Travel/Tastings

After a 2 week break, it was off to a conference in Belgium. Besides the usual conference proceedings, we had fairly decent food at our hotel. I was especially amazed by the conference dinner! We were treated to a beer tasting that spanned across a 4 course meal (excluding coffee and chocolates) and was served in a monastery.

The night was themed as a train ride across Belgium. My first stop was Antwerp where Paul Reuben's wife served us De Koninck. It ended up being my favorite because it carried a somewhat fuller-bodied flavor without much presence of alcohol; it almost resembled an ale. My next stop was Leuven where we were served Stella Artois by Sebastien Artois himself, the master brewer the beer was named after. As this was a lager, I wasn't particularly fond of it. Third was Brussels with the peculiar Oude Gueuze that was nicknamed "Brussels Champagne." The beer was created by mixing a young and an old lambic beer and allowed to ferment a second time. As the yeast must remain alive for the fermentation, the beer was not pasteurised. The resulting flavor was sour and fruity which I found resembled grapefruit--sour and bitter. Fourth was Floreffe with the famous Trappiste, a high alcohol content (ranging from 9-13%) beer brewed in the monastery. It had the full-bodied flavor of an ale but with a stronger alcoholic taste and a pinch of sweetness. Last was Oostende (can't completely recall beer name...Rodenbacher??) with a beer that tasted sour and sweet, almost like lemonade to many people. We were also given a piece of chocolate at each station with some relation to the location. Antwerp had the hand, Leuven a printed university student, Brussels a strawberry marzipan, Floreffe a flower bud, and Oostende a praline seashell.

But amazingly, alcohol did not stop at the beers as we were served champagne, white wine, and red wine with the various courses!

The food itself was very delicately prepared with subtle and intricately balanced flavors. The starters resembled finger foods that were ingeniously served in soup spoons, except for a soup that was served in a shot glass. The first collection had foie gras, ardennes pâté, and salmon. I had the pâté, which was served as a ball rolled in sesame seeds and flavored with Belgian beer; light, smooth, and gentle, there was practically no indication of the characteristic pâté flavor. The second had risotto, chicory clam soup, and a salmon sandwich; I went for the soup, which tasted like a light chowder. The second course was fish cooked en papillote with white wine, onions, bacon, and sun-dried tomatoes. I was quite amused at the clear plastic they used rather than parchment or aluminium; definitely more aesthetically pleasing, but safety??? The main was roast beef served over thin slices of apple topped with a sweet tangy sauce; accompanying were a fried mashed potato, mashed celeriac, and endive. The mashed celeriac was amazingly creamy, buttery, and smooth. For dessert, we had lavender-flavored panna cotta with an orange jelly base and ice cream.

Overall, the meal was incredibly delicious and fantastic. This is exactly how I hope to cook! Delicately and intricately with flavors that melt together and create harmony in the mouth; where cooking becomes an art in everything from the texture to flavor to presentation.

Beer chocolate

Fish en papillote

Roast beef main

Dessert

Brussels chocolate haven

1. Dumon (located only in Bruges and highly recommended by guides): The textural contrast between the shell and filling was too big; the flavor did not compensate. There were some interesting flavors (lavender, jasmin, chili lemon, etc), and the ganach filling was the solid type rather than the semi-translucent creamy type that I tend to associate with lower grade chocolate.
2. Planète Chocolat (located in Brussels and offers a tour + tasting every Sat at 4pm): Same texture and flavor problem. Worse, it was the semi-translucent creamy filling with most chocolates dissipating into a sugary confection
3. Chocopolis(Brussels): Same texture and flavor problem; better than Planète Chocolat; flavor a bit light; nothing particularly special
4. Leonidas: If the mint chocolate sample was representative of the rest, then it failed quite miserably as the basic shell chocolate tasted of high sugar content rather than cacao solids.
5. Wittamer (also sells decadent-looking desserts and pastries): More intricate and delicate in appearance, but still similar texture and flavor problem. I even found some with the semi-translucent filling. There were some interesting flavors, but some were too light (cannelle) while others were overpowering (sencha).
6. Pierre Marcolini (also sells limited fancy desserts with an extremely high class storefront): Very intricate and delicate in appearance. Again, texture and flavor problem. BUT, the flavor was much more pronounced, although not enough to compensate the textural contrast. Still, they win for flavor.
7. Neuhaus: If their Noix Doble represented all their pralines, it wins for the texture and flavor complement. The shell had the characteristic pronounced crunch, but it was somewhat mellowed by the thickness of the shell and cruchiness of nuts in the filling. The caramelisation of the nuts enhanced the nutty flavor that matched the textural contrast. Plus, the extra layer of shell chocolate in the middle masked the semi-soft ganache. The Criollo from the ganache collection had the same texture problem, while the truffle seemed a tad bit too hard.
   

Essentially, Pierre Marcolini won for the flavor but Neuhaus garnered the best for its overall texture and flavor complement. Still, none were "great."

Dumon store front

So then, what AM I looking for? Well, after much thought, I've tentatively concluded that, for me, a filled chocolate ("bon-bon") should have a thick enough shell to mellow the sharp crunch of a thin shell, and the texture between the shell and filling and flavor needs to complement rather than emphasize the differences. For example, biting into a ganache bon-bon would first yield a low frequency and gentle "thump" before encountering a creamy smooth ganache and ending with a noticeable release of flavors. It is not the higher frequency "crunch" that disintegrates the whole shell and distinctly leads to a softer ganache with either just a hint or a sensory overload of flavor. Summed up, it's a flavor-infused chocolate versus shell + ganache + flavor...

Too high an expectation? Yes. But it's because Belgium was famous for it's chocolate that I assumed I could make such a high expectation. Even so, will I ever find one that matches my ideal bon-bon? We shall see...

Wittamer

Pierre Marcolini

Planète Chocolat

Chocolate Tasting

This weekend, I paid a visit to Borough Market in London. I learned of it through my housemate and was very intrigued by the apparent size and friendly food tastings. Indeed, it was fairly big (although my housemate's description and the online map gave the impression that it would be bigger), and the mouth-watering smell of savoury food struck you the moment you entered. There were countless stalls alternating between oils and spices, jams/chutneys, cheeses, pastries, prepared on-the-spot savouries, candy, chocolates, fresh and cured meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables, bread, antipasti, beverages, and flowers. And the throng of people (since it was a Saturday) made it even more lively although difficult to maneuver.

One stall had the most interesting and extremely tasty product: mushroom pâté. That was all that it sold and all that it needed to sell. Intrigued by the oddity and the busy transactions, my friend and I took a tasting. The pate was a wonderful meld of cheese, and herb/spice flavourings that brought a creamy smoothness and mild flavour to the mouth. None of the ingredients dominated the other but played in harmony. The name "pate" conjured up a liver and meaty taste, but there was barely any resemblance. Instead, it was the flavour of grassy fields toned down by the curd cheese and breadcrumbs. Needless to say, we bought a tub home and savoured it with fresh home-baked whole wheat bread! Delish!!

This past weekend, I visited my good friend in the Netherlands (specifically, Leiden, but we also visited Delft, the Hague, and Amsterdam). Knowing me, she made sure I tried as much Dutch local fare as I could possibly stomach over my three day visit; and it was quite an enjoyable experience! (I could only wish that I had a bottomless pit stomach capacity...)

Dutch fried food

In the spirit of food, let's document this like a multi-course menu:

Herring and onions in front of fish stand

As with many (if not all) Western cultures, we have the "tasty" fried foods: bitterballen (fried meatball with a moist center), kaassouffle, bamiblok, and many others. The kaassouffle is incredibly tasty with the melted young cheese oozing with every bite (more tasty than the stringy fried mozzarrella sticks). Comically, the bamiblok, a fried shell encasing bami goreng, is used to describe a chunky mobile phone.

Next is the Dutch delicacy raw herrings with raw onions. It may sound disgusting, but it is absolutely DELICIOUS!! The herrings are fresh caught and preserved in their own pancreatic juices; they are deheaded and deboned on the spot. I was a little hesitant at first as I grabbed the fish by its slimy tail and sprinkled the diced raw onions over the small corpse. It was a bit challenging, too, as I tried to lift the fish over my open mouth without dropping too many of the diced onions. But after the first bite, I was savouring the flavour of fresh fish (essentially, there was almost no taste of "fish") and the texture of tenderized flesh (from the digestive enzymes). It was like sashimi, but ever so better!

Cheese fondue

For our dinners, we cooked 2 traditional Dutch meals -- cheese fondue and pancakes. The cheese fondue was a little different from the Swiss as we used melted young Dutch cheese and Danish blue emulsified with white wine. The pancakes were a little like crepes but thicker and with the ingredients cooked with the batter. We had the traditional flavours of bacon with cheese and apple with raisin and the non-traditional banana with chocolate as dessert.

Dutch apple pie

The Dutch apple pie (appeltaart) was as tasty as the French tarte tartin but more "bready/cakey." Fresh apples mixed with sultanas and cinnamon were strewn across a thicker base of moist shortcake/crumble texture with a flavour that is reminescent of a spicy apple cake.

Dried fruits, fresh milled wholemeal flour, spekken, drop

And of course, we cannot finish without the cheese. Besides the aforementioned Dutch young and old cheese is the Dutch young with cumin. The flavours meld together wonderfully with the cumin seeds adding a chewy grainy texture. And it is amazing seeing the collection of Dutch cheeses wrapped in red wax strewn across the backs of the cheese stalls in the market. (Additionally, my friend's creation of Dutch raisin bread with Brie resembles a luxurious version of bread with soft butter.)

However, all this food still does not cover all that I tried in the Netherlands: American pepper filet (minced meat spread), drop (licorice candy), spekken (marshmallow that's fluffier and chewier but not as sweet), stroopwafel (caramel sandwiched between thin wafers), appeltaart-flavoured yoghurt, rich creamy orange yoghurt, Puccini chocolates, etc. Overall, I have to say that this was yet another gastronomical successful and filling adventure! And last, but not least, the Netherlands, with its canals, red brick roads and buildings, squares, outdoor seatings, and small cities, is quaint, gentle, and relaxing. I love it all!!

I just got back from visiting my Dutch friend in the Netherlands, and I was reminded (as well as enlightened) on a few things cheese-related that has prompted me to provide corrections to my previous blog on cheese.

Firstly, what we know as Gouda cheese is actually just Dutch cheese. It is called either "Young" or "Old" in the Netherlands. Furthermore, Gouda cheese is not actually produced in the city Gouda; historically, the cheese was weighed and traded there, but it's produced in the regions around the city.

Secondly, who would have thought my friend is from the area that produces Lindberger cheese?! I did get a chance to taste it, but it wasn't a strong one. My cheese tolerance has definitely changed, as I found it acceptable. It seemed to taste a little smoky although no smoking is involved at all.

As for all my food escapades in the Netherlands: TO BE CONTINUED...