A tour of the roasting hot kitchen at Blue by Eric Ripert at The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman can certainly build up a thirst.
 
Luckily for diners taking part in the always entertaining and informative Blue Uncovered lunch at the restaurant, sommelier Kristian Netis is on hand to ensure they’re not thirsty for long.
He offers wines that complement each mouthful of the delicious food created by Chef Luis Lujan, who leads guests through a few of his recipes in the middle of the Blue kitchen.
 
But don’t think you’ll be sweating throughout your lunch or even the cooking demonstration – air conditioning keeps the audience and the chef cool and the hot kitchen tour lasts just a couple of minutes before you return to your table to sample the next delectable offering by Chef Luis.
 
The young chef de cuisine – he’s only 28 and became a chef at 24 – is already renowned for his innovative dishes and has worked with Chef Ripert and Gordon Ramsey.
 
Upon arrival at Blue, guests are greeted with an introduction to the restaurant and a glass of champagne. Kristian demonstrates how to sabre a bottle of bubbly.
 
Diners must vow to keep what they have learned about how to knock the top off a bottle with a large sharp weapon a secret. As the Ritz-Carlton’s food and beverage director Guntram Merl tells them: “What happens at the Ritz, stays at the Ritz.”
 
After being sworn to secrecy, guests are led into the kitchen and surround a table on which Chef Luis begins his ‘lesson’. He welcomes questions as he shows how to make an incredibly tasty tuna carpaccio – slicing the flesh finely and then pounding it between two sheets of olive-oil drizzled cling-film wrap.
 
He tops it with arugula, pea tendrils, green onions and other ingredients, but says if you want to make this dish at home, you can use any ingredients that take your fancy, “even just some lettuce if you like”.
 
He completes the dish with a pickled ginger citrus dressing – a mix of olive oil, soy sauce, ginger, rice vinegar, grapefruit and orange juice. Puffed rice rounds out the dish.
Kristian pairs the tuna with a fruity, floral 2009 Torrontes ‘Crios’ from Susana Balbo of Argentina.
 
Then, it’s back into the kitchen to watch the main course of bread crusted Corvina being prepared. Chef Luis introduced the diners to a unique way of ‘breading’ fish – no crumbled breadcrumbs here.
 
He uses a sharp knife to cut a thin slice of bread, advising that you first freeze the bread to make it easier to cut. The bread is then placed on top of the white fish – no thicker than a thumb width – and placed in a pan of cold oil, bread-side down. If you put it in hot oil, it will burn, the chef warns.
 
The fish is briefly fried, until the oil starts bubbling, and then placed in a very hot oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for three to four minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. When it comes out, the bread is golden and the fish is perfectly cooked.
 
This is accompanied by a roasted corn relish and warm tomato vinaigrette, and paired with a 2006 St. Laurent Haidegrund from Schloss Gobelsburg in Kamptal, Austria.
 
For the final course, Blue’s pastry chef Guiliana Tomatis created a decadent chocolate ganache dessert, piping a mixture of chocolate, hot heavy cream, agar-agar, gelatin and water into oval trays, which sets at room temperature and is then frozen for two hours. These are sprinkled with peanut butter powder and peanuts and served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
 
This melt-in-your-mouth dessert is paired with a Pansal del Calas Capcanes from Montsant, Spain – a dark, rich wine reminiscent of espresso and cherries.
 
‘Uncovered’: Lunch with Chef Luis in the Blue by Eric Ripert Kitchen is held every two weeks from 11.45am to 2pm. The next one will be held on 5 June. It costs $110 (service charge incl.). Reservations are required.   WH