SPICE it up Singapore!
By Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling GourmetTM
Story & photos copyright The Travelling GourmetTM
The irrepressible Travelling Gourmet tells you all about the STB’s dynamic initiative to make our ‘Makan’…
MORE famous in the world! SPICE is a clever acronym for Singapore International Culinary Exchange. SPICE also comprises a culinary immersion programme called Global Chef Exchange.
To my mind, this is one of the Singapore Tourism Board’s best projects in 2011 & 2012, which simultaneously showcasedSingapore’s multi-cultural cuisine around the world fromParis toMoscow andLondon, and brought famous Chefs from around the world to learn all aboutSingapore’s cuisine. The cute pop-up kitchen concept called Singapore Takeout winged over 60,000 kilometers and nine cities in four continents! My good friend and one of Singapore’s most talented Chefs, Andre Chiang of Restaurant Andre, enthused, “Many Parisians heard about me from my participation in the Singapore Takeout, and even came all the way here to dine at my restaurant!”
Primarily due to SPICE, contemporary Singapore dishes will be available in restaurants worldwide. Hotel chains like Taj Mahal Place, Park Hotels, ITC Hotels and Leela Kempinski Gurgaon have already incorporated Singapore-themed dishes in their menus. China Southern Airlines is planning to do the same.
“SPICE Girl” Aw Kah Peng of the STB waxing lyrical about Singapore cuisine! (She loves wine too)
“SPICE Girl” Aw Kah Peng, Chief Executive of the STB explained, “SPICE has indeed raised the visibility ofSingapore’s dynamic dining scene on the global front. Through this programme, there was an active exchange of ideas among the world’s best culinary minds and meaningful collaboration, resulting in business opportunities being created for the industry.”
Sexy SPICE Showcase!
To celebrate the year long integrated international culinary programme, SPICE Showcase was held on 27 March, 2012 at Theatreworks on Mohamed Sultan Road. Many participating Chefs were invited to re-create and showcase the modern Singapore dishes they had presented to enthusiastic audiences at the many Singapore Take Out cities. The nine Singapore Take Out cities were Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Moscow, New York, Paris, Shanghai and Sydney. Products by leadingSingapore food manufacturer Seng Hua Hng Foodstuff who makes Camel Nuts (I love to munch their Abalone Macadamias while watching “Burn Notice”) were also on display.
Plating with Andre!
Being a trained Chef myself by way of the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), Le Cordon Bleu & Le Notre, I was most delighted to help my pal Chef Andre Chiang plate his Foie Gras Mousse with black Perigord Truffle and wild mushrooms. Andre, of Restaurant Andre has deservedly just won the World Gourmet Summit 2012 “Chef of the Year” Award! Lightly flamed on top with a blowtorch, then layered with an a la minute Truffle Sauce…followed by exactly TWO drops of Truffle oil, 8 drops of Extra Virgin Olive oil and chives brunoise. A positively orgasmic dish to be slowly savoured…like a warm and voluptuous woman.
The Travelling Gourmet & Chef Andre Chiang
Another friend, pretty & petite Chef Janice Wong of 2am Dessert Bar, better known for her delectable desserts, made Lemongrass infused Laksa Dumplings made with tiger prawn, noodles and garnished with a “Paper Drum” on which was a poem from “Life in the woods” by Henry David Thoreau. A very good match with mouth watering gooseberry and lime flavours of Jazz Sauvignon Blanc 2010 fromMarlborough inNew Zealand.
Chef Janice Wong and Spice Girl Aw Kah Peng
Lemongrass Infused Laksa Dumplings sans sauce. Note the poem on edible “parchment”
Cheerful Chef Armin Leitgeb made Chilli Crab, Chicken Satay and Fish Head Curry in little crispy cones like ice cream cones made from wantan skin. Guten Appetit!
Chilli Crab “Reconstructed”
From London, energetic Chef Peter Gordon presented Singapore inspired Crunchy Deep Fried Pork Belly & Peanuts with Rice, Cucumber and tangy Chilli Roasted Pineapple. The piquant pineapple enhanced the flavour of the meat.
Chef Peter Gordon & The Travelling Gourmet
Candlenut Kitchen’s Chef Malcolm Lee made 48 Hour Short Rib Buah Keluak. This is a Nyonya dish for the 21st Century but you do not get the supreme pleasure of digging out the morsels of Buah Keluak and minced pork from the nut. The tender meat cooked ‘sous vide’ style at 60C was caressed with luscious & velvetymidnight black aromatic Buah Keluak sauce. This went down a treat with red fruit flavoured Jazz Pinot Noir 2010.
Other dishes included Crispy Lamb Shortribs by Chef Daniel Sia, Foie Gras Apple with Granny Smith Apples by Chef Ryan Clift, Roti Jalal with Prawn Curry by Chef Benjamin Seck and affable Chef Haikal Johari, our Kampong Boy’s ‘molecular gastronomy’ dessert called “Kopi-O”.
As Henry David Thoreau puts it, “…or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.”
As The Travelling Gourmet I always say: You have to eat well to live well. ENJOY! {:-)
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Singapore Take Out World Tour
London: 9 Jun – 11 Jun 2011
Janice working hard in London using a Revol plate…
Paris: 30 Jun – 2 Jul 2011
Singapore Take Out in Paris
Moscow: 15 – 17 Jul 2011
New York: 16 – 18 Sep 2011
Hong Kong: 10 – 12 Nov 2011
Shanghai: 1 – 3 Dec 2011
Delhi: 13 – 15 Jan 2012
Dubai: 18 – 20 Feb 2012
Sydney: 30 Mar – 1 Apr 2012
The Travelling Gourmet 