The Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF) 2010 Gala Launch @ Sunway Convention Centre

from thenomadGourmand by rebeccasaw

More than 2000 of the country’s who’s and who’s gathered in the Grand Ballroom of Sunway Convention Centre last night for the Gala Launch of one of Malaysia’s top culinary event – The Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF) .

An annual event, which started from a humble beginning of a dozen establishments a decade ago now has more than 70 fine dining restaurants in the country; & we see the numbers growing yearly.

For 2010, MIGF showcases 30 top fine dining restaurants taking part in the month long (1st – 30th Oct 2010) festival themed “Magical Chefs”.

Below are the list of 30 restaurants that we can look forward to their gastronomical MIGF menu this year:

• Al – Amar – Pavillion KL
• Bunga Emas & L’ Heritage - Royal Chulan Hotel
• Celadon - Pavilion KL
• Chalet - Equatorial KL
• China Treasures - Sime Darby Convention Centre
• Chynna, Iketeru & Senses - Hilton KL
• Makan Kitchen – DoubleTree by Hilton KL
• Lai Po Heen & Mandarin Grill – Mandarin Oriental
• Lafite, Shang Palace & Zipangu - Shangri -La KL
• Dynasty, Med @Marche – Live, Sagano - Renaissance KL
• Villa Danieli – Sheraton Imperial KL
• Fu-Rin – Holiday Inn Glenmarie KL
• Zing - Grand Millennium KL
• The Club – The Saujana KL
• Neo Tamarind -Jalan Sultan Ismail, opposite KL Life Centre
• High Tide – Menara Taipan, Jalan
• Nerovivo - Jalan Bukit Ceylon, KL
• Vansh - Starhill, Jalan Bukit Bintang KL
• The Olive - Maxim Genting
• Seasonal Tastes – The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa
• The Pomelo – The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat.

Each of these 30 restaurants showcases selected dishes from their specially crafted MIGF menu for the guests to sample yesterday. The crowd that jostled for the food makes you forget that this is a posh event. Well, I guess that’s cos the food must be really good!

One particular station had a pole dancer gyrating the whole night. I wasn’t too sure the crowd at the station is mesmerized by the food or the dancer.

Below:

Deputy Minister of Tourism, YB Datuk James Dawos Mamit & Organising Chairman YBhg Dato’ Steve Day during the officiating ceremony, surrounded by spontaneous Festival Master Chefs in an ‘orchestra’ of pots & pans in unison with a Latin band.

So get your wallets ready, check your calendar & make a date with one of the restaurants this coming October!

Passionfruit meringues at Bourke Street Bakery

from The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry (a Sydney food blog) by leetranlam

Even though the warmer spring weather we're hoping for seems to be running behind schedule (like a band going through a spectacularly long sound-check), there's one consolation – the Passionfruit Meringues ($5) at Bourke Street Bakery. These started to appear, about a month or so ago, in the counter displays of the Marrickville branch. The plan was: they would later join the line-up at the other stores if they became popular. Luckily, the pastries passed the audience awareness test and you don't have to make the pilgrimage to Marrickville if there's a closer Bourke Street Bakery to you.



The Italian meringue topping flares up like a comet-tail – lighter than light and all soft, aerated ruffles. Bringing it down to gravity is the zippy passionfruit bavarois: a fruity fizz, a pastry shell that crumbles perfectly on bite, the easy landing you're after. If spring would play temperature catch-up with the actual calendar, this could be my favourite flavour of the season.

PS This also appears in the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook, if you feel like getting out your sugar thermometer and measuring cups.

Bourke Street Bakery: 474 Gardeners Road, Alexandria NSW (02) 8339 1001; 633 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW (02) 9699 1011; 2 Mitchell St, Marrickville NSW (02) 9569 3225.