Story and photos by Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling Gourmet TM
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All food photos are of REAL food with NO photoshop
The irrepressible and indomitable Travelling Gourmet TM joins the…
MEAT Club in CulinaryOn cooking school right in the heart of Singapore’s “Wall Street”. Cheerful and humourous Chef Instructor Daniel Teo who graduated from the Culinary Academy at Sunrice taught the students how to prepare a “MEAT CLUB 3 Course Meal” from scratch.
The first course was Classic Caesar Salad with big ‘chunky’ ueber-crispy Romaine Lettuce. I cooked the Chicken Breasts to go with it…first you sear and broil the chicken and then bake in the oven till just cooked so it is still MOIST and juicy like a pineapple!
The Mayonnaise dressing was done in the traditional way with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Egg Yolk and Anchovies aka the Ikan Bilis of the Occidentals (Ang-Mohs). Plated with hard boiled eggs sliced into half lengthwise and huge “croutons” flash fried so they are like Bruschetta instead of being hard and crisp all the way through. OMG! YUMMIE!
The main course and piece de resistance was the Filet Mignon which was amazingly tender and delicious for the majority who savoured it done to a ‘medium’ doneness that is…Always have good meat like tenderloin steak which is what Filet Mignon is, done to “medium” or “medium rare”. Put simply, that is “pink” in the middle…In New York, the “BIG Apple”, if you go to a steakhouse and ask for well-done…they will as Chef Daniel puts it, “…ask you to go out!”. If they do not, the Chef will likely get the beef that is past its expiry date or going to expire…and then ‘well-done’ and char it for you…because he knows that you do not know how to appreciate steak, and is rather offended by your request. That is life. It may seem harsh but believe me…that’s the way it is. Yes, dear food lovers, if you cannot appreciate foie gras, just buy Leberwurst. It is cheaper. The rich Port Wine sauce for the Filet Mignon was also very flavoursome! Sweet Carrots carefully peeled with 20mm of the tops left on plus piped Purple Potato Puree were the vegetable accompaniments to this macho main course. I matched a lovely Italian Amarone red wine with the marvelous MEAT! Carnivores love meat! Yum! Yum! Beautiful…like the sunrise over Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet in the Veneto region of Italy.
The Sweet Finale was New York style BAKED Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with a quenelle of Raspberry Ice Cream and Frutti di Bosco (fruits of the forest aka forest berries like raspberries, blackberries, etc.) Compote…Carefully baked in ring moulds till just lightly brown on top. Absolutely fabulous with savoury notes melding with the tangy, zesty forest berries and not too sweet which is very good. Chefs now emphasize healthy foods and too much sugar is fattening and definitely unhealthy. In the preparation, five of us took part in an impromptu and friendly competition to beat the Cream for the Ice Cream by hand with a whisk. Who would be the faster whipped cram beater??? When the cream was stiff and well done, we had to put the steel bowl over our head, and show to all and sundry that it would not fall out! I was so enthusiastic that my whisk broke and Chef Daniel got me a replacement. Despite the delay I was the Winner! 🙂 Krav Maga training is useful in more ways than one…
The Travelling Gourmet TM and Chef Daniel Teo
Asian Chefs like Chef Daniel Teo have an edge over many Western Chefs who know for the most part only herbs and spices like nutmeg, paprika, thyme, rosemary, basil and so forth…Asian Chefs know much more about ingredients and spices like Galangal, Chillies, Belachan, Star Anise, Rempah, Sambal, Cloves, Ginger, Coriander, Five Spice P0wder, Ketumbar, Turmeric, Laksa Leaves, Curry Leaves, Torch Ginger, Wasabi Root, Kaffir Lime Leaves and Kaffir Lime Zest, Lemongrass, Szechuan Pepper (actually a flower), Gula Melaka, Gula Nipah, Durian, Mangosteen, Soursop, Rambutans, Buah Langsat, Pulasan, Chin Chalok and much more! This is why so many Chefs from Europe and Australia and the USA come to the Far East to learn Asian Cooking techniques and ingredients, one example being my friend David Thompson of Long Chim in MBS…So, dear Food Lovers, do not always look up to”Mat Salleh” Chefs because our own home grown Singaporean Chefs like Olympic Gold Medallist Joseph Schooling, are also at the top of their craft capisch!
Guten Appetit und zum Wohl! 🙂
The Travelling Gourmet TM always says: Keep calm and Carry On COOKING! Wahahah! 🙂
HOW TO GET to CulinaryOn BY MRT
2. Take Exit B to One Raffles shopping mall
3. Turn right once you are on ground floor and pass between One Raffles shopping mall and 1Altitude bar & restaurant straight ahead by the left side of Battery Road.
BY CAR
2. Carpark entrance to One Raffles place parking is at Market Street and Malacca Street, car park entrance to UOB Plaza parking is at Battery Road
CulinaryOn Cooking School
The Travelling Gourmet 