Remember my post on the Midsummer Nights Festival 2010 in Starhill Gallery?
Yes, it has begun!
The week of haute cuisines, with specially crafted Celebrity Chefs menus, showcasing a sauve Italian Chef, a 2 Michelin Star Chef Burton – Race & Chef Stephen Mercer kicked off last Friday with the “Best of Shook!” menu -where diners finds 3 renowned master chefs at their service.
Amuse Bouche for the night – an eggy custard, with some bitter, (foie gras? ) liver-like tasting concentrated broth which I enjoyed but found a tad salty after a little while. Intrigued, I asked a few waiters for the name/explanation of the dish & one told me “tofu” while another “cawanmushi”. The rest drew a blank. Not a good start.
On a more pleasant note, Master Chef Jacqueline Quiqiong from Shook! Shanghai gave a live demo of her dish that night; the Red Snapper with Celery Root Puree, Pepper Smoked Tapioca, Jade Salad, and Lily Bud Lime Sauce, breaking the usual monotony of a sit-down dinner.
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Red Snapper with Celery Root Puree, Pepper Smoked Tapioca, Jade Salad and Lily Bud Lime Sauce.
I could barely see anything as the cooking station was elevated way higher than me. I did however, witness the beginning; where she showed us some big dried peppers that looked similar to red chillies. She proceeded to put them into the oven to roast. My guess here? The tapioca refers to the orangey tapioca PEARLS above, & the reason for the orange hue is due to it being roasted together with the peppers. The vibrant vermillion oil is the chilli/pepper oil released from the roasted peppers. Smart eh? 😉
There used to be a time when dishes have simpler names. Take a cabonara for an example. Or Nasi Lemak. If they were to be named now, it is most likely Spaghetti in emulsion of Pecorino Cheese & Egg Yolks, with Cured Belly Bacon & Ham while Nasi Lemak is Local Rice steamed in the cream of coconut, served with Roasted Peanuts & Deep Fried Anchovies, Quarter of an Egg, garnished with Farm Cucumbers & Slow Braised Mix of Chilli, Onions, Garlic & crushed Deep Fried Anchovies Paste.
Well, I guess that haute cuisine naming makes it easier for the diner to identify the ingredients/flavours of the dish. So let me attempt to dissect the dish for you again.
The celery root puree is the light tawn creamy pool you see below. The fish sits on a bed of mashed (potato?). The ‘Jade Salad’ was slivers of celery, with green chilli, (which tasted vinegared to me – but that would explain the “Lily Bud Lime Sauce”) & some unidentifiable vegetables.
Taste-wise? Simply lip-smacking; a peep of piquancy from the Jade Salad, a notch of spiciness from the tapioca pearls, a luxurious touch of lovely creamy puree, all best eaten in one mouthful with sweet, firm flesh of the red snapper. To be honest, just eating the fish on its own will not woo a seasoned fine diner in anyway. But all in a bite, the differences in flavours & textures does still manage to rouse the jaded tongue.
Next, Marsala Scented Sea-Scallops and Citrus Fruit Salad. And it’s a big fat one too.
I was pleasantly pleased with the balance of pairing the clean flavours of the scallop with the strong Marsala paste. The pea shoots were raw & left a slightly bitter aftertaste, the cloves of orange slightly sour & the almonds wraps it up with a nutty finish. Again, eat them all together please..else, it is just another scallop.
Halfway through, Najwa Mahiaddin enchanted the evening with her strong vocals, delivered with passion and soul!
Which was good, cos I had a hard time washing the taste of this Arugula & Mint Soup with Fish Roe off my tongue. The name alone hints at foulness. To be fair, I don’t fancy bitter soup & I hate mint so that might have made my judgement of this worse, but nevertheless, I was curious to see how Chef Johann might have pull it off.
Well, to put it mildly…it is AN ACQUIRED TASTE. Still, as Chef Kevin Cape had explained later that night, it was a good avenue for Chef Johann to showcase his creativity & not be stifled by sticking to ordinary & safer creations. And some diners that night did lap it all up. 😉
This was a superbly executed dish, Medallion of Grain Fed Beef Cooked at 59.5° With Caramelized Shanghaiese Infused Eggplant And Roasted Chilli.
Chef Kevin explained that it was cooked at precisely 59.5° & that is the perfect temperature. Preparation was in a variety of ways of which he won’t indulge further other than one of them was using a waterbath (The French call this cooking technique au bain marie (bahn mah-ree) .
Yes, the texture of the meat tells me it has been gently cooked, not harshly grilled or pan seared. The doneness was perfectly medium. Preparation methods aside, this is very chinese, with crisp garlic bits & drizzling of garlic oil over the top. The use of dried chillies, at some parts, made it taste reminiscing of our Chinese “Kung Po” – (stirfry with dried chillies).
Desserts was worth the extra calories. I’ ve got no complains on the slice of chocolate mousse cake which was was packed with nuts & I loved the bottom choc + peanut butter + crisps layer. The one in the glass was ordinary, & the half roll at the side was aka banana & red bean springroll.
Chef Kevin Cape came out from his fortress & caught me sneaking a picture of him. LOL.
And I had the privilege of discussing with him my opinions of the food that night, as well as snapping some pictures with his team – left to right:
Master Chef Johann Ong from Shook! Kuala Lumpur,
YTL Executive Corporate Chef Kevin Cape from Shook! Worldwide,
Master Chef Jacqueline Quiqiong from Shook! Shanghai.
We went to the kitchen & he showed me a whole jar of these – black truffles!! Apparently, that one bulb costs more than my dinner (RM260++) that night!
Che Massimo who was just dining at the next table got “coerced” into posing with the same truffle for me by Chef Kevin. 😉
What an experience! I’m most excited to see what Chef Kevin has in store for me this coming Wed, & I sure hope it doesn’t include any Arugula Mint Soup! 😉
Here are the Special Menus in each outlet in StarHill Gallery throughout the week of the Midsummer Feast Festival 2010. If you are feeling indulgent, I personally think the Celebrity Chefs is worth pondering over. We do not get visits from 2 – Stars Michelin chefs often after all!
Go on, a bit of profligacy doesn’t harm anyone! 😉
My Dinner : “Best of Shook!” menu.
2nd July 2010
Amuse Bouche
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Red Snapper with Celery Root Puree
Pepper Smoked Tapioca, Jade Salad, and Lily Bud Lime Sauce
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Marsala Scented Sea-Scallops and Citrus Fruit Salad
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Johann’s surprise dish (the Arugula & Mint Soup)
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Medallion of Grain Fed Beef Cooked at 59.5°
With Caramelized Shanghaiese Infused Eggplant
And Roasted Chilli
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Symphony of Desserts
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Coffee
&
Armani-Dolci
Starhill Gallery
181 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03 2782 3855
****All prices are subjected to 10% service charge and 5% government tax
why wasn’t i there? T_T
Kung Pao Beef. Nice!
Good to know that Chef Johann was given a free reign to do his thang 😉 I can only imagine that his surprise dish is an acquired taste 🙂
Yea 😉
Else we will not have original & more innovative form of dishes.
I wonder how’s the taste of the mint soup? Cooling eh?
Hell no Mimi, cooling is not the adjective you would use at all in this case . LOL.
oooh, the beef looks very good indeed (am feeling especially carnivorous today!) don’t think i’ll get the chance to sample the menus this year, but i can enjoy looking at the food on your blog 😀 yeah, i’m not a fan of mint either, though i do like arugula 😀
Yes yes, it was a bit BLOODY at the core too! Bought out all my carnivorous instincts!! Haaha
How come?? I’m surprised! I would thought you would have been the 1st few to book a seat for Chef Burton Race!
ohhh, i’m gonna be away for a few days this week. short holiday to ho chi minh city 😀
hi becky! is it only dinner? lunch ? and is it every single night till the 9th?
Every single night features a different menu.
Will reply your email 😉
So how much does that truffle cost? *curious*
RM250!
Haha..more than the set lunch at Cilantro.
LOL. Just read the comments. Yes, some bloggers think too highly of themselves. Well babe..you are who you are & I think you’re on the right track! *hugs*
😉
:whistle:
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Babe! You going for the 2 -Michelin Star Chef dinner? I want to try!
I can’t on Thurs!
Wanna do Fri?
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Ohh is the beef cooked sous vide style? It’s like put in some plastic bag and cooked in water of that temperature. Interesting only get to watch that method on tv!
😉
I know what sous vide is.
And no, I don’t think so but I can ask Chef Kevin this wed.
Hey Rebecca!
Found your blog through FB. Whoa..great job! Eat & be merry eh? 😉
OMg. Drooling. By the way, the first egg custardy dish is a famous Japanese dish called chawanmushi…It’s my favorite! 😀
And haha, so true about the haute cuisine naming…it’s ridiculous!
nice dinner…nice food pics
Black truffles! Seriously I have never ever seen one in real yet. 🙂 Btw, I have moved to new domain.
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The one in the last photo is CUTE! :rose: :heart: LOL
Hit me:-)
Nice website. Thank you!
Cool blog. Thank you!
Oh, now I got to wait til next year?? -_-
Just believed i would comment and say neat design, did you code it yourself? Looks good. Aaron
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