Celebrity chef Roger Mooking cooks at Gran Bahia Principe

Canadian celebrity chef Roger Mooking made a trip to the Gran Bahia Principe hotel in Runaway Bay recently, courtesy of Sunquest Vacations. While there, he prepared a five-course meal as part of Sunquest's Special Interest Week for Club Diamond guests.

The Trinidad-born chef (he actually went to live in Canada at five years old) is also a musician and is the star of Everyday Exotic on the Cooking Channel. He also appears with Aaron Sanchez in Heat Seekers on Food Network.

Musical credits

His musical credits include the CD Soul Food. he has won JUNO Awards and several music video awards and has performed with the late legend, James Brown

Mooking's first book, Everyday Exotic - The Cookbook, just won the Best First Book Award for Canada, from Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, just in time for his December birthday.

The chef did a cooking demonstration at Gran Bahia on Wednesday, then prepared the mouth-watering fare Thursday night.

He started with the Amuse Bouche, which was a tasting spoon of potato gumbo.

First course

The first course consisted of crispy fish cake, cilantro pesto, chili gastrique. This was followed by chicken ballontine, okra mango, salsa, and breadfruit frites.

The third course was lobster, spiced 'Corona' shot, cucumber and avocado. For dessert, there was Appleton custard tart, Blue Mountain coffee bean, and ginger crumb.

Wines paired with the dishes included Frontera Chardonnay White (from Chile), Robert Mondavi Zinfandel Woodbridge Rose (California) and Marques de Caceres Red (Rioja-Espana), followed by Appleton Estate Rum. Blue Mountain coffee put the cap on things.