Weekend culinary project: California chef explains how to make his own cannabis-based food products



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Chef Chris Sayegh wants to show people that edible cannabis can be used for much more than making pot brownies.

According to the Californian-based Californian-based Californian chef, Canadians are on the verge of revolutionizing gastronomy, fueled by legal cannabis, which can be used to brew everything from candy to steaks.

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Here are all the legal ways to consume pot in Canada

Sayegh wants to help guide this revolution in a responsible direction, sharing some of the lessons he has learned after four years of preparing cannabis-infused gourmet dishes as a chef in Los Angeles. He was in Toronto this week to legalize his gourmet cuisine and give Canadians a taste of what can be done with edible cannabis.

"Instead of eating brownies and Krispie rice [squares] All the time, you can now eat something healthy, based on organic ingredients, that will feed the palate and the spirits, "Sayegh told Global News before his presentation dinner in Toronto.

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Last night, an amazing evening at @mildredstemplekitchen with @gbcollege @gbcfirst, which is the incubator of food innovation, as well as @restaurantscanada, Dale & Lessmann Law and @liffordgram. It was such an honor to present at such an institutionalized level. ————— I am very grateful and proud of these companies for coming together, which would not be possible without the help of all the following images ( with the exception of @thehunterchef). Forst is Shana from Restaurants Canada, with whom we are very excited to explore other opportunities, then comes Tricia … what an amazing lady. Without it, it would not be possible. Then Calla and Whinnie are logistics gurus and great people to work with. The last picture is that of the videographer Andrew. Who followed us throughout the week and got amazing pictures. ———– I feel incredibly full of enthusiasm and gratitude, now just celebrate the legalization before returning to reality in Los Angeles. ———— Stay tuned for THC in South Korea!

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Sayegh usually infuses his dishes with a few milligrams of cannabis extracts, although he left it on the menu for his dinner in Toronto on October 16 because it is still illegal to sell edible products in Canada. However, he says it is easy to inject THC and cannabidiol (CBD) into his kitchen to enhance the dining experience.

THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. CBD is one of the main medicinal ingredients of the plant and has been used to relieve pain and anxiety without harming the user's mind.

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Why is CBD a key word in cannabis?

Sayegh has developed more than 180 unique tasting menus through its catering business, The Herbal Chef, over the past year for customers in the United States and many cities around the world. He creates 10, 12 and 15-course gourmet tasting menus for his most promising customers at a cost of $ 200 to $ 500 per plate.

He went to Vancouver in September for one of these meals and hopes to welcome more to Canada in the future.

"What we are trying to do is eliminate the stigma of cannabis," he said. "Our centerpiece … lies in our gastronomic events."

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Sayegh wants to educate Canadian chefs so that they can cook responsibly with cannabis after legalizing food sales next year.

"Cannabis is a focus on the amazing meal you're going to get," Sayegh said.

The new marijuana laws allow Canadians to prepare food and beverages with cannabis, but it will not be legal to sell these products until 2019. Marijuana can be legally sold in dried, fresh, oil , plant or seed.

This means that it is perfectly legal to throw some leaves in your next salad, to mix some cannabis butter or to crush a little bud for the next steak you are grilling.

Sayegh says that cooking with cannabis is a balance between giving a good dining experience and preventing it from becoming too high.

"It is extremely important to know your dosage and to know where your cannabis extract or buds come from, as well as their potency," he said.

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He says it's important to limit the dose in each dish because too much THC can ruin an otherwise pleasant meal.

"If you do not sleep properly, we will never be able to regulate that part of the industry, so it's important that we teach people responsible drinking right now," he said.

Sayegh's meals contain between one and 15 milligrams of THC. He tries to space the THC on each course of the meal so that the guests do not get too high.

He also tries to time the dishes so that people are "hungry" when they go to the beef.

What is it in a dish?

Sayegh uses a wide range of cannabis products in his meals, including dried cannabis and fresh leaves. However, its main cannabis-related ingredient is a laboratory-tested extract that it uses to infuse food with THC. He says that this extract can be made with a LEVO oil pump.

The THC extract is not yet legal for recreational use in Canada, although the government plans to legalize it when edible sales are allowed.

Sayegh added that there were many dishes that Canadians can prepare at home with fresh or dried cannabis.

"It's like an herb, but herbs usually do not have psychedelic effects, so you have to be very careful about what you're investing there," he said.

Cannabis may have a spicy, herbaceous or sweet taste depending on the variety, said Sayegh. He often hides the flavor of the food, but sometimes he lets it out.

"The leaves themselves, when dehydrated, actually have a unique flavor between strains," he added.

Sayegh says that cannabis is extremely sensitive to heat, so it does not usually work with him on fire or in a saucepan.

Sayegh carefully calculates the dose of THC in all her dishes and never infuses cannabis into shared plates, as it is more difficult to control the amount consumed by a client.

It generally infuses up to 10 milligrams of THC in its dishes, while smaller items, such as devoured eggs and desserts, are infused from one to two milligrams.

Deep culinary roots

Sayegh likes to cook forever.

"My two parents are Jordanian and they got married again with Italians, so no matter how you dice it, there's just that very rich food culture in our family," he said. declared.

But while his heart was with the culinary arts, he first pursued a doctor career.

Sayegh began to consume marijuana regularly at the University of Santa Cruz, at Santa Cruz University, where he studied molecular cell biology. He ended up putting marijuana under the microscope, in order to understand what he was doing to his body. He says that the more he studied marijuana, the more he was convinced that the healthiest way to access his medicinal properties was to consume it as food.

"Basically, I understood what I had to do with my life," he said. "I went to study in some of California's best restaurants, and eventually to New York, and then back to California."

Sayegh has learned from world chefs, including those from Melisse, a two-star Michelin restaurant located in Santa Monica. Soon, he began to combine his two passions by preparing gourmet meals infused with marijuana for his friends.

He began preparing plans for a cannabis-related restaurant in 2010 and launched The Herbal Chef in 2012.

"I knew that cannabis had never eaten good food and I was really sick … of all the B.S. it was there," he says.

Now he travels around the world to present his cannabis infused dishes made from local ingredients.

Sayegh arrived in Toronto several days before his October 16 presentation dinner, so he could browse local farmers' markets and look for ingredients in Niagara Falls.

Chris Sayegh, founder of The Herbal Chef, is featured in this video image.

Herbal Chef / YouTube

Her five-course meal consisted of a vegetarian terrine, beetroot macaroons with goat cheese, curry squash, a chicken roulade and a compressed apple-sugar cookie topped with an almond financier. from a creamy honey and a mascarpone mousseline.

Cook like Chris

To cook with cannabis, just know how to cook well, says Sayegh. He prepares many of his dishes as simple gourmet meals, then uses a dropper to add the THC or CBD extract above.

Some of his recipes use basic ingredients infused with cannabis, such as cannabis butter ("cannabutter") or cannabis-infused marinara sauce, which Canadians are allowed to prepare at home. Canadians will have to wait at least a year to try other Sayegh recipes using THC extract or CBD unless they have a medical marijuana prescription.

The following recipe of stuffed grape leaves can be prepared with cannabis butter. You can find a recipe for cannabis butter on the Leafly website.

Sayegh also proposed a recipe for salmon, avocado and onion toast.

Here's how to do it. Those who have a marijuana prescription can add a drop of CBD oil to the end. Otherwise, it remains a delicious appetizer.

Ingredients (by toast):

  • 1 slice of rye bread
  • 2 tablespoons bousin cheese
  • Onions in vinegar
  • 50 grams of smoked salmon
  • 1 lawyer, sliced

Method

  1. Toast the rye bread in a pan until it is broiled.
  2. Spread the cheese on the bread.
  3. Stack avocado slices, salmon and a spoonful of pickled onions.
  4. Enjoy.

Sayegh recommends approaching edible cannabis with caution so as not to abuse it.

"You are strongly advised to do it slowly," he writes on Herbal Chef's website. "Start with one dose (10 milligrams) and wait at least an hour and a half to see the effects."

Sayegh says that THC can take 30 to 90 minutes to metabolize.

"Find your ideal dose one step at a time," he writes.

"I promise you that there is nothing worse in the world of marijuana than taking too much THC through digestion. Please use responsibly. "

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