingredient surprise in  out dessert. I like the big pieces of sea salt enhancing the flavor of the chocolate chips. I mixed the remaining vanilla ice cream with the balsamic vinegar (thicker, sweeter kind) and Parmesan cheese. I would describe the taste as interesting but not something I would look for in the future but was glad I had tasted an Italian take on ice cream.

What a wonderful evening of new people, great conversations and of course wonderful food courtesy of Perfect Italiano and Pinoy Eats World. Chef JJ provided great entertainment thru his eclectic music playlist and humorous spiels throughout the evening in between furious cooking sessions in the kitchen.

A Pinoy Eats World themed dinner is really a great experience.

Interested in joining future Pinoy Eats World dinner then check out their Facebook Page here.

Also check out Perfect Italiano's Facebook page, My Perfect Recipes to get a chance to be a part of another mystery dinner.

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