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The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 08 Oct 2012 05:05 PM PDT

bakingbarn: Lemon Kisses cupcakes (left); Nigel A. Skelchy of Baking Barn and Just Heavenly fame (right). — Pictures by CK Lim

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Some of us drive here. We circle the near-full car park like prowling predators till we find a free slot. Some of us walk here, which seems an appropriate approach, given the nature of the event. Food markets are meant to be neighbourhood affairs, are they not?

Inside, the main square of the Jaya One commercial complex is transformed. Where there were only empty streets, there is now a haphazard maze of stalls and lines of yellow triangles criss-crossing overhead.

It's a little past midday, and the afternoon sun is beating down relentlessly. Which means, though there are many stalls offering wares from exquisite batik to handmade accessories, everyone is heading straight for the food vendors, specifically the cold drinks and the ice cream.

But these aren't ordinary bottles of juice or scoops of ice cream. Everything sold today is handmade, artisanal and, well, gourmet. Nothing mass-produced. Fresh and natural are the buzzwords of the day. Welcome to Food Bites, the most happening outdoor gourmet food market in town.

espressolab: Heidi Seow, the Fräulein Barista of espressoLab cooks up some Spicy Mango Latte.

What exactly is it all about, though? What on earth does "artisanal" mean? And isn't gourmet food only available at fine dining restaurants, preferably those with a few stars awarded by some foreign guide?

Call me dumb or call me jaded, but surely you've had this thought too, especially after reading one "organic" or "hand-crafted" label too many, that, quite possibly, it's a whole lot of crock. Or at the very least, it's just being a tad too precious or pretentious. Food is simply food, isn't it? All these labels and dressing things up — do they really make a difference?

But first: It's far too hot to stand around philosophising about food and drink without actually consuming some, preferably something cold.

I make a beeline for The Potong stall. The trio of Ivan Lee, Tee Reei Toh and Victor Tee uses only natural and preservatives-free ingredients for their icy popsicles. Ivan recommends the seasonal flavour Spicy Pineapple, made with pineapple, chilli and lime. It's cool (thankfully!) with a tangy kick that's the perfect pick-me-up given the heat.

fortylicks: Tat Wei of Forty Licks Ice Cream scoops while companion looks on (left); Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate flavours.

Tee Reei asks me if I would like a boozier popsicle, and really how could you say no to that? She gamely shows me the proper way of to eat a Prosecco Pop – first holding a glass of bubbly elegantly in one hand while dunking a mini Potong into it with the other. And then lick and slurp. Ah… thirst quenching in every possible way.

Next my friends and I drop by The Baking Barn, where the always affable Nigel A. Skelchy tells us the bad news: they had sold out their "See, Salt!", a vanilla cake drenched in rosemary syrup and garnished with fresh rosemary and Maldon sea salt flakes.

We try some of his Mango Tango, a thyme-infused crème pâtissière in buttery shortcrust topped with a fresh mango gelée and fresh thyme. Delicious. We can't resist getting a couple of his Lemon Kisses (moist cupcakes filled with lemon curd and topped with a lavender-infused meringue buttercream) for later.

Skelchy's neighbours are the two lovely ladies from Smooshie Juice – the cheerful Wan Chiun Low and Lin Lee — with their ready smiles. They have big huge plastic trays filled with ice cubes in front of them – all the better to keep these 100 per cent natural fruit juices cool.

The Watermelon, Cucumber & Mint really does, if you'd forgive the cliché, keep us as cool as a cucumber. Lin Lee tells us the juices should also help cleanse our bodies of harmful wastes and toxins. My favourite is their Green Apple, Lemongrass & Rambutan which is a nice balance of tart (the Granny Smith) and sweet (our local rambutan) with a whiff of fragrant lemongrass.

smooshie: Wan Chiun Low and Lin Lee of Smooshie Juice (left); Green Apple, Lemongrass & Rambutan and Watermelon, Cucumber & Mint (right).

If there were an award for the most beautifully decorated stall, it would likely go to Karen CP Tan's. Tarts both large and petite are filled till almost overflowing with fresh fruits and berries. This gorgeous display of her #TartArt offerings reminds us that sometimes food shouldn't just taste good; why not have it look good too?

Trekkie humour comes across splendidly with The Starfruit Enterprise, where grilled starfruit and pineapple glazed with gula Melaka butterscotch dance on a bed of clove and almond frangipane. The most beautiful tart may be Karen's I ♥ Tart, where yellow orbs of physalis covered with Chinese-lantern-like leaves rise above a strawberry (and raspberry and blackberry and blueberry) field.

Time for a little mid-afternoon stimulant and our drug-of-choice has to be the always dependable shot (or two) of caffeine. The famous Fräulein Barista of espressoLab, Heidi Seow, has got something new up her sleeve for me, she says with a mischievous wink.

Instead of the usual caffè latte, she has concocted a Spicy Mango Latte that's redolent of the ripest Pakistani mangoes in season with quite a surprising bite. I have my latte iced, of course, and Heidi smiles as this is likely not the first time she's heard a customer grumbling about the weather.

tartart: Karen CP Tan of #TartArt and her beautiful creations.

More ice cream, my friends plead as we finish our little food tour. (Pity the food vendors offering the hot and sizzling foods.) Something creamier this time round. Tat Wei of Forty Licks has just the thing — scoops of rich and dense French-Style ice cream.

We devour our cups of Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter (bonus points for thick nuggets of peanut butter!) and Dark Chocolate (the most intense we've had recently), until nary a lick is left. So good.

Am I a convert, then, to artisanal, gourmet food? Curb-side or otherwise?

thepotong: The Potong menu (top-right); the Spicy Pineapple Potong (top-left); Tee Rei demonstrates how to enjoy a Prosecco Pop (bottom).

Well, what I have come to realise is that these are ordinary bottles of juice and ordinary scoops of ice cream. Food is food. What we're asking is simply: Does this taste good? Is it made with care and love? Does it matter to the people who made what we ate that we enjoyed the fruits of their labour?

This is ordinary, wonderful, simple and good food, whatever the labels. It is made special by those who hone their craft, who are continuously doing so, who are trying their best to enliven our tastebuds and educate our palates, who want us to eat better and healthier and most of all, those whose greatest satisfaction comes when we turn back to their stall to tell them we really enjoyed what we had.

Food is about people, and looking at all the smiling faces around me, I know everyone is having a great time. And that's a fine, fine thing. Now, who wants another popsicle for the road?

Food Bites

Food Bites is a food market dedicated to and celebrating gourmet food, street-style.

For further information: info@asianageholdings.com

Website: http://www.facebook.com/FoodBitesPJ/

* Kenny is not a food or coffee snob, no matter what his friends may tell you. Repeatedly. Enjoy more of his edible musings at http://lifeforbeginners.com

One chef, one ingredient: Hilton Little, chef to the president of South Africa, on Kingklip

Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:55 PM PDT

One chef, one ingredient: Hilton Little, chef to the president of South Africa, on Kingklip

Chef Hilton Little, chef to the president of the Republic of South Africa, chose the kingklip fish as his favorite ingredient. — AFP-Relaxnews pic

PARIS, Oct 8 — If you are what you eat, then it could be said that chefs are what they cook. In an exclusive series from Relaxnews, some of the top chefs from around the world share their favourite food ingredient to prepare and eat, every week. Whether it be peas, pumpkin, or sea urchin, the answers are as varied as the chefs themselves. This week, Relaxnews interviews Hilton Little, chef to the President of South Africa.

Little has been a member of the Club des Chefs des Chefs since 1997. Like its name implies, members are chefs to the most powerful people in the world: heads of state.

In an interview with Relaxnews in Paris recently, Little shared his favorite ingredient, the Kingklip (Genypterus capensis), a long, slender fish species native to South African waters. The species can reach up to 1.5 m or 5 feet and weigh up to 50 lbs or 23 kg. When cooked, it becomes a firm white fish.

R: Why did you choose this ingredient?

Hilton Little: Because there are a million things you can do with this.

R: What's your favourite memory/anecdote associated with the product?

HL: I prepared this for President Nelson Mandela and I heard him turn to his guests and say, 'You have to taste this, it's so good.'

The dish was made with paprika and leeks, and in the cross-section of the fish I made a map out of South Africa.

R: What's the best way to cook it?

HL: Marinate it in lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Add lots of herbs like basil and parsley. Pan-fry it and put it in the oven.

You could also barbecue it. Fill it with onions, garlic, nice herbs, cover it in foil and throw it on the fire.

R: What are the most common mistakes people make when cooking this ingredient?

HL: Overcooking it. Fish should flake away.

R: What wine is best paired with it?

HL: A nice Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling. — AFP-Relaxnews

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Isnin, 8 Oktober 2012