Monte do Castanheiro 2004

October 01, 2008 (Wed): Today is the break of Ramaddan, Hari Raya, and many Muslim families seem to be having fun outings.

Last night A. and I wondered what to pair with our dinner - spinach linguine, little grilled chicken wings and a tofu salad. I thought about the Monte do Castanheiro that was introduced to Singapore - frankly, I don't know when. It was very good recalling Portugal while sipping it, even if it didn't really match the salad and linguine.

Portugal is tranquil, laid-back, very historic and romantic. I recall strolling along Douro River, thoroughly soaking in the sunset at Pousada de Santa Marinha (Guimarães), picking up ripe big tangerines from the ground, exploring Coimbra and totally being gripped by the melancholic fado. I enjoyed getting lost in the oldest university of Europe in Coimbra. Portugal’s charm, simplicity and beauty are deeply edged in my memory. Two of my two trips there were worthwhile. I am thinking of going to Madeira and Lisboa (again)- it should be some time not so soon.

I'll have a week to remember Portugal while enjoying this vinho tinto from Alentejano. It's from Borba, famous for its reds. Unlike many of the indigenous varieties, this one is a blend of Trincadeia, Aragonez, Castelão, Alicante Bouschet and Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a very silky texture, a lovely bouquet of fruit, sometimes I taste my favorite fruit, cherry, in it. Finally it exudes a hint of spices. It's got a good balance.

DONGURI's どんぐり Tokusen Bentoo for April (Japanese Association)

April 25, 2007: It's a mid-week eat-out evening. I have not tried Donguri's bentoo set this month and so thought it'd be a good chance to stop by the Japanese Association. Besides, the weather was cool and wet with the rain continuously pouring down in torrents. These external conditions and my hunger pangs make a good miso soup and tempura irrestible.

On the way, I stopped to buy some handmade bagels at Cluny Court's Cold Storage: wholemeal (the last piece), sesame, and raisin and cinammon (SGD 1.50 each). Of course, some thick Swiss cheese would make a wholesome breakfast tomorrow, I thought, and so got a pack of that (SGD 6.80), and some smoked ham (SGD 2.49 per 100g). Along an aisle of the supermarket, I saw a Terre D'orb from France and picked up a bottle (SGD 18.95). This is an award-winning French 'varietal' in 2006 (25% Carignan, 20% Grenache; 15% Merlot; 25% Syrah; 15% Cab. Sauvignon). I could taste the sweetness already simply by reading the content composition.


4月　特選弁当(1025Kcal)

うなぎご飯 (SALMON, NOT UNAGI!)、

いかそうめん (SHOULD BE SANSAI SOBA!)

木の芽二色田楽、

若布ときゅうり

黄身酢和え、

竹の子筑前煮仕立て

鶏唐おろし餡、

味噌汁



Grilled salmon Rice, Assorted

Sashimi, Cold Soba with Wild

Vegetables and Grated Radish,

Simmered Butterbur(Fuki)

Assorted Seasonal Tempura,

Sesame Tofu, Miso Soup

Nikujaga

March 29: After a full day of training, I felt tired. But while everything was simmering in the Japanese pot, I had a good scrub in the shower. Missed swimming in the morning because of training. I had to be at the training venue at 8:30 am.

Nikujaga is a very delicious and easy-to-cook dish. Cut up potatoes and carrots (I always believe in cutting them neatly) and blanch 'shirataki', or 'itoo konyaku' (arrowroot starch vermicelli). Boil some peas if desired. Thaw your packed sukiyaki or paperthin beef. Slice some onion rings.

Fry the sliced onions until aromatic. Add in carrots. Stir well, followed by the potatoes. Add in shirataki, then water, mirin (sweet rice wine, which I usually omit), sake, and finally soy sauce. Simmer all. When the ingredients are cooked, flavour them with beef. Many add in sugar but I don't.

Garnish with peas. The dish is ready to be relished with piping hot Japanese rice - for a day or two!

This was also the first time I had Saumer with it. And it is really a weird but interesting wine. Very good with cheese, as I found out on the next day.

Pomfret with Pinot Blanc

Saturday Mar 24- The silver pomfret had been lying for a week in the fridge and it seemed overdue to cook it. I would try anyway, I thought, with assam (tamarind gravy) again. Surprisingly, it turned out the best pomfret I've eaten so far, thanks to those Malaysian fishmonger from whom I always get my seafood. It was still very fresh (perhaps partially due to my excellent fridge). I sliced the red onions neatly, smashed the ginger with a wooden pestle I bought from the wet market in Hoi An, did the same to the lemon grass and aromatized everything in order. It was a great lunch with a pinot blanc from Alsace and boiled Southeast Asian spinach. I also prepared my comfort food ('dragon bones', potatoes, carrots, onions, and gourd). After the fantastic seminar by Professor Murowchick on surprising finds at Sanxing-dui, Szechuan, at Asian Civilisation Museum on Thursday, Mar 22, I realised 'dragon bones' were what physicians initially prescribed to cure malaria in the 19th century. They led to the discovery of the Shang dynasty oracle bones!

I read some of my notes at TCC, Plaza Singapore in the hot afternoon. At TCC I saw many SMU students working on their assignments and noshing their finger food when they finished. Their food orders looked great. I had my TCC house premium as usual before going to Carrefour to pick up four bottles of wine for the forthcoming week and a half. It would be a busy week!

Nattoo and Baked Beans

Strange. I craved for baked beans tonight. And poached eggs! True, I did not have my breakfast this morning, except for coffee and fruit.
I recalled what the Vietnamese told me: 'We eat at any time hunger pangs hit. We don't specifically differentiate the meals.'

Then I thought of the Japanese who also eat nattoo in the morning and night. Well, so why can't I have my baked beans and eggs at night? I prepared a mushroom soup, a fresh wakame salad, and a good Bordeaux Chateau Pey La Tour 2005, a gold medalist, to go with it. It wasn't a bad combo.

Western Cape Wine

To continue with Judith and Mabel's visit, they all brought Rupert & Rothchild's Vintage 2004-I think to break my momentum of Koonunaga Hill and Rosemount Estate series. It'd a mild bouquet, was slightly fruity and had a very silky finish. Australian mild cheddar doesn't seem a company to it; both didn't drown each other. Here's the pix of the bottle (pity I couldn't capture the floor for Ah Kiat who'd been asking to see my carpet).

Australia's Premium Wine

TGIF- it's wine and food talk for now to catch my breath before preparation work in the weekend. Hopefully I will be able to finish my prep ...and then there's another piece of academic writing to start on and then...

Anyway, the oenophiles' delight is Penfold's St Henri Claret 1989. I had a few glasses of it, courtesy of Sam and Margaret-and I have to add, "Their marriage was made in heaven"-- thus explains the worthiness of this wine for the occasion.

When Sam and Margaret, together with Judith and Mabel dropped by my place last weekend, I served them this platter but what is here are the few left-over morsels. All I cooked that evening were thankfully palatable although my banh cuon tom (Vietnamese nama-maki) was the worst that I have made so far because I chilled the shrimps in a flurry. Surprisingly the lamb seemed delightful. It's the classical fresh Rosemary with chopped mint, worcestershire, pepper, premium sea salt with an intense sprinkle of hope on air-flown Australian lamb shoulder rack. The accompanying wine was Brown Brothers Cab Sauvignon Vintage 2002. I hope the St Henri had left no lingering aftertaste on them or they would be too disappointed with my Brown Brothers.

May blessings be showered on them all both in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh city! Chuc may man va thanh cong! Hen gap lai!

P.S. I am also quite sure that this will be the only lamb that I'll have this year.

True-blue Italians and Their Culinary Presence in Singapore

I went to "Porta-Porta" (Tel: 62227461) more than a year ago, but apparently remembers it well.

“Porta-Porta” oozes an eccentric atmosphere when you peer through its doors. Shirts, pants and bras suspended on clothesline gracing the ceiling zoom into sight as you step in; plastic vines twining around the wooden dividers at a corner become noticeable as you descend on your seat -- and then you cannot help wondering if you are in the midst of an eclectic Italian streetscape or a restaurant.

The Napoli usher, Daniel, a 13-year resident of Singapore, accustomed to curiosity cast on the laundry, was quick to explain with a Singaporean accent that the clothes were dipped in starch and cement to form an inevitable feature of his restaurant which he prided as enshrining the real Napoli - in spirit and in taste. Shortly, I was to appreciate the semantics of the phrase, “real Napoli” once my skepticism on the possibility of recreating a Napoli in Singapore vanished after just savoring the initial morsel of egg-plant in olive oil and herbs from a delightful platter of tomatoes, cauliflower and squash. The Cesari Mara (2001) that Daniel recommended outrageously scourged my appetite, and the desecration of dieting oaths was about to begin with bruschetta with tomatoes ($16.50) -- a dish that Kevin, the chef, and the loving father of Daniel, ensured would burst with aroma at every crunch into its warm golden crust crowned by soft, cold tomatoes and herbs. “I have to be so careful with timing here,” he explained the feat involved, “that’s why I often lose my voice in the kitchen.”

But it is certainly not precise timing alone that makes wonderful creations indelible: the calamari’s ($27.50) sheer thin coat lightly crumbled to give way to lingering succulence unfound in other versions; and aracini, meticulously rotund rice-balls with mozzarella-filling like Japanese koroke with an Italian expert’s twist, both manifested the belief that the inner core of freshness should be accorded supreme. These rice-balls have to be ordered in advance.

The climax of this orgasmic dining experience was reached with the family’s handmade ravioli al nero ($26.50) squid ink flavored ravioli with filling of clam, squid and codfish) before Daniel added a wholesome touch to the meal: a fresh salad and a hearty fish soup. That was not the end, he promised, as he brought out penne al dente with shrimp in tomato-base cream with a tinge of chilli-hot ($23.00). I queried its fragrance and found out that its magical scent exuded partially from the chopped cilantro. “But this is no place for fusion cuisine; my taste buds are true-blue Italian,” he stressed, as he made sure that I cleaned up the scrumptious sauce with Porta-Porta's divine homemade bread.