50 Years of Hip Hop

Thursday, September 14, 2023. The Institute of Culinary Education, Brookfield Place, Manhattan, New York City — The Knockturnal was cordially invited to a tasty gathering, “Cooking with McCormick and Doug E. Fresh” and renowned McCormick Chef, Cindy Gilbert at the Institute of Culinary Education located in Brookfield Place. The class began with a meet and greet and photo opportunity with legendary Hip Hop and beatboxing extraordinary, Doug E Fresh (yes, that Doug E. Fresh, from the Legendary Get Fresh Crew). 

On the 3rd floor of the immaculate waterfront property, Brookfield Place, guests entered into an exclusive dining and kitchenette space where we were warmly greeted by the McCormick spice team, registered and handed name plates for our cooking stations. The guests, aka the cooking novices, mingled and sipped signature cocktails along with  light appetizers as we discussed our excitement to cook the selected dish of the evening: Spiced Cod with Mashed Plantains.  At 7:30pm, sharp, chef Cindy Gilbert took charge and had us suit up for the cooking class demonstration with seasoned (no pun intended) hip hop veteran, Doug E Fresh. 

The week prior to the live cooking demonstration, Doug E Fresh and McCormick partnered together to deliver a flavor-full song and new music video. The collaboration, as they say in the Hip Hop world, was formed to celebrate the milestone of 50 years of Hip Hop alongside the king of Fresh himself and with the iconic seasoning brand, McCormick, releasing its first newly designed bottle in nearly 40 years. To our surprise, the beatboxing champ not only keeps it fresh on record, but inspired the dish of the evening. Doug E and Cindy Gilbert led the way as we mixed and matched up spices to try his new original recipe with the use of McCormick.

The ingredients for the Spiced Cod and Mashed Plantains were inspired by the love for his heritage and his instinctual cravings for Caribbean cuisine. The delicious dish was super easy to make, only needing a prep time of 15 minutes and cooked in under an hour (45 minutes to be exact). 

The recipe for the Spiced Cod with Mashed Plantains, included: 

• 4 Cod filets 
• and began with boiling 3-4 medium sized plantains, peeled and chopped in a pot of water 
• and ½ a  cup of coconut milk

Once placed on the stove, the newbie cooks were instructed to redirect their attention to creating the spice blend for their dry rub to add to their Cod. 

The spiced Cod would be covered in (or sprinkled, based on individual palate preference) with the following herbs: 

• • 2 teaspoons of McCormick Garlic Powder, 
  • 1 teaspoons of McCormick’s Thyme Leaves; 
  • ½ teaspoons of McCormick’s Crushed red pepper; 
  • ¼ teaspoons McCormick’s Ground Allspice; 
  • ¼ teaspoons McCormick’s Ground Cinnamon; 
  • ½ teaspoons of salt; 
  • and 2 teaspoons of oil

After blending the spices, each guest chef dry rubbed their individual filets to their taste preference and sent it off to the fryer for a total cook time of 6 – 8 minutes, rotating the cod every 3 to 4 minutes on each side until done. 

Shortly after, the chefs were instructed by head chef Cindy Gilbert, to remove the boiled plantains, add a cup of the boiled coconut milk and water to the plantains and mash them into a mashed potato-like consistency. Once plated, our dishes held a generous portion of mashed plantains and were topped with our flavor packed Cod. To enhance the natural flavors of the plated dish, garnishes of pickled red onions, diced red peppers and cilantro were accented on the Cod. To compliment our Spiced Cod and mashed plantains, the Institute of Culinary Education prepared and served sides of  braised kale. 

Following the demonstration, we sat with Doug E Fresh and McCormick team to relish in and savor our meals. The evening closed with a surprise “Happy Birthday” song and vegan chocolate cake presented to  Doug E Fresh and the guests departed with take-home gifts of utensils and spices courtesy of McCormick. We also received a cool bluetooth speaker in the shape of an old school cassette tape, loaded with Doug E Fresh’s new, “Get Fresh” song for McCormick’s 40 year Red Cap re-design. Try out the Spiced Cod and Mashed Plantains recipe out for yourself and let us know what you think. Enjoy (and, in the words of Doug E Fresh, “Get Fresh ya’ll”)!