Chef Aida Mollenkamp on how to eat well & keep your smile bright!

I recently had the pleasure of attending an interactive cooking experience hosted by Rembrandt and Celebrity Chef Aida Mollenkamp (she’s been on the Food Network’s Ask Aida, the Cooking Channel’s FoodCrafters, and has authored a cookbook, “Keys to the Kitchen: The Essential Reference for Becoming a More Accomplished, Adventurous Cook”).

Hosted at Haven’s Kitchen in Chelsea, the theme of the night was learning about stain-inducing foods and how we can better take care of our white smiles, using the Rembrandt Intense Stain Collection. Aida provided some of her favorite beauty and food-related tips as a celebrity chef, which included:

– Check out your farmer’s market. “Not only do you get the best, freshest ingredients around, but you’re also supporting your community”
– “To make sure my smile is camera-ready (a big part of my job!), Rembrandt’s Intense Stain Stain Dissolving Strips are a lifesaver. They dissolve in 5-10 minutes and whiten tough stains caused from coffee, tea, and wine.”
– “To minimize tooth stains, try eating an apple in between brushes. Also, I try swishing discreetly with water between sips of dark drinks like coffee.”
– My biggest hosting tip: Planning ahead. “The more you prepr beforehand from cutting to preparing ingredients, setting the table and selecting your menu, the less stressed you’ll be.”

We began our meal with a Crostini with Haven’s Kitchen Ricotta and Beet Caviar. We expected the beets to be the stain inducers of this course (and they were). However, some of us were surprised to hear that the high sugar content of white bread also leads to enamel eroding bacteria. Following this, we were served a market salad that consisted of bitter beans, balsamic glazed radishes, bulgar wheat and raspberries.

The main culprits of this course were the acidic balsamic vinegar and the raspberries. I was definitely surprised to hear that fruit could be responsible for serious staining! Our entrée was a seared striped bass served with long beans, squash blossoms, and squid ink linguine. It was the squid ink linguine that took the #6 spot for most severe food stains.

For dessert, we were served a Mast Brothers flourless chocolate torte with coffee ice cream and cherry compote.

Many of us expected that coffee would be responsible for the staining here. (It takes the #1 spot!). The question remained, how do we combat the stains caused by these foods?

Rembrandt provided us with a number of products from their Intense Stain Collection. The stain dissolving strips and the intense stain toothpaste work to remove and prevent stains caused by things like coffee, tea, wine, etc., while also strengthening teeth. We tried the dissolving strips following our meals and were pleasantly surprised because, once we had placed the strips on our teeth, we could barely feel them on our teeth. Unlike other whitening strips, they didn’t burn or cause any discomfort. Can’t wait to try the rest at home now!