UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — WPSU will host its annual Connoisseur’s Dinner and Auction on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023. The theme for this year’s event is “The Latin Road Home” with celebrity chef Jose Garces.
In conjunction with the immersive culinary experience, Garces will be featured as part of a VIP Cooking Class hosted by chefs Derek and Tati Polay, owners of The Cakeshop by Tati, at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, at the Penn State Health and Human Development Food Lab. Garces will be joining the class via Zoom and will be sharing his recipes for a gourmet taco bar.
Garces said that during the peak of the pandemic, his team found a lot of success in offering virtual demos to their clients and the gourmet taco bar is one of his favorite demonstrations.
“The Deluxe Taco Bar is a great entrée, creating a fantastic taco night for family and friends. The best thing about it is how much flexibility and creativity it allows. The spice rub that we use for the adobo chicken can be used in multiple applications. The same is true for the marinade verde for the carne asada. And for our vegetarian friends, we’re making a mushroom, kale and chorizo taco filling,” said Garces. “One of the nonrecipe things that this kit teaches is time management and how to ensure that your component parts all end up roughly at the same time.”
Tickets for the VIP Cooking Class are $150 per person, and include all ingredients, the meal and wine service. All proceeds will benefit WPSU-TV.
“We bring several accoutrements and toppings to the taco bar to allow people to create the perfect bite for them each time. From warm corn tortillas to thin slices of peppery radish to the creaminess of avocado, we are looking to create a taste of perfection in every bite,” said Garces. “For me, a squeeze of fresh lime is vital for a great taco.”
Garces has some advice to offer the novice chef.
“For home cooks interested in learning more about the craft, the best advice I can give is to get into the kitchen and try things,” said Garces. “Don’t be afraid to mess up. Follow the recipes, and once you’re more comfortable, you can start to add your own twists to things. Season as you go.”
More about Chef Garces
Jose Garces is a James Beard Award-winning chef, food innovator and entrepreneur known as a leading culinary authority of Spanish and Latin American food. Garces owns and operates several full-service restaurants, and he also focuses on ways to bring restaurant-quality experiences to the homes and businesses of culinary enthusiasts through home delivery options, cooking demonstrations, and live online cooking classes. A child of immigrants and a leader in the diverse and inclusive hospitality industry, Garces founded the Garces Foundation in 2011 in Philadelphia to provide services to the community, including health days, English language skills classes and providing food supplies to the food insecure.
More about WPSU
WPSU-TV serves 24 counties in central Pennsylvania and reaches 515,000 households, and WPSU-FM is accessible to more than 450,000 listeners in 13 counties. The public media station also includes WPSU Digital Studios, which offers original web series that explore science, arts and culture. WPSU is a service of Penn State Outreach.
Visit the WPSU website to learn more about central Pennsylvania’s public media station.