Inhoudsopgave van March 2019 - epicure

Pub fiction Left to its original condition, The Farmers Arms, in the village of Woolsery in North Devon would probably have remained in a derelict state. Fortunately, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and multi-millionaires Michael and Xochi Birch have breathed new life into the Grade II historic establishment. The building now houses Farmer’s Bar, decked in reclaimed oak floors and beam ceilings, while the Public Bar and West Barn offer more lounge seating options. Dining takes place at the Shippon where executive chef Ian Webber dishes out gems like heritage carrots, venison broth, burnt onion and juniper as well as duck liver, runner beans, gooseberry and mustard. Woolsery, Bideford, EX39 5QP. Tel: +44 1237 439 328 The right spice Fans of André Chiang will be happy to know that he has partnered…

Hailed as the “drink of the gods”, sake has traditionally been matched with sushi, izakaya dishes and other kinds of Japanese cuisine. With a growing appreciation of sake and its versatility among other cultures, however, chefs and consumers in other countries have gone beyond pairing the Japanese alcohol with Japanese food. Riding on a wave of interest in Singapore – the small city also happens to be one of the top exporters of Japanese sake – JFOODO has launched a sake appreciation programme to spread the word about its potential to be paired with other cuisines. JFOODO kicked off their sake appreciation sessions on 21–24 January with four award-winning Western restaurants, Burnt Ends, COMO Dempsey, FOC Restaurant and JAAN. Master sake sommelier Sean Ou was specially roped in to conduct…

One bean at a time ‘S ingle origin coffee is the kind of buzz-phrase that will make java snobs’ ears perk up, and with good reason. It refers to coffee that comes from a specific region, whether it’s a collective of farms, a particular farm or even a single field. We spoke to some of the city best java joints to find out where they source their single origin coffee beans. Common Man Coffee Roasters Acacia Hills Estate is located in Ngorongoro, one of three main coffee regions of Northern Tanzania. Ngorongoro is a unique coffee growing landscape with varying altitude, from as low as 1,000 to 2,000 metres above sea level and up. The farm itself is the highest altitude farm in the region and they have planted the…

SOFT CHEESE, SUCH AS TRUFFLED CAMEMBERT OR BRIE Match to ▸ Imayotsukasa Junmai Daiginjo At 15%, this Junmai Daiginjo with 50% rice polish is elegant, clean and crisp, thanks to its use of gohyakumangoku rice – the sake brewer’s favourite. The attractive nose leads with peaches and rose, while the light mouthfeel belies the richness of its palate. A detailed structure and fruity roundness make it an easy match with most foods. Adrian Goh, sake master, elaborates, “Cheese goes great with sake, because of higher amino acids and lactic acids leading to more umami in sake than any other alcohol”. $70 from interriceasia.com STRONG AROMATIC CHEESE, SUCH AS STILTON Match to ▸ Chiyomusubi Sorah Junmai Ginjou This premium sparkling sake from Tottori Prefecture is named Sorah, Native American for aurora borealis.…

Beetroot bashers may loathe its earthy flavour, but it’s exactly this quality that makes it the perfect partner with chocolate. A proponent of this pairing is executive pastry chef Choo Eng Tat of Royal Plaza on Scotts who shares his Dark Chocolate and Beetroot Gâteau recipe. Beetroot keeps the chocolate cake moist and balances its natural earthy flavour. Throw in a handful of melon seeds, which are high in magnesium, and you get another layer of texture to each bite. While his recipe is not complicated, Choo stresses that all the ingredients need to be at room temperature so that the cake batter doesn’t split or curdle. Finally, to achieve Instagram-worthy frosting, Choo also adds a touch of glucose into the ganache mixture to prevent anticaking and to retain that…

In 2018, while judging at Sopexa’s Best Sommelier in French Wine competition, I was impressed when eventual third-place winner Daisuke Shibuya correctly identified all six items during the cheese round. If you’re wondering what a sommelier competition has to do with fromage, the answer is – a lot. Cheese and wine pairings are a delicate art that requires the sommelier to know their curds as well as they do their wines. When I was growing up, Kraft singles were an occasional treat. It was only when I started a career in food writing that I memorably discovered the likes of pungent Epoisses and delicately nutty Reblochon, at now-defunct Le Saint Julien restaurant where chef Julien Bompard and wife Edith introduced a new generation of foodies to complex, gourmet cheeses. They…

Share with us your career thus far. I was previously sales director responsible for IFA distribution in Singapore at Standard Life International. Prior to that I worked at Zurich Life Singapore as head of expatriate sales before leaving in 2013 to join Standard Life. I bring with me 18 years of experience in the life insurance industry. I’ve been brought in to expand Asia Hansard International’s IFA business through my existing networks, increase focus on our product proposition and ensure high quality service delivery to our partners. Tell us about a recent meal you had overseas that bowled you over. I recently ate at a wonderful Vietnamese fusion restaurant in Hong Kong called Chôm Chôm. It has a lively bar and kitchen and is situated on a street corner in…

» 9AM Start your morning at Lady Marmalade on Queens Street East in Leslieville. The brunch destination is known for its eggs benedict with smoked salmon, bottomless drip coffee, and daily cold press juices. Leslieville is also a great area to explore neighbourhood art and experience little pop-ups selling fresh produce and baked goods. 265 Broadview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4M 2G8. Tel: +1 647-351-7645 » 10:30AM Make your way to the famous St. Lawrence Market which has been around for over 117 years. Check out the market section for fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and freshly baked bread. St. Lawrence is also known for its one-of-a-kind antiques and collectibles, and is the place to rub shoulders with the hottest designers, savvy collectors and interior design magazine editors. 92-95 Front Street…

1 Erdem Dress, $4,890 Larger-than-life blooms bedeck Erdem’s exuberantly floaty and feminine Julianne Dress. 2 Hermès bag, $20,800 3 Hermès Larubizana - Le Bouclier de la Beauté Giant Scarf 140 in plume silk twill, $1,200 Prints don’t get more luxe than in Hermes’s rarified creations. This chic bag features a print from an original scarf design and a clasp inspired by a 1970s scarf motif. The scarf is designed by Sudanese artist Sefedin Kwumi and recounts the legend of a Nuba warrior who, using the power of her beauty alone, subdues the enemies of her people and restores peace. 4 Kate Spade Dress, $750 Kate Spade taps the brand’s sunny sensibility and flair for feminine silhouettes and saturated colours in this mood-boosting sheath dress. 5 Sandro Dress, $835 Sandro’s dress features a playful mix of…

Long gone are the days when 15 minutes is needed to get your espresso – in the 1800s, coffee drinkers had to drink tepid espresso because of the time taken for the hot water to drip through the coffee powder. These days, cafés employ complex kitchen countertop machinery to drip out high-grade java that people pay good money to sip. Four main categories of machines — manual, semi-auto, full auto, and super automatic — are offered on today’s market, and the first step is deciding on the best type for your needs Manual machines are like a restored car from the early 1900s — a beautiful homage to heritage, but unimaginably complicated compared to today’s most advanced models. There are no crank start mechanisms or chokes to contend with on…

For many makers of small-batch, handcrafted chocolate, it is often love at first bite. Five years ago, Jay Chua was gifted with a Madagascar single origin craft chocolate bar for Christmas and it blew him away. It was full of raspberry and almond flavour, but there were only two ingredients on the list-cacao and sugar. “It was then that we realised the taste of chocolates could be so flat with commercial bars yet so flavourful with craft chocolates. Since then, we started to experiment with cacao, and making small batches,” says Chua, who is now the chief chocolate maker at Fossa, Singapore’s first and award-winning artisanal bean-to-bar craft chocolate outfit. Philo Chua, founder and owner of Theo & Philo Artisan Chocolates in The Philippines, discovered single origin chocolates while he…

Mediteraneo • 15g Idiazábal cheese• stalk of rosemary• 25ml honey• 50ml Amontillado sherry• 25ml Gin Mare• 20ml lime juice garnish • milk chocolate• cheese• olives• rosemary » Muddle the smoky Idiazábal cheese with rosemary until the cheese is all broken up and the rosemary flavour is worked into the cheese. » Loosen honey consistency with a little water. Put ice in a cocktail strainer and place muddled ingredients and other liquids in. Shake well to combine. » Double strain contents into a stemmed cocktail glass, and top generously with crushed ice. Garnish with a slice of cheese, olive, chocolate and rosemary. The Spanish gin with its notes of rosemary enhances the flavours chosen to garnish the drink. Take a sip along with each bite of chocolate, olive or cheese, and…

Watching Grace Yip manoeuvring around her kitchen effortlessly, you would think she has been cooking all her life. In fact, the managing director of human resources for Accenture ASEAN says she only started pottering around the kitchen in 2005 – and even then, it was purely out of need. “I had just moved into my own home and bought a black chicken. When I took it out of the bag, the head and legs were still attached to the body. I called my mum immediately to tell her about it and she just laughed. I had to buy a cleaver – yes I didn’t have one in my kitchen yet – and then come home to saw off the head and legs before I could cook the chicken,” she recalls.…

Everyone has an opinion of where to get their hands on the best cup of coffee, including me. Growing up in Kenya, I was very proud of the abundant, high quality (tea and) coffee plantations and AA coffee that Kenya was famous for its. Little did I appreciate at the time that neighbouring Ethiopia was also just as famous for its prized black gold beverage, if not more. Further outbound, London has evolved from its reputation of being just a tea-centric city to one that also offers quality coffee. And with Melbourne’s serious coffee craft being part of the city’s culture, popping into off-the-radar cafés while travelling to one of Australia’s most popular cities is a must. Ethiopia – birthplace of Arabica There is no disputing the fact that coffee…

Simple Cake: All you need to keep your friends and family in cake is an ode to Odette Williams’ family and friends. With 50 easy recipes and inventive decorating ideas, Williams presents recipes for 10 different cake bases, 15 toppings, and endless decorating ideas to yield a sweet treat--such as Milk & Honey Cake, Coconut Cake, Summer and Chocolatey Chocolate Cake. Published by Ten Speed Press. Available from bookdepository.com, $31.45 In The New Pie: Modern Techniques for the Classic American Desserts, Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin—both doctors as well as winners of the 2017 National Pie Championship—share their passion for creating classic pies with a decadent twist. Turn the pages and discover a birthday cake cream pie with a chocolate ganache and candy coating, as well as a banana pudding…

There aren’t many chefs who can run 38 acclaimed restaurants around the world and still remain as unflappable as Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The legendary French chef isn’t just a master of the kitchen, he’s engaged in many aspects of his restaurants, from concept and menu creation, architectural design to staff selection and training. Even on his recent trip to Singapore, Vongerichten’s mornings were busy spent scouring wet markets to discover new ingredients for his restaurant, The Dempsey Cookhouse and Bar, while he constantly kept in touch with his other country teams despite straddling multiple time zones. “I love the endless energy that my people bring every day; it’s what keeps me going,” he says humbly with a smile. Lauded for his exquisitely crafted dishes that seamlessly blend French, American and Asian…

CHOCOLATE CONCIERGE Hand-crafted bars of single origin are the draw here, especially the Temuan Bean To Bar Pahang Origin Dark and the Temuan Bean To Bar Pahang Origin Dark with Cocoa Nibs. They have also been experimenting with prolonged fermentation for their cocoa which is “a gateway to unlock some unexpected and unusual flavours”. Chocolate Concierge’s limited edition chocolates are reserved by chefs at Dewakan in Kuala Lumpur and Nouri in Singapore for their dessert creations. They also have a retail counter in Bangsar Shopping Centre, KL. www.chocconcierge.com FOSSA Their quirky shrimp and bonito chocolate was inspired by a trip to Japan where these ingredients are so common – a nutty cacao proved the perfect vehicle. Currently, they have an Artisan Chocolate range boasting unique flavours such as Lychee Rose,…

Chicken Or The Egg The age-old question “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” is the inspiration behind this chocolate egg creation. It uses a classic flavour combination of chocolate (coral sponge cake) and raspberry (caviar). Serves 10 Prep time 40 minutes + 3 hours freezing + 6 hours crystallisation Cook time 40 minutes chocolate coral sponge cake • 262g egg white• 28g egg yolk• 21g cocoa powder• 83g icing sugar• 14g corn oil• 42g cake flour » Mix all the ingredients together and pass the batter through a fine sieve strainer. » Fill a 500ml siphon bottle with the batter and charge with two N20 chargers. » In a microwavable container, pour the batter in and bake it in a microwave at high for 90 seconds. » Remove…

Ethnological Museum Algeria Street, Addis Ababa. Tel: +251 11 123 1068 Fendika Azmari Bet Zweditu Street, Addis Ababa. Tel: +251 91 154 7577 Habesha 2000 Restaurant Namibia Street, Addis Ababa. Tel: +251 11 618 2253 Merkato Addis Mercato, Addis Ababa National Museum of Ethiopia King George VI Street, Addis Ababa. Tel: +251 11 111 7150 Office Bar Shop Haron Tower, ground floor Tomoca’s Coffee Wawel Street, Addis Ababa. Tel: +251 91 122 1412 Tomoca Roastery at Bole Medhanealem Bole Impress Building, ground floor Tomoca Sefer Haya Hulet, ground floor at the company’s headquarters Abacus Bar & Kitchen 383 Chapel St, South Yarra VIC 3141, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9824 1026 Sloane Ranger Café 13 Cremorne St, Cremorne VIC 3121, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9943 4122 Allpress Espresso Roastery & Café…