Tipple Topple (Part 4)
3 more mains to go!
FRANK MEIER’S 1920 TOMATO COCKTAIL
Spiced tomato sphere, vinegar paper. The inspiration behind the legendary bloody mary of harry’s bar, paris.
This was an interesting drink to look at. Served with the spiced tomato sphere, which is covered with the tomato cocktail before your eyes, you finish the drink and pop the tomato! Taste? It’s a Bloody Mary, basically.
Interestingly, Frank Meier was apparently a famous bartender in the Paris Ritz who also produced a legendary book, the Artistry in Mixing Drinks (1936)
The Tomato Cocktail was paired with the LOBSTER PEA
Paella stock, garden peas, fried basil
This was a tasty and relatively normal looking and tasting dish. You can’t really go wrong with lobster. The interesting part is that the lobster wasn’t the star of the dish. The star is, surprisingly, garden peas. The peas were firm and sweet, and not the usually mushy sort. It was somewhat different to have the humble peas as a counterpoint to the decidedly decadent lobster. Covering the peas was a transparent film which we couldn’t figure out at all. The fried basil was a nod to the Thai practice of having deep fried basil leaves in their peasant dishes (fried basil leaves with pork and century eggs! Does anyone know where to get this in Singapore?)
I’m not too sure what’s the connection with the tomato cocktail, the only thing I can think of is that the star in both are humble fruits/vegetables.
VEGETABLE GARDEN
Porcini soil, baby borage
This was by far the worst dish of the night. I felt like a rabbit eating this. Miscellaneous greens including some thin long slices of an unidentified white fruit or tuber, mushrooms, radish were piled in a heap. They were absolutely tasteless save for the ‘green’ taste of raw vegetables, and a medicinal tinge. I think they were boiled or cooked in a similar process. Yech. What’s borage anyway? Always thought it was some flower that produced non too impressive honey.
It did not help that the porcini soil looked like, well, soil. Ok I stand corrected. I did not feel like a rabbit. More like a hare. munching on soil and wild greens.
BAX BEET PINOT, 2008
Beetroot, Italian bitters, liquers. A distant relative of the “sour” family of mixed drinks.
An absolutely horrible drink. There is no pinot whatsoever in this. It just happens to look a little like pinot. Medicinal in taste just like the vegetable garden.
PORK BELLY SCALLOPS
Braised walnuts, grapes, spiced pumpkin
This was quite tasty. The pork belly seems to be roasted the Chinese way, with nice sweet and moist layers of sweet pork between the layers of fat. Interestingly the crackling was removed from the pork, and compressed into a thin crispy layer. I didn’t really care for the pumpkin mash at the bottom, but the grape was an interesting combination and cut through the richness of the pork. Good effort.
DUGAL, 2006
Cabernet sauvignon, Verona, italy
Sorry, once again no pix. A rather forgettable drink.
On to the desserts!
FRANK MEIER’S 1920 TOMATO COCKTAIL
Spiced tomato sphere, vinegar paper. The inspiration behind the legendary bloody mary of harry’s bar, paris.
This was an interesting drink to look at. Served with the spiced tomato sphere, which is covered with the tomato cocktail before your eyes, you finish the drink and pop the tomato! Taste? It’s a Bloody Mary, basically.
Interestingly, Frank Meier was apparently a famous bartender in the Paris Ritz who also produced a legendary book, the Artistry in Mixing Drinks (1936)
The Tomato Cocktail was paired with the LOBSTER PEA
Paella stock, garden peas, fried basil
This was a tasty and relatively normal looking and tasting dish. You can’t really go wrong with lobster. The interesting part is that the lobster wasn’t the star of the dish. The star is, surprisingly, garden peas. The peas were firm and sweet, and not the usually mushy sort. It was somewhat different to have the humble peas as a counterpoint to the decidedly decadent lobster. Covering the peas was a transparent film which we couldn’t figure out at all. The fried basil was a nod to the Thai practice of having deep fried basil leaves in their peasant dishes (fried basil leaves with pork and century eggs! Does anyone know where to get this in Singapore?)
I’m not too sure what’s the connection with the tomato cocktail, the only thing I can think of is that the star in both are humble fruits/vegetables.
VEGETABLE GARDEN
Porcini soil, baby borage
This was by far the worst dish of the night. I felt like a rabbit eating this. Miscellaneous greens including some thin long slices of an unidentified white fruit or tuber, mushrooms, radish were piled in a heap. They were absolutely tasteless save for the ‘green’ taste of raw vegetables, and a medicinal tinge. I think they were boiled or cooked in a similar process. Yech. What’s borage anyway? Always thought it was some flower that produced non too impressive honey.
It did not help that the porcini soil looked like, well, soil. Ok I stand corrected. I did not feel like a rabbit. More like a hare. munching on soil and wild greens.
BAX BEET PINOT, 2008
Beetroot, Italian bitters, liquers. A distant relative of the “sour” family of mixed drinks.
An absolutely horrible drink. There is no pinot whatsoever in this. It just happens to look a little like pinot. Medicinal in taste just like the vegetable garden.
PORK BELLY SCALLOPS
Braised walnuts, grapes, spiced pumpkin
This was quite tasty. The pork belly seems to be roasted the Chinese way, with nice sweet and moist layers of sweet pork between the layers of fat. Interestingly the crackling was removed from the pork, and compressed into a thin crispy layer. I didn’t really care for the pumpkin mash at the bottom, but the grape was an interesting combination and cut through the richness of the pork. Good effort.
DUGAL, 2006
Cabernet sauvignon, Verona, italy
Sorry, once again no pix. A rather forgettable drink.
On to the desserts!