Flavours Of Chile

Chile, to hear how its said, click HERE. Although phonetically, it seems to be spelt as chill lee, actually its more like how a Singaporean would say, chill. ie, Chill Leh....

Fascinating doesn't even begin to describe this country. 4300 km long, (vs our little peninsula here which is 740km from north to south...lets see, that's around 6 times longer! Wow, talk about length!), probably stretching over several climate types, thus having the best of all worlds, sea, snow, desert even, (the world's driest desert is in Chile, for those of you who failed your geography), the ATACAMA desert. Fortunately, this was not a geography lesson or a test, but a chance to savour the culinary delights of this wonderful country. With such diverse range in climate, they probably have everything from durian to penguins.

It was a lovely evening soiree, at the Westin Kuala Lumpur, hosted by ProChile and the Embassy of Chile in Malaysia. ProChile(Chilean Export Promotion Bureau) is a trade delegation of 15 Chilean firms which hopes to establish business relations with Malaysian companies. The video presentation, which was short and sweet, tantalized our mental palates, and really puts Chile on the list of MUST GO TO destinations. Hopefully air travel between here and there will be be more affordable.

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While waiting for dinner, we mingled around and sipped a lovely cocktail that tasted like a fizzy margarita, very lethal.

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We were all seated amongst familiar faces in the media table.

While texting on the phone with a friend, he asked me, so, what is the national dish of Chile? Judging by the way the women on the table were going ga-ga when he appeared on screen, I'd say the national dish is Chilean Chef Carlo von Mhlenbrock .

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Ruggedly handsome, some described him as a cross between Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp. His screen persona was riveting, as he explained to us in that exotic Chilean accent the dishes that were being prepared for the night.

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For starters, we had cheese turnover with merken seasoning, sopaipillas with Chilean avocado dip and Chilean croaker and clam tartare. Anticipating many other culinary delights to come, we didn't want to fill ourselves with carbo, although this oven baked tortilla bread with Chilean tomato dip was absolutely delicious. (pic above).

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Nothing like a good buz from a Vina Sa! nta Caro lina Savignon Blanc. Crisp and refreshing, and totally suitable with the next course.

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Quinoa Timbale with avocado and Chilean King Crab. I told you, they have all KINDS of produce! The king crab was sweet and succulent, similar to the alaskan and hokkaido king crab, and from equally cold waters I'm sure. The crunch from the quinoa, the tangy sauce, the chewiness of the crab was a real treat to the senses.

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We had on our table celebrity bloggers.

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Pablo Neruda's Conger Eel Chowder. I don;t know what I feel about eel, generally, but this eel, wow! Tastes like scallop. And the chowder, a clear broth, together with the seafood in the bowl, was simply sublime. There was a wholesome heartiness about this dish, and considering it was a banquet hall, great care had been taken to ensure none of the seafood was overcooked etc.

The term Conger eel suddenly reminds me of the song, CONGA....
Come on, shake your body baby,do the Conger
I know you can't control yourself any longer


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Now, what sets HER apart from your regular bloggers who blind their fellow diners with the flashes, and keep the table waiting while every dish is photographed, is this girl SKETCHES all the pictures of her food! How remarkable is that!

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Smoked Salmon & mussels with coriander spiced barley. Again, I am not a fan of cooked salmon, but this was done to perfection, and honestly, hats off to the Westin crew for being able to pull this off on such a large scale. A slight local twist with our local beansprouts as a garnish. The mussels were fresh, and juicy. The fish was served with a Vina Cono Sur Pinot Noir.

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Photobucket< br>I guess there is no shame in taking pictures with celebrities.


For dessert, southern Chile berries sorbet with fresh fruit, a most refreshing end to a lovely meal. The tangy sorbet with those two biscuits that look like macarons, but are not.

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Not all men are created equal, some got their desserts with that crown of caramelized sugar threads.
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With the dessert, a dessert wine called Late Harvest.

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This sketch from Haze subsequently earned her a mention in the CHILEAN newspapers as well! Sigh, such talent.

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Everyone wants a piece of the Chef.

Special thank you to Marian Eu for inviting me for this lovely event.

Read CIKI's post on this HERE.

Simply decadent @ Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, The Gardens Residences, Kuala Lumpur

If there was a Christmas Wonderland for gourmets in KL, it would be Sage.

As we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by Christmas decoration at the entrance and more Christmas trees inside. The only thing missing was Chef Daniel in a Santa suit.. just kidding :P

The theme for lunch at Sage this week was simplicity. Everything we had looked simple but was definitely impressive in terms of taste and texture.


My Christmas model

Christmas Wonderland for Gourmets


Christmas tree


Red


Some Christmas "non-alcoholic" spirit


For starters, Hubby had the Honey Shyu Glazed Anagowith F! oie Gras Salad and Arima Sansho Pepper. Anago is a type of saltwater eel, here it has been coated with some batter and fried. The batter gives this dish a very nice crispy texture since the foie and anago itself are quite soft in texture.




I had the Confit of Sea Scallop with Truffle Cream and Fresh Chive. This dish looks really simple, but believe it, it's absolutely delicious. The scallop was HUGE, fresh, barely seared so the texture was bouncy and eaten with the white truffle cream was just pure decadence. I loveeeeee!



We both had the Sous Vide of Wagyu Beef Cheek with Pane Eringi mushroom and Sherry wine sauce. Hubby had something similar in the past before here at Sage, it definitely doesn't look like much but the beef cheek was "cooked" til tender. The sweet sherry sauce went very well with the beef cheek.



Dessert was Warm Dark Chocolate Galette with Caramelised Banana and Milk Ice Cream. I know some of you must be thinking chocolate cake is so boring... but this was one of the best desserts we've had in Sage for a while. The galette was perfection, a slight crusty exterior with a warm oozy chocolate centre and the ice cream was creamy and milky. Perfect end to our lunch, I would say.




So if you've been contemplating whether to go for lunch at Sage this week, contemplate no more and GO.

Full set of photos can be viewed here.

For their weekly lunch menu, click here. Full a la carte menu here.

Opening hours: Lunch:Monda! y to Fri day 12.00pm to 2.00pm; Dinner:Monday to Saturday 6.00pm to 10.30pm. Closed on Sunday.

Price: RM100 nett. 10% off with The Gardens Club card.

Location: Sage Restaurant & Wine Bar, The Gardens Residences, Level 6, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2268 1328

Note: This is from current lunch menu, week ending 2 December 2011.

Penang Lor Bak.

Lor Bak is marinated pork - roll in thin soybean sheets and then deep fried. Usually served with a small bowl of Loh (a thick broth thickened with corn starch and beaten eggs) and red chilli sauce and together with a platter of fried Tofu, prawn fritters, century egg, fresh cucumber wedges-a good appetizer.

Thanks to my friend Eddie for these delicious home made Lor Bak from Penang.

Eddie is a Penang guy but now stays in Kuala Lumpur.


On his occasional trip back to Penang with his wife-they will pre-order these delicious home made cooked Lor bak from a local household by the hundred.

As the Lor bak are cooked, I just heat it up in a microwave oven for about three minutes and it was ready to be eaten.


Lor bak-well marinated-chunky cubed pork-sweet and fragrant with just the right amount of 5 spices powder-one of the best that I have ever eaten !

A Day in Kota Kinabalu for Golf, Food & Friend

Good Morning KK, we were recommended to try this shop for beef noodle located at Taman Hilltop and it seems to be a popular shop in Kota Kinabalu.

The soup was very tasty I cleared every single drop of it but the the beef & parts were not so appealing. I would love a much fresher ingredients.
Beef balls were soft and a disappointment maybethat's the way Sabahans like it.

My choice of "Kon Loh" dry koay teow noodle with minced meat. The portion was big and I like the taste.
Chilli suace in bottles for sale - good spicy & hot sauce, a perfect sauce for this beef marvel.
KAH HIONG NGIU CHAP

2-0-10, Block A, Ground Floor, Kolam Centre Phase 2, Jalan Lintas,

Hilltop, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Tel: 019-870-0080& 019-870-0080

gps : 5.949822,116.091896

Our Sabah Golf Trip endedhere at Nexus Golf Resort Karambunai.



We were lucky the weather was perfect in the morning though it was a raining season.
The golf course is located about 45minutes from Kota Kinabalu city and it is such a beautiful course.







The game was interesting, as usual the losers will pay for the meal & drinks and the verdict finally came after a close fight. We love this sport of golf.


Time was runnig out for us we had our lunch at Salut Seafood Restaurant not too far from Nexus resort Karambunai and I was scheduled to meet a secondary schoolmate here.
Sabah is about fresh seafood and these prawns were sweet and delicious.
Succulent jelly fish in Thai style.
Thick and succulent sea cucumber in a clay pot.
Steamed Garuopa fish with light soya sauce.
With Terance de Souza & his wife Belle Alexia they are back to KK for good and they missed Kuala Lumpur.

Terance withthe golfing mates before wesaygood bye. We shall return to Borneo for more adventures.

Salut Seafood Restaurant
Kampung Salut, Jalan Sulaman, Kota Kinabalu.
gps :