The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| Jack Daniel’s creates special whiskey for Frank Sinatra Posted: 23 Oct 2012 10:46 PM PDT CANNES, France, Oct 24 — Whiskey-maker Jack Daniel's has created a special tribute bottle for one the brand's biggest fans, the late Ol' Blue Eyes himself, who often referred to his favourite spirit as the 'Nectar of the Gods'.  Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select. — AFP/Relaxnews Throughout his stage career from the 1950s to the 1990s, one of Sinatra's signature gestures was to offer a toast to his audience with a glass of Jack Daniel's in his hand. The one-litre bottle is presented in a specially designed gift box and comes with a book chronicling the crooner's loyalty to the brand. The premium bottle will be sold at duty free outlets around the world. Meanwhile, Sinatra joins a long list of celebrity-endorsed liquors and spirits. Country crooning equivalent Willie Nelson had penned a song after his favourite Kentucky spirit Old Whiskey River Bourbon and has lent his name behind the brand. Other celebrities who endorse spirits and liquors include everyone from Justin Timberlake to hip hop artists Sean Combs AKA Diddy and Ludacris and fashion designer Roberto Cavalli. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Singapore chef André Chiang talks culinary creativity and plagiarism Posted: 23 Oct 2012 08:56 PM PDT SINGAPORE, Oct 24 — Critically acclaimed Taiwanese chef André Chiang has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top since opening his Mediterranean-fusion Restaurant André in Singapore in 2010. As part of our Relaxviews series in which we ask players at the top of their game to share their opinions on the goings-on in their industries, we ask Chiang about accusations of culinary plagiarism within an increasingly shrinking and viral culinary community.  André Chiang of Restaurant André in Singapore. — AFP/Relaxnews Right now, for instance, the Singapore chef of Restaurant André is thumbing through an art book that chronicles the paintings found inside the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. It was while flipping through the collection that his eye stopped at Edouard Manet's "Luncheon on the grass", a painting that inspired the menu for a pop-up dinner he hosted in Taiwan recently. Culinary plaigarism We're on the subject of culinary creativity, a concept that has become muddied by accusations of culinary plagiarism in the food world. Increasingly influential New York chef David Chang of the Momofuku empire, for instance, has taken to Twitter in recent months to air out his beef with fellow chefs and restaurants who fail to give credit where, he feels, credit is due. "[C]ooks have an amazing ability to convince themselves of culinary innovation when they knowingly cribbed it from someone else #pleasefootnote," he tweeted in July. At the same time, however, no longer are chefs jealously guarding their trade culinary secrets as was the case among the old guard of chefs. Instead, the brigade of dynamic, trailblazing chefs like Chang, René Redzepi, Massimo Bottura and Inaki Aizpitarte have struck a budding bromance in which they share their ideas and tips — a dynamic, however, which can invariably lead to riffing off each other's ideas, even if unintentionally. 'Creativity is about relevance and experience' For Singaporean chef Chiang, however, creativity doesn't necessarily mean coming up with something new. For him, it's simply about creating a "memorable experience." "The intention is to create something relevant," he said. "It's not necessarily a new technique, or a new dish…I always believed that the classics are the tomorrow of innovation." Take for example, his take on the Snickers candy bar, what he calls the perfect "unbeatable" combination of flavours. Since 2007, Chiang has used the flavours of nougat, caramel, peanuts, chocolate to create a new dessert. His last incarnation was a plate that liquefied, crystallised and dehydrated the flavours of the classic candy bar, turning the confectionery into a fine dining experience. While you can't reinvent the wheel, you can certainly question and challenge conventions, he adds. One of the reasons Chiang said he avoids reading cookbooks is to avoid being bound by rules, guidelines and culinary dogma. Why, for example, are smoked salmon and dill supposed to be a perfect match? Says who, he wonders. How Chiang stays outside the box Instead, in Chiang's kitchen there is no such thing as the culinary equivalent of conventional wisdom, i.e. food pairings. That's why Chiang's personal library is lined with fashion and design magazines, as well as art books, sources of inspiration that tap into other disciplines for ideas. To bring Manet's Luncheon on the grass painting to edible life, Chiang created a menu that evoked details of the tableau. A basket of pears, prunes and bread inspired his triple-textured dessert, while a carefully hidden reference to Brittany inspired dishes like lobster, mussels and scallops. Says Chiang: "Inspiration is all around us." With accolades that include titles like "One of the World's Best Young Chefs" by Wallpaper magazine, inclusion in the list of "10 Restaurants Worth a Plane Ride" by The New York Times, and Best New Restaurant 2011 Singapore, as deemed by Tatler Asia, Chiang has quickly cemented his reputation as a culinary force to watch. — AFP/Relaxnews |
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Awal hari ini, bekas menteri kabinet Tan Sri Sanusi Junid berkata reformasi perbankan Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad diilhamkan oleh polisi lalu negara Jerman untuk mengekang pengaruh kewangan Yahudi bagi membantu orang Melayu tetapi ia kemudiannya digagalkan oleh Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, kata hari ini.
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