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Discourse |
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Editorial Panel |
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A newsletter of food, wine, restaurants
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Sue Dyson, Roger McShane and Robyn Colman |
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Volume 1,
Number 3, December 2000 |
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Contents |
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Layout Coordinator |
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Robyn Colman |
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Correspondents |
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Australia: Sue Dyson, |
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Roger McShane, Lisa Sutherland- |
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Fraser |
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Los Angeles: Jeff Shore & Danielle |
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Pillet-Shore |
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San Francisco: Lawrence Banka |
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& Judith Gordon |
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Singapore: Emma Lewis |
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Tokyo: David Meredith |
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All correspondence to |
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mail@foodtourist.com |
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Discourse is now truly up and running. This is now the third edition
and, as you will see, it is packed with stories about food and wine from
around the world. So packed, in fact, that we had to drop some of the regular
features to fit in all the submissions from our correspondents, plus the
extra long review of El Bulli, a restaurant that you just have to have an
opinion about!. It may seem a bit funny talking about running out of space in an
Internet newsletter, but we are conscious of the fact that the newsletter
takes a while to load. The reason is simple. There is little in the way of
graphics or other tricky things that may slow it down – there is just a lot
of information. Some subscribers have asked if it is OK to send Discourse to their
friends. We don’t mind at all. In fact we would encourage people to do that.
Point out that anyone can subscribe by simply registering their e-mail
address at http://www.foodtourist.com/. We are also seeking writers in cities not currently covered,
particularly in Asia, South America, Europe and Canada. We would also like to
bring you regular information about the wonderful food in India. |
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All articles in this newsletter are
copyright and must not be reproduced in part or in whole without the written permission of the publishers.
To seek such permission simply send an e-mail to mail@foodtourist.com. |
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Sydney Dining
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Sue Dyson and Roger McShane report |
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In the past five years Sydney has been catapulted into international recognition for the quality of its restaurants. It now stands head and shoulders above any other city in Australia and can match San Francisco, New York and Paris for the sheer quality of the produce and the inspiration of the chefs. This article is an update of our Olympics feature that was highly popular on our Web site. Whenever we have been away from Sydney for more than a couple of weeks, we start to crave the food at the Sailors Thai Canteen. This is a true treasure and a must-visit place whenever you are in the harbour city. Conveniently located in George Street in the Rocks, this single-table venue serves some of the most authentic and delicious Thai food that you will find anywhere in the world. It is cheap, cheerful and wonderful. Don’t be put off by the thought of sharing the long table with others. There is always a lot of regulars who understand the rules. They will leave you alone if you want to dine quietly and they will let you join in the conversation if you send out the signals. If two of you are dining, order three dishes and share. At the top end of the market you have some real treasures. Tetsuya’s is an absolute must for food fanatics. Here you will find some of the most intelligent combinations of flavours and textures that you will see in any restaurant in the world. Tetsuya Wakuda has built a reputation that ranks him alongside the world’s greats. He has recently moved into new premises right in the city making it easier for tourists to find – but remember that you will need to book weeks in advance to get a table. Another favourite is Rockpool. Neil Perry has not dominated the Sydney restaurant scene for ten years by accident. Not only is he a talented chef, he also a discerning eye for talent in his kitchens and sources the very best produce. The fish here is always so fresh that it is breathtaking. Some of the combinations of flavours and textures on offer are surprising yet delightful. He understands Indian flavours and is one of the few chefs who can combine an oxtail jus with a delicate lobster ravioli and leave you wanting to try the dish again and again. If you want to go downmarket a bit then a place that is well-worth a visit is BBQ King in Chinatown. This is the place that inspired a generation of chefs (including Neil Perry) and instilled a love of roast duck. It is chaotic here. Room after room of noisy diners enjoying some of the best roast pork and roast duck you are likely to find anywhere. Not down-market, but not expensive is Chinta Ria at Cockle Bay, in the Darling Harbour precinct. We like to sit outside and enjoy the sambal spinach and the beef rendang with the flaky Malaysian bread called roti. If you want to treat yourself to lunch in a stunning setting then head for Balmoral Beach and the restored and enhanced Bathers Pavilion. Now under the watchful eye of Serge Danserau, the food here is based on the best products available and matches the relaxed, beach atmosphere. For lovers of French food there is a real gem in Sydney. Head for Woollahra and join the queue at Bistro Moncur. Here you will experience some of the best provincial food this side of Lyon. For lovers of offal this should be your first stop in Sydney! Most visitors want to check out Harry’s Café de Wheels in Woolloomooloo. Take a photo and then walk along the city side of the new wharf development and grab a table at Otto Ristorante. Overseen by the World’s most Watchful Waiter, Maurizio Terzini, this place is living proof that Melbourne can be transported to Sydney. Formerly of Café e Cucina in South Yarra and the George in St Kilda, Terzini has transplanted the concept and a Melbourne chef into this new development to the obvious delight of Sydney-siders. We thoroughly enjoy the immensely professional service and the thoughtful, flavour-packed food. Sydney has an unfortunate track record in architecture apart from the icons such as the bridge and the Opera House. Unlike Chicago and New York where some of the tall buildings are interesting, most of the office buildings and especially the recent apartment blocks, have all the charm of a cold saveloy. Nowhere is this more evident than in the new buildings on the Opera House side of Circular Quay. The drab, conformist buildings are a blight on the landscape, only rescued by a lovely collonade on the water side. Having got that off our chests there are some good restaurants in here. One that we particularly like is Aqua Luna. The service here is friendly and highly efficient and the Italian-inspired cooking is done with a delicate touch while letting the full force of the flavours burst through. A green risotto with spinach and nettles was a highlight of a recent meal. At another, a dish a bone marrow was a winner. Other places to consider are the Anti Bar at bel mondo where you can sample similar food to that served in the more upmarket restaurant at about half the price, Eleni’s on the fringe of Kings Cross where there is truly some wonderful Greek-inspired food on offer, Longrain in Surry Hills for great Thai food in ultra-trendy surroundings and Fuel in Crown Street. This is also near one of the temples of fine food in Sydney - MG Garage. It is one of our favourite restaurants and certainly one of the best in the country. You are not allowed to visit Sydney withhout having breakfast at bills in Darlinghurst. This cafe makes the best scrambled eggs on the planet and the coffee and orange juice are also exceptional. You might have to wait, but it is well worth it. For breakfast of a different kind head for the Chinatown area to the Peak building. On the third floor you will find one of the largest Chinese restaurants in the southern hemisphere called the Kam Fook. The yum cha breakfast or brunch here is an experience not to be missed. Although the place must seat a thousand people (and it is always packed) the food is prepared with skill and served piping hot. Try any of the steamed dumplings, the tripe and the wonderful congee. Two secrets that we will share with you sit side-by-side in a basement behind the Haymarket area. Cho Dumpling King and the Chinese Noodle Restaurant both serve delicious Chinese food at lunch time that is hard to beat for quality or price. You will have to queue, however. Foodies like nothing better than wandering down ‘eat streets’ gazing in to restaurants, wandering along the aisles of food stores, grazing at cafes and sipping the latest artisan-crafted pastis in a trendy bar. A favourite pastime of ours is to wander along Crown Street in Surry Hills. Start near the Medina on Crown where you will find Billy Kwong (an exciting Asian eatery), Marque for refined French cuisine and bills 2 for breakfast. Further along you will pass yet another top class Thai restaurant Prasits Northside on Crown and the nearby takeaway, on your way to Fuel where you will find some of the best produce in the foodstore and some wonderful food in the café. Of course, if you are a food fanatic you should not miss visiting one of the Simon Johnson food stores in either Woollahra or Ultimo. Some of the best food products in the world are available here. Over the past couple of months a number of new top-end restaurants have opened in the city. We have tried Liberté and Celsius. Both of these were quite pleasant, however neither of these would make us change our recommendations at the top end. Tetsuyas, Rockpool and MG Garage remain the places to go. To find the addresses and phone numbers for the
restaurants mentioned in this article simply go to foodtourist.com, select
Restaurant from the type menu and Sydney from the Location menu. You will
then see a list of all the recommended restaurants in Sydney along with their
telephone number and address. |
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Tokyo dining: Four Twists On a Pacrim Theme
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From our Tokyo correspondent David Meredith |
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Until recently, finding a stylish but inexpensive, western-style dining experience in Tokyo was difficult. Then Masa Nagasaka and his partner Fumi started a group of restaurants in the Ebisu area featuring PacRim cooking with a Japanese twist. The menu items are inventive, fun and varied, designed to be ordered up in combinations for everyone to share. And the wine list is an eclectic mix of California via New Zealand. There are now four restaurants to choose from. The first was Fummy's Grill – a tiny counter and cramped table affair, where the windows are thrown open on mild evenings. Next came round-the-corner Cardenas following the same pattern, but extending to an outdoor dining area – delightfully novel if you can put up with a little pollution from the traffic fumes from busy Meiji dori. Then opened Cardenas Chinois in Nishi Azabu with its modern Chinese chic twist to the food and decor. And now the Charcoal Grill, the grand luxe of the group. The menus are essentially similar, but each bring signature dishes to herald the differences. From fishcakes fried in batter with crunchy noodles on the outside, to exotic vertical spring rolls, to foie gras grilled and buried in salad, to chicken salad with a Chinese twist, the repetoire extends through pastas to grilled duck breast, tea flavoured pork chops, grilled tuna and on to steaks with a selection of inventive sauces. The Grill went underground .. down,down the steps to a dungeon with a difference. The arrival is part of the experience and the welcome noisy and embracing as you step into the cathedral space. Price-wise there's no change out of Yen10,000 for two and if you include a bottle of wine, or sit at the cantilevered bar and toss down a cocktail or two, you will double that with dash. But it is worth it. A splash of theatre, combining a great atmosphere and convivial staff with the bonus of good food, imaginatively prepared, all makes for a fun and a reasonably affordable evening. Call and have them fax you a map for directions. Cardenas Charcoal Grill Ebisu-nishi tel: 03-5428-0779 7 days until 2.00am Cardenas Chinois Nishi-Azabu tel: 03-5766-1737 7 days until 4.00am Restaurant Cardenas Hiroo tel: 03-5447-1287 7 days until 2.00am Fummy's Grill tel: 03- 3473-9629 7 days until 2.00am |
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Dali Dining: A Spanish stunner
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By Sue Dyson and Roger McShane |
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A visit to El Bulli requires a willingness to suspend the reality that eating is a basic fundamental of life, something we do in order to survive. There is little about a meal here that bears any relationship to notions of eating for living. It’s an experience that will give you sensual and intellectual pleasure, as far removed from eating to live as reading Kafka is to following a set of instructions on how to program a video recorder. The connection is there but it’s not immediately obvious. In a world where too many people struggle to get the calories they need just to survive, it is a luxury to eat just for the pleasure of a series of tantalising games, where the satisfaction of hunger doesn’t seem to have any part in the motivation for preparing and offering the meal. Once you accept all that, and it doesn’t take long because from the moment you arrive it’s so beguiling, then you’re in for a memorable experience, one which the restaurant staff appear to enjoy as much as the diners. If you choose the degustation menu, and on a first visit almost everyone does, you’ll experience some 25 different tastes, each one memorable and some exquisite. Take up the suggestion to begin your meal on the terrace overlooking a piercingly blue, sheltered bay. We were offered a welcome, a refreshing ‘cocktail’ of orange juice and grenadine with a tiny ball of carrot sorbet and then five ‘cracklings’, including fish skin, thin shreds of pizza dough, and pine nuts with caramelised beetroot. All memorable, the curry, chocolate and caramel peanuts were extraordinary. And the proffered house Manzanilla sherry is the right accompaniment. This collection was followed by two jellies. One was a spoon of apple jelly drizzled with a highly concentrated balsamic vinegar. A rich, intense flavour balanced by the lightness of the jelly; the other strawberries and Campari. Our prejudices said all this should not have worked. We were wrong. The second-last dish in this, El Bulli’s version of tapas, was a cornet of creamy quail egg yolks topped with salmon caviar. Served perched in a bowl of sesame seeds, these stuck to the outside of the cone. Its twin, for many dishes are served quite deliberately in brackets, was a cold tempura, coating grape, orange and salmon caviar. You’ve got to be joking but, again, it works! Eventually, you’re asked to move inside, something we did a little unwillingly. The restaurant itself, which is perfectly lovely, although noticeably dark on a cool spring day, cannot compete with that beguiling terrace. However, it was a later arriving party’s turn out there and, once we started eating, we were sufficiently distracted by the food not to mind. Perhaps the fact that inside you get little sense of the physical beauty just beyond is deliberate to make sure that you concentrate on what’s on your plate. For this is definitely food you’re meant to pay attention to. The meal is progression of some eleven courses. Some are a single dish. Others are a collection of three or four exquisite tastes. In all, you’ll eat about 25 different dishes. Sometimes, you’re given strict instructions on how to eat something, for example the famous pea soup, served in thin cone-shaped glass. Drink it all in one go is the advice. While the texture and colour remain constant, as you drink the temperature changes, starting hot and finishing cold. It’s a fascinating education as the flavour changes along with the temperature, its ‘peaishness’ more obvious as the temperature lowers. Every dish is served with purpose-designed crockery. In fact every element of this place appears purpose-designed, not least the streamlined and beautiful kitchen, where each small masterpiece is constructed, and which chef Ferran Adriá’s partner and master of the front of house, Juli Soler, shows off proudly. Highlights? Although famous for his ethereal foams, which aim to capture the essence of a flavour, and which have now crossed the Atlantic and have even been sighted in Singapore, for us two of the most memorable flavours were ravioli. One, sea-urchin ravioli, served with a sea-urchin jelly, had a rich, creamy intensity. It was served with pineapple and mango jelly, a fennel jus, and a raspberry-coloured foam made from aromatic herbs! Another ravioli was almost transparent, revealing ahead of the first bite, small bright-green broad beans and just a hint of a strong ham. A later ravioli was filled with oysters, served with oyster jelly, with seaweed and tea foam. Hidden inside this were two tiny, invisible, pieces of extraordinary-intense lemon zest, revealed only in the mouth. Good games? The almost translucent tagliatelle made with chicken stock and gelatine, and served with raw egg and intensely-flavoured small pieces of diced ham and cheese. Not quite your average carbonara but, at the same time, not a world away. In fact, the raw egg means the sauce is much closer to the traditions of this dish. It’s just the transparent tagliatelle that is a surprising take. Beyond belief? Caramelised olives, a remarkable flavour, and the condiment to sea cucumber wrapped in cuttlefish. The final savoury course allows you to judge Adriá against more conventional cooking. Until this point, it was almost impossible to do that because the dishes are so different. But, here was a thigh of rabbit, robustly-flavoured and cooked such that the flesh was so soft that it almost dissolved in your mouth. It was served with fennel and mascarpone flavoured with lemon, each a contrast to the earthy richness of the main player. This was as close as the meal made it to real food, and interestingly, was one of the few dishes where you could clearly say that one component held centre-stage and the remaining elements were designed to complement. In what had come before, the parts did not vie with one another, but they all played a near-equal role. To us, this dish teased. It seemed a statement from the kitchen saying that you’ve worked through the many whims and fancies in our degustation menu but you do need to come back another time and try our other menu, where more of these robust flavours might lurk. After this, three desserts, each more challenging than the next. Egg, in a cinnamon-flavoured soup, with a ‘hard-boiled’ egg of lemon sorbet, followed by wasabi ice cream, with a wafer flavoured with Sancho (it’s also known as Szechwan or Sichuan peppercorns), carrot, and lemon ice cream. In Australia, we’ve been fairly-seriously fusioned and so wasabi ice cream doesn’t seem too strange a menu prospect, although serving it with carrot is a little less likely. What was extraordinary about this, apart from the seriously-blue glass bowl it was served in, was that it was so successful. This is the sort of thing we’ve trained to watch out for and treat with caution, a bit like running into an unmuzzled Rottweiler who may or may not be friendly. But, the lingering, fresh, cut-through flavour of this ice cream, was an antidote to all that had gone before. Finally, the ‘falso bizcocho’, the false biscuit. Now, reading the notes, I can’t believe we would fall for this but, there it is, in black and white ‘we loved it’. A square of what-looked amaretto-flavoured biscuit, literally dissolved. The last foam joke. And, so, after 25 or more remarkable flavours, we made our way back to the terrace for great coffee and, a plate of pequeñas locuras (which we think translates as ‘little mad things’), served in their own beautiful stainless steel purpose-designed structure, based on the same principles as the stands which hold ice cream cones. Rich chocolates, but also shards of white chocolate sprinkled with sancho, and dried apple, curled into a cigar shape. Too often after a three star Michelin meal, this plate of rich, small morsels is disturbing, so beautiful, so much effort in its construction, but a body which says ‘No - I don’t want or need any more’. Not here. We ate it all, and several coffees, too. Not just because they were good but also because we did not want to leave that terrace. The only part of this whole experience we found difficult was how to make a choice of wine. It’s a good wine list, although we were hampered in making a selection by our own incompetence because we had forgotten to find out the exchange rate and had no idea how much anything cost and our knowledge of Spanish wines is limited. Our real problem, though, was that, not knowing what we were going to eat, it was difficult to choose two suitable wines. Perhaps wines by the glass, matched to the degustation menu would work well. As it was, our robust Catalan Clos Martinet 1997, produced by the Pérez y Ovejero family, a blend of grenache, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and syrah (shiraz to Australians like us), worked well with some dishes, especially the rabbit, but was too powerful for many of the more delicate flavours. The first wine, a 1996 Martín Códax, was intense and fruity, its Albariño grape a much more successful complement to this multitude of flavours. A degustation wine selection, matched to each course, while challenging for any sommelier, would have been the perfect solution. Getting to El Bulli isn’t easy. Most people approach it from the direction of Barcelona, which is about 160 kilometres to the south. However, we were staying in Collioure, in France, a pretty fishing village surrounded by steep hills planted with grapes, most of which are destined for making Banyuls. From Collioure, it is about an hour’s drive on the main road or a two and a half hour drive on the winding, but breathtaking, coastal road. If you want to stay nearer, Hostal de La Gavina is highly recommended. You should also allow time to visit the Museu Dalí in nearby Figueres. Of all painters, Dalí is the one who springs to mind when you eat Ferran Adriá’s food and it’s probably no coincidence that he was born nearby. Address: El Bulli, en Cala Montjoi, Roses, telephone +34 972
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Beautiful bourbon
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In the November edition of Discourse we sought out some of the must-drink single malt Scotch whiskies and we promised to have a look at the other side of the Atlantic to see if whiskey, particularly that known as bourbon would create as much interest. Well, we should start by saying that we found some stunning bourbons on offer. However, we think that the purists will probably continue to gravitate to single malt Scotch as a finer example of the art of distilling. (Sorry USA!) Let’s see why. Bourbon, by US law, must contain a mash of at least 51% corn and be stored in charred, new American white oak barrels (they can be stored in any oak barrels but everyone seems to use the white oak) for at least two years. There are also strict rules about additives – it not being legal to add any sweeteners or colouring agents at the bottling stage. Apart from this, the process is very similar to the production of Scotch. Make some beer and then distil it! Although there are no defined geographical areas for bourbon, the only spirits with this classification are in the state of Kentucky. So, even though the venerable Jack Daniels which has many of the same characteristics as a bourbon (although it is drip-filtered though charcoal), it is called a Tennessee whiskey. You will often see terms such as small batch or single barrel in relation to bourbons. These are mainly marketing hype, but small batch usually means that the bourbon has been blended from a limited number of barrels and single barrel means that it has been made from a single barrel of whiskey, hence is similar to a pure malt. To drink bourbon use a large wine glass or a brandy snifter and drink them neat. Ice will immediately kill a lot of the aromas and the more delicate nuances of flavour. So, what ones should you seek out. Like Scotch, there are some that are just so difficult to find that there is no point in recommending them. The three that we ended up with are all easy to locate in a number of countries. Surprisingly, no one bourbon stood out head and shoulders above the rest. The top ten were all very close. Let’s start with a very readily available bourbon. We were entranced by the Wild Turkey Rare Breed. A powerful drink with lots of spices and vanilla and the ever-present caramel. Yet there is an elegant overtone to this bourbon which is quite appealing. Our next recommendation is Bookers. This is a brute of a drink. Huge, powerful, up-front and with smoke coming through on both the nose and the palate. Take a sip of this and then see how long it hangs around! For those wanting to get into bourbon and not wanting an big, up-front drink then the elegant and refined Woodford Reserve (sold in an elegant and refined bottle) might be a very good choice. This is a complex bourbon that lasts on the palate and has layer after layer of complex, but not aggressive, flavours. Also impressive are Elijah Craig 18yo, Blantons, Rock Hill Farm and Van Winkle Family Reserve 13yo. And, if you want a good value bourbon at a lower price than the ones we have recommended then you can’t go past the one that started the recent revival of small batch bourbons, namely Makers Mark. So, after tasting our way through the long list of Scotch
whisky and bourbon, which would we rather? It’s a bit like saying is seafood
better than steak. It all depends on the circumstances and what you feel like
at the time. But if we were stranded on a desert island and could only take
one bottle it would probably be Laguvulin or Ardbeg rather than Wild Turkey
or Woodford Reserve. |
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Gourmet Grilled Cheese and Eggnog Lattes
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by our Los Angeles correspondents Danielle Pillet-Shore
and Jeff Shore |
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Campanile is a Los Angeles institution, which simply means that it has
been in existence for more than 10 years.
Founded in 1989 by the husband-wife team of Mark Peel and Nancy
Silverton, Campanile is located in a 1920s office built by Charlie Chaplin.
Unlike many successful chefs, they haven’t, for better or worse, syndicated
their magic by opening up myriad other Campanile-ettes; he continues to
handle the meals and she continues to handle the pastries to this day. Silverton has started a side project,
however, in the La Brea Bakery. Since
its inception shortly after Campanile, LBB has become the premier bakery in
Los Angeles, while still managing to crank out enough loaves to fill the
shelves of the better supermarkets (and many of the better restaurants) in
town. Every Thursday night, their worlds merge. Known officially by the quaint and delicate name of “Nancy’s
Tartine Bar,” everyone else calls it “Grilled Cheese night” – ten different
sandwiches served in the charismatic Moorish-Mexican courtyard, ranging from
the modern (Goats Cheese and
Marinated Fennel on Walnut Toast) to the traditional (Croque Monsieur) to the
downright basic (Classic Grilled Cheese).
On our most
recent visit, we kept it extremely simple and stuck to the Classic Grilled
Cheese. Rather than being an exotic
reinterpretation, this is simply comfort food done perfectly. Silverton pairs her sourdough bread with
thinly sliced Gruyere cheese. That’s
it. Cooked on a griddle with ample
butter, the bread boasts elegant grill marks, the sandwich sizzles, and the
pulley cheese oozes. Served alongside
thinly cut (and very French) French fries and a lightly-salted baby greens
salad evenly covered with a balanced lemon vinaigrette, the only thing
missing from this gourmet home cooking is your favorite pair of sweats and a
good game of basketball on TV. Service is
extremely gracious, if a bit vague; we ordered a glass of lightly perfumed
Viognier that matched very well with the Gruyere, but we still have no idea
who made it because the waiter left that part out. Be forewarned: grilled cheese night can get crowded almost beyond
imagination. Despite its enormous
size, Los Angeles is, at its heart, a small town where everyone likes to
gather at the same place. On
Thursdays, it seems, the place is Campanile, and if you arrive at, well,
dinnertime, expect to wait 2 hours or more for a table. Try getting here
before 6pm and you should be able to carve a cozy little niche for yourself
at large table where you can nibble the night away, indulging in the crunchy,
pull-apart sandwich of your choice. Campanile is located at 624 S. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036. Their phone number is 1-323-938-1447. Monday through Friday, they are open from 11am to 2:30pm for lunch, and 6pm to 10pm for dinner; on the weekends they are open for brunch from 9:30am to 3:30pm, and 5:30 to 10:30 for dinner. A few years ago, we discovered the seasonally available Eggnog Latte
at mega-corporation Starbucks. Now,
the holiday season can’t come quickly enough for us. This marvel of a beverage is nothing more
than an ordinary latte (which is sort of a cappuccino with a lot more milk)
where the milk has been replaced by eggnog.
The result is a syrupy, strong, and addictive concoction. To us, this is a match made in heaven. Where regular eggnog can be overwhelming after more than a few
ounces, the espresso cuts the sweetness; where espresso can be astringent and
bitter (not that there’s anything wrong with that), the eggnog smoothes it
out. Heating the eggnog brings out an
oily, almost perfume-like aroma that is extraordinarily pleasing. Like any good latte, the top is covered
with foam; not just any foam, though – eggnog foam. The success of the drink, however, is extremely dependent upon the
underpaid teenager who happens to be making your drink, as only a few seconds
too long of heating can lead to an unappealing burnt taste in the
eggnog. But we think it’s worth the
risk. With stores from Seattle to Shanghai to Sydney, Starbucks is located pretty much everywhere, and probably always open somewhere. In addition to Starbucks, we have enjoyed the Eggnog Lattes at the Blue Butterfly (351 Main St El Segundo, CA 90245, 310-640-7687) and Petterson’s (10102 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232, 310-839-2714) Lifelong residents of Los Angeles, Danielle is getting
her Ph.D. in Sociology at UCLA and Jeff is the Content Manager for Zeal.com. |
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Indian eating in Singapore
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by our Singapore correspondent Emma Lewis |
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Unlike other countries in the world, where Indian food can range from a choice of chicken curry – mild, medium or hot, in Singapore many Indian restaurants demonstrate the full range of this continent’s impactful cuisine. Indian workers have been coming to Singapore since the formation of the country, over one hundred and fifty years ago and while many come from Southern Tamil speaking areas the North is also well represented. Indian food can be found all over the island from high-end restaurants off chic Orchard Road to cheap stalls serving up a variety of snacks. Many of the best are located around the area known as Little India. This is full of Indians and tourists rummaging through shops filled with saris, spices and garlands of flowers. Komala Villas is located here just off the main thoroughfare, Serangoon Road. Started in 1947, the restaurant is renowned through the island. The food is cheap and plentiful, and while utensils can be requested, most people eat Indian style, with the right hand. The restaurant serves up Southern Indian, perhaps the most vibrant of the cooking styles. It tends to be hotter than the northern style, with a greater reliance on rice than bread, and is more likely to use yoghurt rather than the heavier cream in sauces. Vegetarians are also more common in the south and many places like Komala Villas do not serve meat. The restaurant serves up a number of snacks including a large selection of dosai, the long thin Indian style pancakes made from lentils and rice flour. These are crisply fried and often stuffed with potato and served with a selection of curries. Vadai, the savoury India take on a doughnut are also on offer and served with a tempting selection of sauces. Thalis are also available. These are meals centred around rice and served on a special plate with indents for all the different curry sauces. Three types are offered here, Bombay, Rice Meal, and Southern Indian and all are based around different combinations of rice, curried vegetables, chapatti, pickles, poppadums. Northern Indian, the type of cooking most widely known outside of India is also available in Singapore. This style is well-known for its milder, creamy dishes, many of which have ground nuts, cream or yoghurt added to them. While having a number of vegetarian options – dhal (lentil soup), vegetable curry and achar a generic term given to spicy pickles, Northern Indian cooking features a large variety of meat dishes. The range of meats is fairly limited as beef is forbidden to Hindu’s while pork, prohibited to Muslims is also uncommon. Only in Christian Goa does it make an appearance in the fiery curry known as a vindaloo. Northern Indian food is renowned for a wide variety of breads and these are served with every meal. They range from the thick naan bread which puffs to light and flavoursome perfection in a tandoori oven to the chapatti a heavy pancake like bread cooked over the stove to the paratha a layered triangular bread. Maharajahs situated by the river on a lively strip of restaurants and bars is a good place to try Northern Indian style food. Poppadums, thin crispy wafers, not unlike spicy chips are served with a selection of dips from mango chutney to yoghurt sauce. Starters are not served in India, but to tempt Western palates a selection of snacks such as samosa’s, crispy parcels of pastry with a mild vegetable curry inside, are available. A number of rich curry’s are on offer – jalfrezi, cooked with peppers, vindaloo a hot vinegar based sauce, and the classic tikka masala featuring a creamy tomato gravy. Sag Paneer a rich and smooth curry of spinach with Indian cheese is also delicious vegetarian option. The bread is particularly good here and a wide variety of naan are served piping hot and smeared with butter. India is also a country with a large number of Muslims, who primarily live in the North. This dates back to the Mogul invasion of India from Persia, and many of the Muslim style dishes eaten today have their origins in the Middle East. A number of unique tastes are on offer, the most famous of which is probably the biryani. This is normally a meal cooked on it’s own consisting of rice and meat. There are various methods of cooking and in Singapore the most commonly served version is a flavoured rice (at more expensive place this has saffron in) and with this chicken or mutton with a curry sauce is served. Next to the main mosque in Singapore, above the cry of the muezzin, you can taste a cheap and tasty version of this at Zamzam’s. In more elaborate restaurants the meat and rice are cooked with milk or yoghurt in the same casserole dish and often accompanied by spices and sultanas. Muslim food can also be found in food stalls all over the city. Favourites include roti prata – a thick and crispy pancake like snack with onions and sometimes an egg on top. Murtabak is also extremely popular consisting of a crispy pastry interwoven with chicken, fish or lamb and served with a curry sauce to pour over. Singapore has added a unique dish to Indian cookery: the famous fish head curry. Probably the best place to try it is in Little India, Muthu’s restaurant being a longstanding local favourite. This restaurant serves all it’s food directly onto a large banana leaf which is placed before each diner at the start of the meal. Rice and vegetable curry’s are set on the leaf and then, finally, a large fishes head in a rich curry sauce is placed on the table. The initial sight is rather startling – a large fish head peers up from a bowl of rich gravy. However once the flesh is torn off and served (and a surprising amount of meat is found in the head) one is tempted to agree with locals that the head really is the most succulent and delectable part of the entire fish. Komala Villas 12-14 Buffalo Road Singapore Maharajah’s 51 Boat Quay Singapore Tel: (65) 535 0122 Zamzam’s 497 North Bridge Road Singapore Muthu’s Curry Restaurant 78 Race Course Road Singapore Tel: 293 2389 |
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Product review: Hatcho Miso |
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Miso is one of the most widely used food products in Japan (after rice, obviously). It is made by fermenting soy beans. But like wine and whisky, the product is a combination of many factors including the quality of the source material, the techniques used, the environment, the equipment and the ageing process. High in protein and low in salt, hatcho miso provides amino acids, vitamins and fibre without adding fat to the diet. It is claimed to have anti-cancer properties. It is to the town of Okazaki in the province of Aichi that we look for the finest miso. Unfortunately, hatcho is not named after a mythical god or a rare plant or a beautiful stream – it is named after the street where this miso has been painstakingly prepared for the past five hundred years. The process starts when the finest Hokkaido soy beans are washed and then soaked for a short time. Then comes the crucial phase. The beans are steamed for two hours and then left in the container overnight. This develops the rich, dark colour that is characteristic of hatcho miso. The crushed beans are then treated with the enzyme Aspergillus and incubated. (It is said that the variety of Aspergillus that now infests the entire building and the cracks in the vats is a key factor in the unique flavour of this miso.) The result is a mash called koji which is then loaded into huge cedar vats along with lots of sea salt (which has the effect of slowing down the fermentation process). A sturdy lid is then placed on the vat and the lid is then weighted down with a large pile of rocks. It is then left to ferment for at least two years and possible up to three. At the end of this time the rocks are removed and the dark paste is scooped out and packaged without pasteurisation. This miso has many uses, but the most common is as the
base for the ubiquitous miso soup. This is very simple to make. Simply take
some wakame (dried seaweed available at health shops) and some sliced
scallions (spring onions) and simmer them for about fifteen minutes in two or
three cups of water. Take a little of the broth out and mix in a couple of
teaspoons of the miso. Put this back into the stock and stir it around. (If
using unpasteurised miso, don’t let it boil.) Taste and add more miso if
required. Pour into a bowl, top with a few slivers of fresh ginger and enjoy! |
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San Francisco style
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By our San Francisco correspondents Judith and Lawrence |
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If you think that the last thing North Beach needs is another new restaurant, Jianna will surely change your mind. This friendly, fun restaurant in the heart of North Beach serves what it calls “evolving American,” which, according to chef Marc Valiani, infuses different cooking techniques from cultures throughout the world and blends them with a regional sensibility. Gary Kurtz, well-known bar manager and wine buyer at many prominent San Francisco establishments, cordially runs the front of the house and sets the warm, welcoming tone. Especially for the quality of preparation and ingredients, ample portions, convivial atmosphere, and consistently outstanding service, Jianna’s prices are remarkably affordable — about US$8–10 for appetizers, $17–19 for entrées. The small-plate desserts are particularly appealing. Priced at half the cost of full dessert plates, they are ideally sized for a reasonable single portion. And joined by a few friends, you can readily sample all of the six or so selections, currently featuring such delectable seasonal sweets as pumpkin crème caramel with gingerbread cake morsels and warm apple crepes with candied walnuts and bourbon cream Jianna Address: 1548 Stockton Street (between Union & Green), San Francisco, California, 94133 Phone: 415 398-0442 Credit Cards: All major cards |
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Good value wine
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A semi-regular Discourse feature |
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Instead of our regular Drinking Decoded series, we are going to talk about some wines that fall into the ‘good value’ category. For those of us who can’t afford a regular drop of Haut-Brion or Screaming Eagles or a Romanée-Conti, what can we drink? The idea is to pick wines that are affordable but relatively unknown. This way you can get the kudos for introducing your friends to wine that they can afford, but where they can also get the smug satisfaction of knowing that they are in a secret club of ‘those who know’. Another trick you might like to use is to say that you are sharing with them a ‘cult’ wine. Nobody ever says that they don’t like a wine once it has been given cult status! So for this purpose, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Tuscany and Piedmont are out. The best wines are just unaffordable now. Instead you need to look at Spain, southern Italy (very affordable and very trendy), Languedoc, Provence, South America and Australia. If you want to be in the major, hyper-trendy league then we suspect that you will need to head to Greece. Our prediction is that this will be the next cult area. This month we reveal the first of our good value wines (now that we have bought some of them)! We have chosen wines that are readily available rather than obscure releases that might only consist of 100 cases. Terredora Fiano di Avellino 1999 Terredora is one of the new breed of winemakers (based in Montefusco) who are turning Campania into one of the most sought after wine regions in the world. (Some would argue that it is simply being restored to its rightful place.) The elegant label promises much and the wine delivers. It is dry, clean and lively with stacks of fruit and a very long lingering impact on the palate. Very well-structured. Feudi di San Gregorio Rubrato 1998 This is one of the ‘lesser’ reds from Feudi di San Gregorio (the same maker of our featured wine, Greco di Tufo, in the November edition of Discourse). Made from the Anglianico grape, it has lots of berry flavours and only medium tannins, making it perfect for a Saturday afternoon barbecue. Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla Spanish sherries are slowly coming back into their own. But not enough people are taking the opportunity to realise the pleasures of the light, fruity Manzanillas. These are not the strong fortified numbers that you might have sipped tentatively, rather they are light, exuberant and highly appealing wines that should be drunk as soon as possible after bottling. They should be served chilled as an aperitif while nibbling on tapas. The Hidalgo La Gitana is just amazing value for money. It is so cheap that it doesn’t matter that you need to drink the whole bottle once it is opened (it will oxidise very quickly unlike its fortified cousins). Their Pasada Manzanilla is even better but slightly more expensive. By the way, if you pronounce it ‘manthanilla’, people will think you have just arrived back from Spain. Planeta La Segreta 1999 This Sicilian company is a rising star and they have grabbed an amazing amount of publicity over the past two years. If you can’t afford their stand-out chardonnay or merlot then the simple and honest La Segreta will not disappoint. Another Saturday afternoon wine. A-Mano Primitivo 1999 A more structured wine than the La Segreta, this one is made from Primitivo grapes. Some people say that Primitivo is an ancient relative of Zinfandel (which flourishes in California) whereas others say that it was brought to Puglia by Italians returning from the United States, and hence is Zinfandel! Whatever the background, this clean, structured and moderately complex red is a serious wine at a laughable price. Well-worth seeking out. Chevaliére Reserve Viognier 1999 Domaine Le Chevaliére is now owned by Michel LaRoche and the wines coming from this domaine reflect his exacting standards. Viognier can be an acquired taste for some, but it is a great food wine and this one from the massive Languedoc region is a good place to start. Cosme Palacio y Hermandos Cosecha 1998 The Bodegas Palacio has produced a great wine at a marvellous price. Rioja reds are built around the tempranillo grape and this is no exception. It doesn’t have a lot of length at the back of the palate, but it does have reasonable structure. Slightly dusty and a bit harsh, but full of interest. Brokenwood Semillon 2000 We definitely waited until we had our share of this Hunter
Valley beauty before we went into print! If you haven’t tried a Semillon from
the Hunter Valley which lies inland and slightly to the north of Sydney then
it is a treat awaiting you. This one sells for around $US10 and yet has a
complexity and charm that rivals wines three times the price. Lots of honey
and grass and tropical fruits and a long, long finish. |
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News and Reviews
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A ‘glow’ in San Francisco by Judith and Lawrence |
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Stay tuned for a report on Glow — a promising North Beach
newcomer presenting classic American fare with a California twist. Located on
the bustling Broadway strip (at 498 Broadway) where the much-beloved
old-timer Vanessi’s once stood, Glow looks like a great spot for lively
get-togethers. We sampled the food at an opening reception and are eager to
try it on an ordinary night. Phone is 415 982-6666. |
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GrandTrunk: A brand new travel Web site |
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From the moment you see the classic map on the Home page of
GrandTrunk, you know you have reached a class act! It immediately conjurs up
images of the great ages of discovery and great explorers such as Leif
Eriksson, Marco Polo, Cheng Ho and Ferdinand Magellan. But will the information within live up to expectation? We started at Sydney - a city we know well. The information is based
around hotels that you might want to stay in. Here we have on offer a
selection for all tastes, ranging from the hyper-trendy Medusa and Kirketon,
to the luxurious, top-end Regent, to the quiet, unobtrusive and fabulous
Observatory. There is also a wealth of supporting information for people staying in
the Harbour city ranging from tours, to shopping to the all-important eating.
The restaurants have been chosen by well-known local writer Cherry Ripe. She
has provided a perfect choice for visitors and you can follow her advice with
the absolute assurance that you will dine well. Moving to London we were pleased that our favourite, namely One
Aldwych was among the chosen hotels and that restaurants such as the
wonderful Gordon Ramsay and The Point figured prominently. As more information and more cities are added this will become an
important and valuable resource on the Web and we look forward to using it
for our own travels. |
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Past issues |
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If you have missed out on receiving the past issue, it is now available on-line at foodtourist.com. Simply click on the Archive link on the Home page. |
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In the next issue |
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We will finally
get round to our review of Singapore (with help from Emma). We will also
discuss the delights of bottarga (is Sicilian or Sardinian best?) and a great
recipe based on this specialty. There will be more good value wines, another
major restaurant review (but not as long as the El Bulli review), news from
the United Kingdom and lots more. |
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