The Degustation of Food at Equinox (formerly Compass Rose)

Erm, I am going to post my inaugural article on FOOD. Not your usual hawker fare, chain restaurant or fast-food quickie meals, but a proper sit-down meal of at least 2.5 hours....

Having saved for at least a month or so, we decided to reward ourselves with a meal that would be described as heavenly, most appropriate, noting the fact that the 70th storey fine-dining location at Swissotel gives an added flavour to our little fanfare get-together.

So, moi had to dress up, appear "ahtas"(classy and refined), make a booking at least 1 week in advance for one-star Michelin chef Hugh Styles (by the way, I have dined in a 2-star Michelin restaurant in Australia - superb...) who totally dazzled with his version of Foie Gras and scallop remake. More about this later.

So, you may ask, what's a degustation? Why are there a group of followers a.k.a "The Degustation Crew" (moi and few friends) who would spend hundreds of dollars when the same amount could feed a class of students in a week?

Wikipedia defines degustation as "a careful, appreciative tasting of various foods, focusing on the gustatory system, high culinary art and good company." Good food is worth every single cent, not so much of whether the quantity justifies the pricing, but how the chef weaves his creativity to design a dish complete with fusion styles and signature touches. You basically pay for engagement with the taste and senses. It is not the aim of this blog to argue about the value of food. If you really want simple foods, you would find it somewhere at a supermarket, chain restaurants and what-nots. So for those of you who say "give me a char kway teow anytime", do note that there is a place for such foods, but not for this posting. It is not my motive to indulge in hawker fare here, which is probably consumed and written by the tonnes each day in Singapore. Char Kway Teow, perhaps does not require a blog of such sorts. Nonetheless, one might blog where the best place to get char kway teow is...

OK, aside from the critical foodies, here's a take of the menu:

Appetizers

1) Terrine from Madeira marinated Foie Gras de Canard and Pistachios, served with apricot chutnet & freshly baked brioche

2) Organic Tomato Broth simmered with young ginger, shallots, aromatic tumeric leaf and coriander

Entrees

3) Pan-fried Japanese king scallop with a salsify and cod brandade, served with a confit of beetroot and sauce Pistou

Main Courses

4) Grilled local sea bass fillet with Boston Black Mussels, with a curry and saffron scented vegetable fondue

5) Local Peking duck, short roasted breast meat with dark soya, five spices confit leg meat with yam puree and Hoi-sin sauce

Dessert

6) Twice baked Manjari chocolate pudding with kirshwasser sabayon morello cherry sorbet and chilli compote

We accompanied this food selection with a 2004 Cavas De Weinert Vino which probably costs us more than the foods sampled.

I know, I know, half the names here don't make sense.....I hear from the background "Give me my Char Kway Teow anytime"...perhaps the next time, there will be a Char Kway Teow/Hokkien mee blog post......

Here goes:

Appetizer

Fusion chefs love to use goose liver as an appetizer to open the palate. The terrine's (a meat/vegetable concoct which was prepared in advance and left to cool) flavour was brought out by the warm plate. Each bite into the delightful terrine sent pangs of pleasure as the goose liver and apricot chutney (a spicy condiment) melded so well with the tongue senses to produce the exotic South Asian/French taste. The warm bread (brioche) was indeed a welcome accompaniment to the foie gras, as it helped provide bulk to complete its full taste. This was indeed a delight for starters and by the end of this course, we were totally craving to see what was coming up next....

The soup-based appetizer was a bit of a disappointment. Sour soups do not relate well to the Asian palate (except perhaps Tom-Yam), giving a bit of an unripe, maiden taste. However, the tumeric leaf added a bit of twist to the otherwise healthy soup, thus saving us a bit of a face-squeezing expression from the sourness that accompanied the aftertaste. But the waiter was quick to point out that the sour soup cleanses the palate for the starter/main course, and we were totally convinced. By the end of the soup-tasting, the lingering terrine was quite effectively washed off the palate. We were now 'clean' of taste to welcome the starter.....

Starter

The king scallop didn't disappoint. It was one of the freshest ever tasted. The tenderness of the seafood allowed the meditteranean pistou sauce (garlic, basil and olive oil) to seep into it. Each bite produced a lip-smacking satisfaction as the sauce oozed out from the scallop to induce a savoury taste reminscent of tanginess and freshness. this was matched by the cod brandade (smoked fish pounded with olive oil, garlic, milk & cream). The garlic did wonders to the palate as its distinctive smell brought about a juxtaposition of Chinese/Australian "zhi-char". This is the taste of King Neptune (not the lobster) in its most glorious state.

Main Courses
We decided to order an equal number of the sea bass and Peking duck dishes, as we were in a degustative mood, and were feeling, by then, very adventurous.

The Duck Delight
I am not a duck fan because of the way duck is prepared in some chain eateries. I must say the duck leg meat was the most tantalizing, much so for its Asian taste, and also the softness of the meat when it reaches the mouth. The breast meat had a layer of fat which would have yielded a smell but the dark soya masked it to produce a taste that slided down the throat so well that it sealed the night's outing. The wine combined so well with the breast meat and reaffirmed us that good wine combinations bring out the best of foods. We found the yam puree too salty but its mashed-up look was so pretty we got to have it in the mouth.

The Sea-Bass Season
There were only two miserable mussels but it didn't fail to blend well with the fish. Its fresh and flavourful taste was brought out by the curry sauce. We were slightly disappointed that the curry sauce was not spicy. Perhaps the chef wanted to create a taste of Japanese curry. Who would have known that the vegetable fondue (made of thin strips of broccoli and carrots) tasted exquisite with the curry and the sea-bass. How would I describe the taste? It is a cross between sweet Japanese curry and tenderized coconut, with a touch of rouille. Of course we would have preferred the dish with white wine but our vino was sufficient to send us squeaming with hedonism.

Dessert
It took exactly 20 minutes to prepare the dessert but it was well worth the wait. Sabayon is a sauce made from egg yolks which was slowly poured over the warm melting dark chocolate pudding to produce a sweet-acidic and tangy taste. The sorbet wasn't disappointing as it brought alive the dark, bitter chocolate pudding. We did not see any traces of chilli over the compote (fruits that are simmered over sugar syrup) but we reckon that it was the romero pepper that was blended into the sweet syrup to produce a refreshing and sharp taste.

Although the meal degustation was at best one for special occasions, it was nevertheless one of the best food encounter I had in 2008. I was utterly satisfied with the cuisine and left the place feeling like a king of sorts.

I do not have the space now to talk about some of the best French restaurants in town but from this example, it can be seen that food culture is very much alive in this small country. We have come from the days when we eat to live. Today, we embrace food for a variety of reasons. Singapore is thus well-poised to bring us a cosmopolitan mix of tastes. Its open, welcoming nature and the "dare-to-try" attitude certainly brings us experiences well within our reach. I certainly look forward to future winning chefs and their signatures.....

I shall write about my F1 food experience at one of the top-notch hotel restaurants soon.....so stay tuned....

P/S We didn't take photos of the food as it would have drawn stares in the dimly-lit and romantic restaurant. But the views are worth a million dollars. You got to be there to be sure...

(Image courtesy of http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/1521/11671404.JPG)