There are a lot of mysteries that the average diner ponder about but never get the opportunity to solve. Ever wondered how your favorite foods like kebabs, burgers and macarons are made? Or what is involved in the planning of a new menu? We find out with the help of some of our favorite chefs in town.
Presentation Pimp
We watched him as he carefully seasoned a white plate with dark truffle powder, and laid down a base of two crispy white asparagus wrapped in a layer of ciabatta bread. After gently placing a delicate pile of sautéed Maitake mushroom, a poached egg was purposefully placed on the other end of the asparagus base.
Les Amis’ chef de cuisine Armin Leitgeb was hard at work when we stepped into his kitchen during lunch hour. The chef, who is renowned for both his flavorsome French food and presentation skills, was busy preparing a dish of ciabatta wrapped crispy white asparagus with Maitake mushroom and poached truffled egg ($85; available through Jun 22). “Everything has to look pleasing to the eye and not just on the surface,” Leitgeb explained as he carefully injected the poached egg with a syringe filled with truffle powder.
“When choosing items to garnish a dish, it has to complement the taste of the main item. Ultimately, it really is all about the flavor of the dish that people are going to remember, no matter how it looks.” The Austrian also revealed that garnishing serves a practical purpose besides making a dish more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. “The best way to think about the presentation of a dish is to liken it to a symphony. If it’s all just one item, it’s like a saxophone playing by itself. When combined with a lot of other items, it’s like tasting an orchestra of flavors. Everything about it has to work together—color, texture and most importantly, taste.”
Menu Maestro
Planning a menu is not about slapping your personal favorites on it. There are a lot of factors to consider when doing so, as we learnt when we sat down for a quick chat about revamping Crossroads Café’s menu with Singapore Marriot Hotel’s executive chef Adam Ashe. “We have to consider things such as the clientele we are serving, what are the areas we need to cover to serve them better, costs, the restaurant’s theme and ingredient sourcing,” he says.
The menu revamp is the answer to Ashe’s need to keep it fresh for the regulars. He revealed the complicated two- month long process to us.
“First of all, we had to look at the outlet to see what would reflect that of a French outdoor brasserie. Fitting local dishes into the restaurant’s bistro-like setting can seem a bit disconcerting, and that’s why we started using these iron woks instead of the white plates. “After brainstorming and coming up with ideas, we learnt how to make the dishes and find sources for the ingredients. Launching the menu isn’t the end though, we were constantly analyzing and reviewing the menu and making changes. It’s a never ending process—like a chef’s work!”
Kebab King
Standing in a kitchen that makes kebabs is hot, hot, hot. That’s what we realized when executive chef Ghazi Georges Khanashat of Urban Bites (123 Telok Ayer St., 6327-9460) opened his kitchen doors to show us the intricate process of making kebabs. The first stop was the mince machine, where he revealed that the meats for kebab are grounded twice. “The first time we grind it by itself and the second round, we grind it with spices. The difference between Lebanese kebab and Indian ones is that we only use the ‘seven spices’ and maybe a few more herbs in our kebabs. We don’t put chili in ours as Middle Eastern people don’t really eat hot and spicy food,” the chatty chef points out.
The minced meat is then kept in the fridge to cool and harden for an hour before it can stick to the skewer properly. Plastic covers are used to prevent the meat from being dried out in the fridge. “If you are using chunky meat for the kebabs, it takes longer. It has to be marinated for at least 24 hours before being used as it takes awhile for the meat to absorb the flavor,” he reveals.
After roasting some wonderfully tempting kebabs for us, he also showed us how hummus is made. We found the process of making that creamy dip to be a lot more tedious than we’d imagined. “We soak the chick peas overnight and boil it for three hours to make it suitably mushy. We then strain it and get rid of the skins.”
The chick peas are then grounded in a cold blender with citric lemon salt, which is a natural preservative that lends a sourish edge to it. Iced water is added every now and then “to prevent sticking.”
Chaos Controller
The first thing that you’ll notice when you step into MELT~The World Café’s kitchen is the hustle and bustle of the place. You’ll see kitchen help preparing ingredients, cooks whipping up delicious dishes and in the middle of the whirlwind, is MELT’s chef de cuisine Jason Tan. “It’s always busy after the breakfast buffet as we now have to start preparing for the lunch buffet,” the 28-year-old explains.
Tan, who was crowned Rising Chef of the Year at the recent World Gourmet Summit, jumps from station to station during his “rounds” to ensure all things are going as planned, and to lend a hand when needed. Despite having to oversee the whole operation consisting of a 37-member team, the cheerful chef reveals how he keeps everything in order despite having such a busy kitchen.
“Being organized is the key to ensuring a smooth operation. Our kitchen is divided into different sections —Thai, Indian, Western and so on. Everyone knows what they have to do.” Sure, the different sections do have disagreements sometimes over things like space, ingredients and even kitchen equipment, but we have a briefing almost everyday so that our staff can voice their grievances.”
The chef also tries to be hands on when it comes to matters in the kitchen. “We have a lot of special requests from guests, from simple ones such as lady fingers with sambal (which isn’t on the menu) to more challenging ones like gluten free bread. We try to never say no to guests and accommodate each request although it can be challenging at times, especially when the kitchen is very busy,” he adds. During times like these, chef Jason’s ability to keep cool, calm and collected is definitely a must amid the brewing chaos.
Vegetarian Vamp
We followed Original Sin’s director chef Marisa Bertocchi to Ghim Moh Market for a shopping expedition to hunt down the avocado fruit. After being stopped for an interview by host Pornsak of Channel 8’s Food at the Good Source show, the friendly chef obliged them with a few questions before escaping from the “paparazzi” with us.
Resuming our kitchen mission, Bertocchi explained: “You should press the top. If it gives a bit, then it’s good to eat immediately. You should avoid avocados with very wrinkled skin as it means they’re too old and will be very mushy."
Moving on to other greens, the jolly Aussie explained the finer points of hunting for fresh vegetables. “As a general rule of thumb, veggies need to feel crunchy and firm with even coloring and look fresh and springy. Greens that have a few holes in them also mean that lesser or no pesticides were used.”
Bertocchi also went into specifics as we went round the market: Fresh goods. “Markets have fresher and cheaper stuff since stocks come in everyday, and they don’t keep the goods overnight like the supermarkets,” she explains. She certainly knew her way around as we checked out the goods at different stalls. “Cucumbers are great when they are firm. I choose the ones with darker skin as they are good for presentation. When it comes to tomatoes, it depends on what you are using them for. The firm ones are good for salads, while the slightly soft ones are better for making sauces like salsa. For leeks, it’s very important that they are firm. Otherwise, it means they are hollow inside.”
Burger Boy
Chef-owner of Relish Burger’s Willin Low, wants to dispel the myth that burgers are unhealthy fare.
“It’s fast food joints that give burgers the unhealthy stereotype. When you think about it, burgers are actually a meal by themselves,” he says. It comes packed with protein and a variety of other nutrients. “I can’t remember the last time I had a burger from a fast food joint. Personally, I feel the meat used for their patties are a little dodgy as it consist of parts such as tails, noses and ears. That’s why it’s important to know the source of your meat.”
The busy chef, who just came back from a whirlwind trip of New York, London, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, also showed us how his famous beef burger patties are made from scratch. After gathering ingredients such as minced beef, diced onions, and various herbs and spices, he puts the minced beef in a mixer followed by the rest of the ingredients. The charismatic former lawyer took time out to give us some pointers on the art of patty making.
“When choosing the beef, make sure there’s the right amount of fat in it, this would be around 18 to 25 percent. The fats are what make the patty tasty. Too much of it and the patty will melt and run when grilled. Too little and you’ll end up with a very dry patty.”
“You also have to know how to mix it up properly. If you mix it too long, the patty will end up rubbery like a fish ball. If it’s not mixed well enough, it will fall apart when grilled.” After guiding us through the complicated yet surprisingly fast mixing process, Low then took the mixed minced meat out to be molded into the patties. “We mold the patties by hand. We weigh divide the meat into 150g and 180g chunks and mold it into shape after applying some olive oil on the meats to make it more malleable. After that, we chill the patties overnight. The process hardens it and also gives the meat time to ‘rest’ into shape.”
Macaron Man
For people with a sweet tooth, stepping into a pastry chef’s kitchen is like stepping in to a candy shop. We eagerly stepped into the kitchen of Canelé Pâtisserie, where chef Pang Kok Keong was busy working his magic on his famous macarons.
Despite the relatively basic and simple ingredients used, the task of making them was a little more complex. The self-taught chef, who picked up the art of making macarons a decade ago, shared with us a few handy baking terms while giving us a glimpse into the process of making macarons. “Folding means to gently combine ingredients evenly in a mixing bowl. The ribbon stage refers to a stage that is reached when beating eggs together with sugar. It is when the batter forms a flat ribbon, falling back upon itself when the electric mixer beater is lifted. Macarons also have their unique process—to macaronade—which means to break down the air pockets within the mix, making the mixture more viscous and flowy. Having less air pockets means that the macaron shells won’t bloat up and lose its shape when baked. It also ensures that the shells will be crunchy instead of airy like sponge cake which has lots of air pockets.”
He started by mixing ground almond powder, icing sugar and egg white until it became a smooth paste. After mixing the paste, he started work on the Italian meringue. He put a sugar and water mixture to boil and also showed us a way to test whether the syrup mixture is suitable for consumption. You can do this by blowing bubbles with it after scooping up some with a fork. To our surprise, a string of bubbles did stream out when he blew on them.
He then poured the syrup mixture in a steady stream into egg white, which was placed in an eggbeater. Chef Pang also revealed a surprising fact about macarons: They are best consumed after being chilled and allowed to harden for 24 hours. Nice.
