MINISTER for Home Affairs & Trade & Industry, Mr. S. Iswaran, at the Opening Ceremony of the 18th FHA and WSA at Singapore Expo on 17 April, 2012, said,”Singapore welcomed 13.2 million tourists in 2011, setting a new record in tourism arrivals. Our tourism receipts have almost doubled from S$12.6 billion in 2009 to S$22.2 billion in 2011. In tandem with this growth, both the food manufacturing and food services sectors have performed well. In 2010, the food manufacturing sector saw its output grow by 8.2% from 2009 to over $7.3 billion. In the same year, the food services sector’s total operating receipts also increased by 10.6% to S$6.2 billion.”

This year’s FHA is the largest event of its kind in Asia! It has expanded to a record-breaking 92,000 m2, spanning across 9 halls and the new Max Atria- a 12% growth compared to its previous edition in 2010.

“Chefs” playing frying pans & “Bartenders” tossing ‘Molotov cocktails’ at the Opening Ceremony

Bernardaud & Christofle had a very beautiful display of its premium porcelain ware and silverware, which is used by top chefs like mon ami, 3-Michelin Star Masterchef Guy Savoy. I also admired the one of a kind Ganesh, the Hindu elephant God in solid silver.

At the Carraro (since 1927) from Venice coffee stand, I savoured excellent cappuccino with a heart on top made by the Italian Barista. It brought happy memories of Venezia and the Caffe Florian.

At the Austrian Pavillion, I tasted Tuerk wines made with the Gruener Veltliner grape from Austria’s Kremstal region. Beautifully crisp white wines with a pleasing minerality. Sebastian explained to me in German all about Tuerk wines.

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At the French Pavillion, I tasted a robust Grenache from Chateau Belvize in the Minervois region, and also their Minervois AOC red wine of Grenache, Shiraz and Carignan. I could also taste the distinctive astringent aftertaste of the Grenache in the Minervois blend.

With Fernando Truyols, who hails from the Balearic island of Majorca, of Chateau Belvize.

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I ran into an old friend, Claude Fournier, of Fournier Pere & Fils winery, who I last saw when I visited his winery in the Loire Valley some years ago. That was when I visited all the best wineries of the Loire Valley from Sancerre in the east all the way to Nantes on the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Claude makes the most crisp and mouthwatering Sauvignon Blanc in the Old World style, very different from the New Zealand version. I like the Fournier Grand Fume 2007 with its green capsicum and herbaceous notes so very, very unlike the sometimes over exuberant New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.

At the Ecuador pavillion, I munched some excellent snacks like Garlic Plaintain, which are big green bananas and hot salsa and other sauces. The Mexico pavillion featured a sugar substitute which is sugar free and has a low Glycaemic Index made from the Blue Agave plant. My friend, Antonio, the Mexican Ambassador was very enthusiastic about this new healthy product.

In an exclusive interview with friendly Jeff M. White, Secretary of Agriculture of the State of New Mexico in USA, Jeff told me, “We grow a lot of pecans, pistachios and chillies in New Mexico, and now we are exporting our pecans to China. They make Chinese New Year cookies with our pecans! We are one of the top 3 producers of pecans in the USA. We also grow Cayenne pepper used in hot sauce, paprika and long green and red chillies. For milk production we are number 9 in the USA.”

The Travelling Gourmet & David Lucero, Division Director NMDA (on the left) and Jeff M. White, Secretary of Agriculture, State of New Mexico (on the right)

There’s never a dull moment in FHA 2012…Enjoy {:-)