Jun 02 2008
Molecular cuisine
Published by Foong at 2:37 pm under Restaurants, Western Food |
My tastebuds were given a shock with the latest new age type of cuisine to hit our shores called ‘Molecular Cuisine’. Though it did not sound all that appetising, its name far from did any justice to this type of food.
So, what was so different about molecular cuisine? Well, for one thing, it is like eating food from a science laboratory where normally solid food was rendered to liquid or foam and normally mushy food, rendered solid and firm. It may sound horrid but it was by far the most interesting and surprisingly delicious food that I’ve ever tasted. Chef Edward Voon from Singapore presented his creations with much flair and through clever use of chemistry to combine certain foods for an explosion of tastes and sensations.
I tried out this cuisine at Peppino’s in Golden Sands Resort last Friday and I have to say, it is something I have never tasted before. It was a 14-course meal and so expensive, I will have to be a millionaire before paying such an amount for a meal. (Yep, I got a free invite to taste the food thanks to some connections)
Parmesan Oil Sandwich
The meal started with a glass of suspended fruits in gold Sangria which I had missed because I was late and it was followed by Parmesan Oil Sandwich. It is like no other sandwich, more like creamy, liquidised parmesan on top of a sheet of crispy cracker. The taste is an explosion of cream, sour, saltiness and a ripe parmesan flavour, perfectly offset by the cracker.
The second course is the Marinated green olives. Now, I do not really like olives because of its dry and sour taste but this dish, served on a spoon is totally different from the mere olives. These are prepared in such a way that it is a ball of softness, much like glutinous rice balls, and is supposed to be swallowed so that it slides down our throat and explode into a myriad of flavours starting with sour then bitter and a slight tanginess.
When we talk about caviar, thoughts of salty fish roe comes to mind. The ever illustrious chef managed to turn this around with this simply refreshing Watermelon caviar – it is sweet, cold and the texture like sago or jelly. The picture on the right is how this dish was prepared, drops of the ingredient will fall into a container of cold water and it will immediately solidify into little droplets, the shape of caviar.
Now, we always thought of spaghetti as the kind made from wheat or whole wheat but in molecular cuisine, the Mushroom spaghetti (pic, top) is made of jelly in one long string which we are supposed to suck and finish in one go. The mushrooms are chopped and surprisingly, this one long string of jelly spaghetti is very good with strong mushroom taste and olive oil. After that it was the Ravioli of olive oil, pink shrimps, Asian harmony and vinegar air. It is like a wrapped wantan in extremely soft and smooth skin with shrimp and a hint of water chestnut inside. The vinegar air is the foam next to the ravioli, it adds a light sourish flavour to the ravioli..perfect combination.
I have never tasted liver on a popsicle stick before and the ‘Chaud-froid foei-gras, gold passion, fizz grapes and old port wine’ (picture, bottom) is exactly that! It is like a jelly popsicle that is at once sour, smooth, salty and has a tinge of tanginess to take away the odd creaminess of the whole concoction.
The ‘Ocean trout, caviar, oyster, citrus ministrone and white olive oil’ (top) is wonderfully fresh and goes really well with caviar and oysters. The citrus ministrone is sourish and when the fish is dipped in this sauce to go with the powdery sweet white olive oil, it is absolutely heavenly.
I simply love lobsters so when they serve this dish ‘Lobster, holy smoke, Romesco, Orange and Apple mayonnaise’ (picture,top), I was ecstatic but still apprehensive. Luckily it wasn’t vaporised or liquidised lobster but the real lobster meat topped with Romesco and again, seems to go perfectly with the sweet and sour orange and apple mayonnaise.
When they serve the ‘Spanish Omelette of the XXI Century’, it came as a surprise because it came in a liquid-foamy form, in a glass. Served with caramelised onions at the bottom, this dish is like eating a really light and airy egg mousse. Different but still good!
The ‘Golden Shiitake Soup, prawn tempura and olive oil instant noodles’ (picture, top) is one of the more ‘normal’ dishes as the dish has this Japanese flavour to it with the soup made from mushrooms (probably melted or liquidised somehow) and a very normal prawn tempura. The unique thing about this dish is how the chef inject olive oil into the piping hot soup to create squiggly ‘instant noodles’ (see the white squiggly thing in the soup?). The combination of the soup, tempura and olive oil is perfect.
What follows that are scallops with laksa sauce ‘Morning live catch ‘a la plancha’ laksa fluid and pineapple salad’ (picture, bottom). However, it is not your usual laksa fare. It is a spoonful of foamy laksa to go with pan seared scallops and the pineapple salad is more like kerabu. All I can say is that I’ve never tasted such delicious laksa concoction ever.
By the time they bring this second last dish, ‘Hock of lamb with lemon puree, coffee surprises, Bordelaise, gin juniper jus’, I was already gasping for breath and close to bursting. It was a good thing that most of the dishes served are small, bite-size portions except for the trout. This dish is a fairly bigger portion than bite-size and it is the best lamb I have ever tasted. It was all at once soft, tender, juicy and so tasty, it left me almost begging for more. It is served with Bordelaise – edible gold rice paper as decoration.
Finally, we come to dessert, ‘Chocolate nitro, pistachio coulis, brownies and chocolate sauce’. After this dessert, I think, nothing else will ever rival it. I will never taste white chocolate without thinking of this dessert ever again.
It is white chocolate prepared in such a way that it was like foam and then the foam was placed into a pan of hydrogen to freeze it. It is then served, like ice cream, with two small squares of brownies and chocolate sauce. Using a spoon to break the frozen surface, I find a soft creamy centre. However, when eaten, instead of merely melting like standard ice cream, it slowly evaporate in your mouth, leaving a tingling sweet white chocolaty sensation. Simply orgasmic and heavenly.
Overall rating: 9 /10
Price: $$$$$++ (RM468++ per person for the whole course with free flow of Italian Procesco)
Unfortunately, this special culinary experience was only for two nights (May 30 & 31) at Peppino, Golden Sands Resort. The chef is a visiting chef from Singapore. This is one unforgettable experience that no gourmet should forgo (if you are flush with money, that is!).
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6 Responses to “Molecular cuisine”
Courtesy of Jessie, The Hungry Mouse
Courtesy of April, The Hungry Engineer
[...] and darn high class dinner of 14 courses serving relatively unknown, read: weird, dishes known as molecular cuisine. It was a three hour dinner event and though the dishes served are darn strange, some of it are not [...]
Wah, I only want a meal, not buy the restaurant….RM468 +++!!!!
The waitress got big tits or not ??
I think the presentation looks great but glutton like me want everything in a big bowl.
Small, small serve, nicely presented is not my cuppa tea. Those sort of places can eat 14 courses and come out still hungry and have to go McDonalds.
Hehehe….happen once before to me.
engineer: sometimes, good things come in small packages…..;-)
Me everything want cheap, good and come in big packages.
Must be because I was breast fed when I was a baby. That’s why my fascination with big tits.
Hahahaha Must have BIG jugs.
engineer: Woi! don’t blame your mother for your own pervert gatal brain…that one sure is all your own doing lar… heheheh..wah, u from Penang or wat? want ‘pang gi, keng che tai tua tey’ (hokkien: cheap, economical and big piece)
Very interesting write-up and nice pictures. Thanks!