Gaggenau Cooking Class with Ryan Clift

It better be a good reason for me to wake up early on a Saturday morning... especially if I had been out drinking champagne with good friends the night before. The draw? To experience the Gaggenau dream kitchen with a cooking class by Chef Ryan Clift of the famed Tippling Club.

Ryan Clift, along with 3 other chefs - Luca Pezzera (Bonta), Jean-Charles Dubois (The French Kitchen) and Michael Han (FiftyThree), have been recently appointed as Gaggenau Culinary ambassadors.

(L to R): Jean-Charles, Ryan, Luca, Michael.

Gaggenau Experience Center at Bishan Street 21. It is not just a showroom, but a functioning state-of-the-art kitchen to showcase its range of cutting-edge professional-grade kitchen appliances. It also serves as a "live" kitchen for cooking demos and dining events.

The theme for the cooking class today is the Gaggenau combi-steam oven. Chef Ryan demonstrated and taught us how to make progressive cuisine similar to what you can find at Tippling Club... using the combi-steam oven at home.

Note: I always tell people that molecular cuisine is a highly misunderstood term. It has been given a negative light by chefs who abused it using superficial methods such as liquid nitrogen or creating foamy food. I explained it as applying science on the art of cooking. Chef Ryan prefers to say "progressive cuisine" instead of "molecular cuisine.

Chef Ryan taught us how to cook yummy clams by steaming them. One tip I learnt is to wrap the tray with cling film when steaming the food. This will ensure all the flavours will not escape through the steam. So the myth of not putting plastic in the steam oven is debunked. Chef Ryan said plastic will only melt in the oven when it's over 650 degrees celsius.

I also learnt how to do "sous vide" at home using ziplock bags. No need for fancy machines, combi-steam oven with its steaming function can do the trick too.

Chef Ryan taught us how to make steamed cake. I never knew steamed cake can taste just like baked cake, but with a better texture. Also, to prevent ice cream from melting too fast, the trick is to add in some pectin powder when making the ice cream! How cool is that? (Pun intended)

After being a good and attentive student, I was rewarded with a delicious meal prepared for us by Chef Ryan. This is what I call a true chef's table! I now wish I could spend every Saturday morning at the amazing Gaggenau kitchen!