The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2012 04:58 PM PST  Top Brew Coffee Bar. — Pictures by CK Lim Sure, I used to tell my friends that I enjoy a decent brew, that's all. Soon it became evident I was spending my spare hours hunting down new cafés and espresso bars the way they expended theirs watching television or window-shopping at the malls. Clearly, I was more than simply an aficionado. I have been bitten by the bean bug. Most days I start the morning with a freshly pulled shot of espresso at Top Brew Coffee Bar. Run by the 2012 Malaysian Champion Barista JH Yee, this small and unassuming café isn't decorated to the nines to impress but then again, it doesn't need to. Many of Yee's customers come after hearing about his skills at pulling shots or crafting delicate latte art but most return for his charm. Very few baristas can explain your cup of coffee to you without you feeling unintelligent for not understanding the industry-specific jargon (unless you are a coffee geek already). Half of the pleasure comes from his gentle explanations of why your single-origin (say a Yirgacheffe) espresso tastes different from an espresso blend; it's show-and-tell as he lets you try one cup then the other. Yee is eager for a challenge too: one hot, sunny day I asked him if he could make me an iced black coffee that isn't as bold as some Americanos tended to be or too diluted. He came up with the idea of giving a shot of espresso an ice bath while hand-grinding and brewing another portion of the same coffee using a dripper. When both halves were combined the Iced Double Black was born: a refreshing and light iced coffee with the buzz from the espresso but none of the bitterness.  The Brew Culture. — Pictures by CK Lim The baristas and co-owners Hiew Kuei Yin and Jeffrey Ng are ex-engineers who, like many engineers before them (myself included), have abandoned their former industry for a different one. In their case, the hum of a coffee bean grinder and the hiss of steam-wand frothing milk. This self-crafted and designed café looks like a Jimmy Liao drawing come to life with colourful characters popping in the strangest corners and a giant sunburst radiating from one wall. Instead of sitting down you can opt to stand at a high table or at the window bar, perfect for taller customers who enjoy a good stretch. There are no rules here; just relax and be yourself. You can watch Hiew brew single-origin coffees using the pour-over method (customers may also choose other options such as AeroPress, French press and Chemex too) or listen to Ng explain how they dry used coffee grounds before packing them for customers to take home as a deodoriser or fertiliser. Nothing is wasted here. Especially the quiet moments spent contemplating life, the universe, and, of course, coffee, while the raindrops continue to fall outside.  Await Café. — Pictures by CK Lim and Await Café Perfect for languid weekends when you want to stroll into a café with no energy beyond merely nodding at a bean scribbled on the menu and sipping your coffee until the caffeine kicks in. Formerly colleagues at a magazine, writer Jane Lee and graphic designer Jenny Lee have teamed up to bring a slice of the quirky Taipei café scene to the quiet suburb of Taman Desa. Tiny leafy plants in small pots of soil or bottles of water line the window sill; plenty of natural sunlight helps chase the blues away. Flipping through a random volume from the bookshelves can transport you to Cobain-era Seattle or Cinémathèque Française of 1960s Paris. Here is a sanctuary you can imagine almost-lovers Céline and Jesse from the films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset sharing a cup of coffee while escaping the world outside. Let time pause for a while as Jane slowly drips hot water from the swan-like spout of a coffee kettle into the carafe of freshly-ground beans below. Let this be a meditative, mellow hour.  Artisan Coffee Bar. — Pictures by CK Lim and Artisan Coffee Bar I used to frequent their flagship café in TTDI with the now infamous coffee chart (the wrong option would lead you to the gentle suggestion "you're in the wrong café") and wall-caricatures of highly-buzzed aboriginal tribesmen and turquoise-tressed sirens. These days I am drawn to Artisan mastermind Michael Wilson's second café housed in Bangsar Village II. At Artisan Coffee Bar, you are more likely to hear Adele and Coldplay drifting over the speakers than Tom Waits or The Smiths. Families and corporate suits gather here; fewer rock stars abound. Friends or strangers, it doesn't really matter; you rapidly discover you are chatting with everyone. Conversations and coffee go together like, well, an espresso and foamed milk. When Morrissey sings the refrain "There is a light that never goes out" over and over again, you believe. (Especially if the said lights are encased in modified French presses and dangled over the espresso bar.) There is always time for another cuppa joe.  Typica Café. — Pictures by CK Lim Fitting then, the café's name in Chinese — Dou Yuan — means "the origin of the bean", which truly brings me back to when I was unable to taste the difference in the coffees I drank. The process of learning to appreciate the subtle nuances and the depth of flavour a cup can deliver has been humbling to say the least. The wooden benches made from old Chinese medicine shop signages; the mismatched tables and chairs; the hand-stitched stuffed toys peeking out from their hiding spots; the unhurried stir of a ladle over an aromatic stew of water and grounds; an occasional alley cat strolling in to sunbathe against the glass walls: Typica is the sort of café you would like to call home. We come here on weeknights to meet up with regulars after work, just in time to say goodbye to the siphonist Mei Ying as she departs after a long day and to say hi to café manager Kai Yin as she tries guessing our orders. Maybe it's just a silly game but we all enjoy it. It's part of our café story. Kenny's favourites for coffee in KL: Artisan Coffee Bar BV2 Await Café The Brew Culture Top Brew Coffee Bar Typica Café * Kenny is brewing something. Find out more at http://lifeforbeginners.com/cafestories |
| Belgium, France lay claim to fries Posted: 30 Dec 2012 03:13 PM PST BRUSSELS, Dec 31 — Fries, crunchy, salty, tasty fried sticks of potato are claimed by Belgium and France as the product of their national gastronomic genius but the true origins are shrouded in popular folklore. "Fries, they are the orphan of street cooking, of low birth. That is why it's hard to establish where they really come from," says French historian Madeleine Ferriere.  If the French eat fries with a fork from a plate, at a restaurant or at home, the Belgians prefer to tackle them with their fingers, at any time of the day. — AFP pic "Belgians love fries but there was no scientific research on the issue until recently," Pierre Leclerc, professor at the University of Liege, told a recent forum in the capital. There are many theories and just as many claims to paternity. In France, fries supposedly first saw the light of day on "Pont Neuf", the oldest bridge in Paris, where street hawkers began selling them just before the French Revolution in 1789. "They offered deep-fried food, horse chestnuts and slices of potato rissole," said Ferriere. This Paris origin theory has a long history and has been widely accepted and repeated despite Belgian claims that fries were in fact invented in Namur, in the south of their country. The story goes that people there needing a cheap meal would fish in the River Meuse, frying what they caught. In bad winters, as was often the case, the river would freeze so they would cut up potatoes into the shape of small fish and fry them instead, Leclerc says, though he concedes that might be a bit fanciful. Finger lickin' frites "At the end of the day, we do not care where fries came from. What counts, is what has been done with them," said Roel Jacobs, specialist in the history of Brussels and its culture. "The French and the Belgians took different tracks. For the French, fries normally go with meat, usually a steak while the Belgians eat them on their own or with a sauce," Jacobs said. "We Belgians, we have made fries a noble food, much more than just a vegetable," proudly claims Albert Verdeyen, chef and co-author of the book "Simply Fries". "Above all, we have mastered better than anyone else the art of double-cooking, so that the fries are golden and crusty," Verdeyen says. To be worthy of the name, Belgian fries are cooked first in beef fat at 140°C. Taken out and left to rest, they are cooked a second time at 160 degrees, to make them crunchy on the outside with a soft centre. If the French eat them with a fork from a plate, at a restaurant or at home, the Belgians prefer to tackle them with their fingers, at any time of the day. Across the country, there is a close-knit network of "Fritkot" stalls, seen usually on town squares or busy streets, often with long patient queues waiting. "More than 90 per cent of Belgians will stop at a stall at least once a year," said Bernard Lefevre, head of the national industry association. "To go to a Fritkot, that is the very essence of being a Belgian," says Philippe Ratzel who owns the Clementine stall, one of the most popular in Brussels. "Here, you can meet anyone — the old lady who is taking her dog out for a walk, students or even the government minister who lives nearby," Ratzel says. — AFP-Relaxnews |
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