A cheesy haven

By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ

CHEESE lovers should drop by O’ Gourmet’s Cheese Room, the first walk-in fromagerie with over 100 varieties of cheeses from around the world at Bangsar Shopping Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

The chilled room, strictly maintained at 2°C to 4°C, is not only a haven for cheese lovers but also a great place to learn about cheese as well.

It is the perfect temperature to store cheese as it keeps it in the correct form.


“Anything below that can freeze the cheese and above that can melt it. To maintain the freshness when you store it in your fridge, pack the cheese in plastic cling wrap to prevent it from getting dry,” he said.

Gourmet wine and cheese consultant Sebastien Le Francois is available at the Cheese Room from 3pm to 6pm every day except on Sundays to take enquiries on cheese and wines.

“Cheese is like wine too. Both products are left to mature. Everyone has a favourite and every cheese differs in taste as there are many factors that influence it,” he said, at the launch of the Cheese Room recently.



The factors include milk source, production location and weather. While some cheese may not taste good when it is newly opened, it gets better as it matures. Cheeses made from cow, sheep or buffalo milk also have distinct tastes.

“Cheese made using milk from animals near the mountains and the sea will have different tastes too. It also depends on the season. Milk may taste different during the winter as the cows feed on preserved food compared to summer when they feed on fresh grass in the meadows.

“The difference in milk will influence the taste of the cheese,” he said.


There are also different ways of making cheese that appeal to a variety of cooking and personal preferences.

“Some are pressed and some are mouldy. In France, there are more than 365 types of cheese and you can have a different flavour everyday,” said Francois, adding that cheese could be used in pasta and pizzas, or can be eaten on its own or with bread, as it was packed with calcium.

He also explained why people drank red wine with cheese, although white wines also brought out cheese flavours well.

“Cheese is normally served after the main course, which is often taken with reds. So most people would just carry on with the red for their cheese. Besides, it is difficult to switch to white from red,” he said.

Source: http://kuali.com/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/11/26/ku_inthenews/7449013&sec=ku_inthenews

Here's a special video of cheese.

Baba-Nyonya Dining Experience!

Baba-Nyonya wedding ceremony is fast disappearing and forgotten by many except for a handful of the older generation. In the heritage town of Penang, there has been a strong call for couples to revive this heritage by taking their vows in this traditional style. Won’t it be a lovely change for couples to wed in a truly unique traditional showcase of rich and colourful Baba-Nyonya culture?

The wedding ceremony of the Baba-Nyonya is one of the fascinating and colorful wedding ceremonies around town. The wedding is actually held over a twelve days ritual starting with the exchange of gifts between the couple’s parents which is then follow by a elaborate stream of traditional process, including the “cheow tao” ceremony to initiate the bride and groom into adulthood, the tea ceremony, the use of sedan chair to fetch the bride, and the lifting of the bride’s veil.

Unfortunately with modernization enveloping society, the Baba-Nyonya wedding ceremony nowadays is much simpler and less elaborate. It is more of incorporating the Baba-Nyonya elements into the wedding schedule rather than following the ritual. Given the time constrains nowadays; a lot of the time consuming practices and pomp have been done away or cut short!

The actual matrimonial costumes worn consisting of gowns, robes, head dress, accessories and beaded shoes (kasut manek) are elaborate and donned with intricate embroidery, beads and auspicious multi colored motives and symbols. The attire worn by the rest of the family is as elegant, especially the “sarong kebaya” and the Baju Panjang”.

No matter whatever changes, an important element for the Baba-Nyonya wedding is the wedding banquet. Given that the Peranakan has a strong food culture and are affectionately with their cuisines, an elaborate spread of Nyonya dishes are usually served at the dining table. One experienced Peranakan restaurant in Penang that caters for Baba-Nyonya wedding banquet is Sri Batik Nyonya Cafe at New World Park.

Proprietor Kenneth Yip, who is a Baba himself, said that as a Penangite, his aspiration is to revive the art of Sri Batik Nyonya cooking whilst delivering traditional authentic Nyonya cooking to the younger generation.

Sri Batik gives a welcoming warm feeling as you enter the restaurant. Peranakan ornaments and furniture fill the restaurant with a touch of the modernist feel – most authentic indeed.

The restaurant is decorated with private collection of pictures and Peranakan artifacts, including ceramic pottery, old clocks, jar and basketry. This radiates a feeling of nostalgia, which is simply perfect for holding a Baba-Nyonya banquet!

This restaurant offers a wedding menu that seemed interesting. There is a wide range of seafood and chicken dishes. The all time favourite, Curry Kapitan (chicken curry with a tangy sour taste of kaffir lime leave) is one of the several items in the menu. Rich with milk, the robust gravy has lots of oomph in its aromatic spices.

Not to be missed is the Lobak (bean curd sheets wrap with pork). This pork roll is slightly shorter; half the size of what is normally served. The ingredients use in the lobak is the three layer pork, which added another dimension to the palate.

The soft and fluffy Nasi Ulam was a mix of flavours from the generous amounts of fresh herbs and spices. The daun kaduk, daun cekur, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and tumeric leaves are finely shredded and mixed together with the correct proportions of rice, chopped shallots and grated coconut to make a sensational aromatic rice dish.

Another all time traditional Peranakan dish is the Assam Prawn (tamarind fried prawns). The prawns are fresh, well absorbing the marinating of the tamarind pulp. The dark soy sauce coating the prawns not only adds a wonderful taste to this dish but also work up the appetite.

It is a nice change to enjoy a simplistic dish to complement the authentic traditional cuisines. Sri Batik came out with the Singapore Beehoon which makes a good choice over rice. It is a pleasant fried noodle with fresh ingredients of seafood.

Other dish that came was the Gulai Tumis (curry fish) with pieces of fish cooked in thick sourish gravy with an aroma of spices. The gravy has course grounded ingredients of lengkuas, lemongrass and laksa flower topped with kaffir lime leaves.

The Nyonya Chap Chai (mixed vegetable) is a unique dish. Sri Batik’s version maintains a sense of simplicity. This tasty stir-fried dish was presented colorfully with ingredients of gingko, broccoli, cauliflower, mushroom and carrot.

In between the meal, guests were entertained by performances by the “Nyonya Belles”. The ladies together with Johny Chee, a Baba, were invited to present several songs and dance promoting the Baba-Nyonya culture.

The meal ended with the serving of Nyonya dessert. Sri Batik dishes out Bubur Cha Cha and large varieties of Nyonya kuih. The Bubur Cha Cha has a mixture of flavours and texture with the combination of soft sweet potato, yam and coconut milk. The amazing types of Nyonya kuih were equally satisfying.

The Baba-Nyonya wedding meal was indeed an enjoyable experience. George Town World Heritage Site with its many heritage buildings and Nyonya restaurants is an ideal place for a Baba-Nyonya wedding as it provides many backdrops for photography and dining venues.

Sri Batik Nyonya Cafe
102-E-2, New World Park
102 Jalan Burmah
10050 Georgetown
Penang

Tel: 04 2288 919

Business Hour: 11 am – 11 pm

Written by CK Lam, food review writer and editor of http://www.what2seeonline.com ; featuring the Best of Penang Food. She constantly combs Penang for the best gastronomical delights and loves promoting Penang Cuisines, Culture and Heritage.

Spanish sojourn

Here’s the good gourmand’s guide to eating and drinking your way through an ancient land.

HEAD north from Madrid on the A1 highway for four hours and you will arrive in the heart of Spain’s most celebrated wine region: Rioja.

There’s history here too. Archeological excavations have dated finds back to prehistoric times and medieval towns and old Riojan manor houses abound. Most visitors to Rioja prefer to fly into Bilbao (home of architect Frank Gehry’s renowned Guggenheim Museum) and take the easy, shorter drive (90 minutes) to reach Rioja’s capital city on the banks of the Ebro River, Logroño.

Logroño is not only the gateway to wine and gastronomy; it is the cultural crossroads that reflects the history of Rioja. Here, Castille culture meets Basque. The famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route passes through Logroño.

While Rioja is famous for its great wine, its history and architecture are also well worth discovering. This is the 16th century Church of San Servando y San German in the town of Arnedillo. – Wikimedia Commons

Every year, since ancient times, pilgrims trek 750km from the French/Spanish border to the medieval city of Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. These days, the route is still no less travelled, though more by secular tourists wanting to experience a challenging but picturesque journey that takes in archaeological sites with influences from Roman, Arabic and Iberian times.

Feed mind and body
Make Logroño your base and spend the day visiting palaces, castles, old city walls and the famed Market Square. Delight in homemade pastries and then do what the locals do, enjoy a siesta. By eight, it’s time for tapas.

The Casco Viejo quarter is world-famous for its numerous tapas bars. Each specialises in a tapas (from tortillas and shrimp to asparagus and mushrooms), so bar hopping is the name of the game here.
Some unusual tapas include “Wonder Bra”, a sunny-side up pair of quails’ eggs. For the brave, there are bull’s testicles and sheep’s ears. Try Pimiento de Padrón, chilli fried whole, for a culinary Russian roulette experience. While most pods are mild, one in five is surprisingly hot.

Make sure to check out the tapas bars in Logrono. – Photo by EDWIN SOON

Wash them down with sangria or a chilled pink Rioja.

Reserve some space for Galician tapas (called pinxtos), all manner of seafood served on a stick. And the best thing about tapas is that prices begin at €1.5 (RM6.45).

From Logroño, one could hire a car or join a bus tour to begin your wine trails.

Alternatively, a whimsical way to travel is by train, for just €12 (about RM50), that journeys through the towns of Briones or Haro. From both towns, wineries are just a short walk away.

In September every year, the same ride is dubbed El Tren del Vino (The Wine Train) and the rail journey becomes part of the El Rioja y los 5 Sentidos (Rioja and the 5 Senses) festival that includes art exhibitions, jazz concerts, bicycle-picnics, wine tasting and more.

Haro is the capital of the sub-region of Rioja Alta and home to many important wineries. Must-visits include R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia and the Bodegas La Rioja Alta. The former, founded in 1877, uses the most traditional methods of winemaking, and here you’ll find delightful old wines for tasting, all with nutty overtones.

Soak in the history of the cellars filled with antique oak barrels. Visit the cellar door where mature wines can be had for a delightfully reasonable price.

Across the road from Viña Tondonia is the Rioja Alta, another iconic winery, famous for its Gran Reservas (special reserves). The winery interior is equally impressive and boasts a beautiful modern-meets-traditional cellar door. Besides wine, conserves and chocolates can be enjoyed here too.

The Logroño municipal market in Plaza Abastos abounds with gourmet olive oils, dried chilli peppers of all shapes and sizes, some piquantly hot, others mild and mellow.

Chorizo, the fermented, cured and smoked sausage is a popular take-home gift for tourists as well as the jamón Ibérico, the world-famous cured ham. If it is all too much to pack, then consider a small tin of powdered Pimenton – the smoked paprika containers are small, light, and make unique presents.

Wine wonderland
In Briones, you’ll find the modern museum of Dinastia Vivanco. Here, the culture of wine is presented in a building with four floors together with a living vineyard nursery.

Its vine collection is impressive, as it’s from the world over, and includes the Kyushu grape and the Chinese Bei Chun. A must-stop for wine lovers, wine students and even just the wine curious.

Afterwards, be sure to visit the cellar reminiscent of a space ship. The lunches in the restaurant are served hot and epicurean.

Rioja’s famous red (tinto) wines are made from Tempranillo grapes with sometimes Garnacha, and also a little Mazuelo and Graciano. These wines are aged in oak and often have a beautiful scent of ripe cherries with vanilla.

There are also Rioja whites (blanco), made from Viura that tastes refreshingly of citrus with floral characteristics. And there are the pink (rosado) wines that are juicy and thirst-quenching.

Choose your Rioja by quality classification:
Joven – Young, fresh and for quaffing, the locals’ wine and a real bargain; seldom exported.

Vino de Crianza – This is aged 12 to 18 months in oak and is well priced; it has good body and a fine finish.

Reserva – These are wines aged up to two years in oak and another two years in bottle. They are rich, concentrated, complex and medium priced.

Gran Reserva – These are aged up to three years in oak and another three years in bottle. And definitely for special occasions.

Unlike other wine producing countries, most of Rioja red wines are pre-aged and so offers the discriminating drinker excellent value.

Wineries to visit:
Bodegas Darien; Bodegas La Emperatriz; Bodegas Lan; Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta; Bodegas Roda; Bodegas Viña Herminia; Marqués de Cáceres; Óbalo; Palacios Remondo; Señorío de San Vicente.

by Ed Soon.
Ed Soon is a qualified oenologist and has run wine shops and worked as a winemaker in various countries. He now writes and teaches about wine around Asia.

Source: http://kuali.com/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/10/10/ku_entertaining/7092452&sec=ku_entertaining

All about tomatoes

THE ever popular tomatoes can be eaten raw or cooked. Raw tomatoes are used in salads, pasta, dishes, sandwiches and used as garnish for a lot of dishes. These juicy vegetables which look like fruits have found their way into thousands of recipes.

Tomatoes come in many sizes, shapes and colours and have a vast array of flavours. There are many types of tomatoes grown everywhere around the world.

No other vegetable or fruit is widely used nor consumed than the tomatoes. From pizza to ketchup to tomato rice, the tomato is very much in demand in our daily consumption of food. Tomatoes also make healthy drinks.

Cherry tomatoes.

All tomatoes have acid flavourings but some have higher level of sugars than others. For example, red tomatoes are more acidic than others, while yellow tomatoes have the highest proportions of sugars.

Among all the tomatoes, the Heirloom types are the most popular. Heirloom tomatoes can be found in pink, black, brown, purple, white, mottled or striped, ripe greens, orange, red and yellow. Some of their names are familiar, while others are relatively unknown like the Beefsteak tomato, Cherokee purple, Black pear, Canestrino and Hillbilly.

Types of tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes - They look like cherries except that they come in red and yellow varieties. Perfect for salads or grilling on skewers. These small, often sweet cherry tomatoes are pricier than the normal salad tomatoes. However, their intense flavour is worth the extra cash.

Honey plum tomatoes - Slightly oblong in shape, these tomatoes are intensely sweet in flavour. The orange colour is deep. Honey plum tomatoes are ideal for salads or cooking. They also make a great snack.

Plum tomatoes - These oval-shaped tomatoes are bigger than the cherry tomatoes but slightly smaller than the honey plum tomatoes. Plum tomatoes have very rich flavour and have comparatively few seeds. They are available in various sizes including baby plum. Plum tomatoes are the most popular variety for canning and they are also good for making sauces and stews.

Green tomatoes.

Green tomatoes - The flesh is firmer and juicier. They tend to be less acidic than red tomatoes, with a balanced sweet-tart flavour. These tomatoes are often fried and used for pickles and chutneys.

Large red tomatoes - They are also known as Beef Tomatoes. These large tomatoes are also from the Heirloom breed. They have a sweet dense red flesh and are often used for almost all kinds of cooking, stuffing, garnishing, sandwiches and grilling. The red varieties tend to be more acidic than the yellow.

Heirloom tomatoes: They are many types of heirloom tomatoes. They come in many colours, shapes and have lots of flavour. They also have a distinctive aroma and delicious in salads. The concentrated flavour makes them well-suited for cooking.

Yellow tomatoes: These type of tomatoes will ripen to a golden yellow colour. They are good in salads, salsas and chutneys.
Source: http://kuali.com/news/story.aspx?file=/2010/11/9/ku_features/20101109090349&sec=ku_features

Weird and Fun food facts

Many people don't know the wonders of food and the joy that it brings us. But right now, we have uncovered some interesting facts about food that not many might know about. For example, the amount of a certain type of food that people usually consume on a yearly basis. The results might shock people into oblivion. This is mainly based on Americans and results might vary from the different countries around the world. 

A typical American eats 28 pigs in his/her lifetime.

Americans eat 20.7 pounds of candy per person annually. The Dutch eat three times as much.

Americans spend approximately $25 billion each year on beer.

Americans spent an estimated $267 billion dining out in 1993.

An etiquette writer of the 1840's advised, "Ladies may wipe their lips on the tablecloth, but not blow their noses on it."

Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented in 1889, was the first ready-mix food to be sold commercially.

Caffeine: there are 100 to 150 milligrams of caffeine in an eight-ounce cup of brewed coffee, 10 milligrams in a six-ounce cup of cocoa, 5 to 10 milligrams in one ounce of bittersweet chocolate, and 5 milligrams in one ounce of milk chocolate.

California's Frank Epperson invented the Popsicle in 1905 when he was 11-years-old.

Capsaicin, which makes hot peppers "hot" to the human mouth, is best neutralized by casein, the main protein found in milk.

Cast iron skillets used to be the leading source of iron in the American diet!

China's Beijing Duck Restaurant can seat 9,000 people at one time.

Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine (PEA), a natural substance that is reputed to stimulate the same reaction in the body as falling in love.

World wide, consumers spend more than $7 billion a year on chocolate. Annual per capita consumption of chocolate is 12 pounds per person.

Each American eats an average of 51 pounds of chocolate per year.

Fortune cookies were invented in 1916 by George Jung, a Los Angeles noodle maker.

Fried chicken is the most popular meal ordered in sit-down restaurants in the US. The next in popularity are: roast beef, spaghetti, turkey, baked ham, and fried shrimp.

Goulash, a beef soup, originated in Hungary in the 9th century AD.

Haggis, the national dish of Scotland: take the heart, liver, lungs, and small intestine of a calf or sheep, boil them in the stomach of the animal, season with salt, pepper and onions, add suet and oatmeal. Enjoy!

Hostess Twinkies were invented in 1931 by James Dewar, manager of Continental Bakeries' Chicago factory. He envisioned the product as a way of using the company's thousands of shortcake pans which were otherwise employed only during the strawberry season. Originally called Little Shortcake Fingers, they were renamed Twinkie Fingers, and finally "Twinkies."

In 1860, 'Godey's Lady's Book' advised US women to cook tomatoes for at least 3 hours.

In 1926, when a Los Angeles restaurant owner with the all-American name of Bob Cobb was looking for a way to use up leftovers, he threw together some avocado, celery, tomato, chives, watercress, hard-boiled eggs, chicken, bacon, and Roquefort cheese, and named it after himself: Cobb salad.

In 1995, KFC sold 11 pieces of chicken for every man, woman and child in the US.

In an authentic Chinese meal, the last course is soup because it allows the roast duck entree to "swim" toward digestion.

In the United States, a pound of potato chips costs two hundred times more than a pound of potatoes.

Irish cream and Hazelnut are the most popular whole bean coffee flavorings.

Now how interesting is that? Little did I know that KFC had such good business. Maybe we should cut down on the fast food we consume and head over to the kitchen have a nice home-cooked meal with the family then be lazy and eat the unhealthy food that McDonalds, KFC and other fast food. 

You can uncover more interesting facts in Google or the internet. It is a wonderful place to find weird facts about everything. Till the next time!

Funky Food

There are a lot of weird kind of foods that people eat around the world. So, our dedicated reporter decided to find out a few of the weirdest food items that people eat around the world, whether it is Culture or just a fetish for some. 

Weird Food is a list of odd things that people eat. Every culture invents a food that is weird or disgusting to outsiders. These strange foods are cultural markers to show who's a member (insiders like it) and who's not a member (outsiders hate it.) Maybe a kid ate first it on a dare. They pass it on to the next generation. Then they nudge each other and laugh when outsiders gag.

The first nominee is...

• The TUNA EYEBALL (found in Japan, China)

• Beetles and Scorpions (Eaten in China)

• Casu Marzu (Maggot Cheese eaten in Sardinia, Italy)

• Chicken Cartilage (Eaten in Different Parts of Asia)

• Chittlins (Hog's Insides, Eaten in Southern America)

• Raw Herring (Eaten in Holland)

Ok, peeps. Are your insides churning as much as mine at some of these pictures? But with research, it shows that people from all races, nations and countries just like eating these things. For example, Malaysians (especially Penangites) love eating Chicken Feet. Others that aren't from Asia consider that one of the weirdest food. So, it is really what perspective you put on when trying to judge someone. Ah, so guys, tell me what makes your insides churn whenever you hear those words being put into mouths. 

CHEERS! It's time for lunch.

Jamie Oliver to the RESCUE!

If you were to asked an average Malaysian family to layout their week’s meal on a table, chances are there won’t be any greens in sight. With all the nasi kandar, char kuay teow, and roti canai’s, Malaysian are at a high risk of developing health-related diseases if the trend of eating out is not being observed properly.

Recently on the Oprah Winfrey show, British top chef Jamie Oliver made a special appearance on her show to talk about the food revolution that was changing rapidly in the United States. He was mainly on a mission to change the way families eat, one country at a time.

Chef Jamie Oliver was against the standpoint of processed food that was cheaply mass prioduced and had little nutritional value. According to him, people needed to regain ownership of the kitchen and start learning to cook their own meals.

As a visit, Oliver visited a single mother to four children. Prior to his arrival, he has requested for her to place her family’s weeklong meal on the table. And when she did, the mother felt rather shocked and was moved to tears. The entire table was covered in colours mostly golden-brown with no greens in sight. The food they consumed were mostly fried or microwavable. There was even a moment in which Oliver caught sight of a stack of frozen pizzas in the freezer. The mother commented that she had purchased them for fifty-cents a box.

Back in the show, Oprah highlighted that sometimes people can’t afford to buy healthy food not and because they don’t want to eat healthy.

Oliver agreed with her but added that its because consumers are favouring more of the processed food that is why the prices are far cheaper. He said that people ought to start supporting their local farmers in supplying fresh vegetables in which some offer cheap prices. “When we buy a product, we are giving them our votes. So, it’s time we start looking at who we give our votes to,” says Oliver.

A few minutes before the show ended, he demonstrated to the audience how easy it was to make home-made chicken nuggets. Did I mention it was cheap too? He averaged out the price a normal fast food outlet would usually charge and the portion size one would get in return. Oliver mentioned that the ingredients and the meal in total cost below USD$10 and the chicken nugget size was double of that from the fast food store.

British chef Jamie Oliver