The Picasso of Pastries

"A good thermometer in the kitchen is like having a good pen." ~ Pierre Hermé

Never did I imagine I could attend one of the world's famous Pastry Chef' Pierre Hermé's dessert workshop 2 saturdays' ago (19 Apr). Though it was a mere 1 hr workshop (maybe slightly longer), there were about 100 pax packed in the small auditorium of Singapore Tourism Board. In conjunction with the World Gourmet Summit, this workshop was organised to bring us pastry lovers, an eye-opener to what true pastries were.

Pierre Hermé conducted the workshop in French and it was translated by a fellow French in English. We had the joy of seeing how great were his art pieces and how complicated they could be. He brought us 2 recipes for Révélation and Tarte mogador.

Révélation puff pastry with tomato
puff pastry with tomato

mascarpone cream
olive oil

pieces of black olives
tomato and strawberry compote

Tarte mogador
shortcrust pastry
milk chocolate and passion fruit ganache
roasted pineapple
flourless chocolate cake

I was surprised I fell in love with Révélation since I never enjoyed sweet and salty going together. Not only was the tomato and strawberry compote fantastic, but the sweetness of the mascarpone lifted the whole taste of the pastry. It was really good. On the other hand, maybe because Tarte mogador was prepared in advance, somehow I tasted bitterness from the caramelized pineapples. And that, I felt brought down the taste of that 2nd dessert.

But overall, I was overwhelmed seeing the complexity for each of Pierre Hermé's pastry. I was really glad that D asked me to attend this workshop.

See how satisfied we were...we finished up all the samples we've got! Nothing was left.

‘The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.’
~ Albert Einstein

on a French note

i realise i know so little. i'm gonna bury myself...

i need to find something new to do. any suggestions besides eating/shopping? the weather has been so hot and i can't do anything without the aircondition (what's worse if it's without air circulation! kill me!). have to rethink my goals in life...and to fill up some hope ... it seems like its getting nowhere. status quo scares me...

i hope this is pms...i'm not really in the mood for anything...

when you have nothing much planned

my weekends are usually scheduled with the "to-dos" since weekdays are purely work for me. i could be heading for a movie, meet a friend, be at some exhibitions/events and even shopping for an ocassion.

but yesterday, we had nothing planned except for my 1st visit to browhaus (a place where they do all sort of stuff from shaping, tinting to what they call 'resurrect' your eyebrows). after that appointment, it was an aimless afternoon. we decided to catch a movie (the other boleyn girl) and we did. the movie was surprisely quite good. i thought the cast was great with the versatility of natalie portman's acting skill. after the movie, with the sky still grey, we took a long train ride to changi airport terminal 3. heard and read so much about it, but it was a little overstated. it was nothing fantastic. the place was quiet, the flooring seems old/with poor design, the art displays seem out of place and not worth the money spent and there were so few restaurants. i had thought better of it but it was an utter disappointment (except for the number of rest rooms). nevertheless, we had dinner there and then decided to head home. becos D wanted to get sat's papers, we went to the news agency at tiong bahru plaza. sold out. then walked around the new extension of the mall at basement and found a newly opened dessert stall. got take aways of peanut paste soup and had it hot as soon as we reach home. showered. then went on to watch top chef (an american reality show on cooking) on youtube. we're hooked on it..and only slept around 2 am plus. we had a good sleep and woke up quite happy.

the weekend was a great one. it was easy going, nothing to rush for, peaceful and very relaxing. sometimes, it's good to take the back seat, chill and live life at a slower pace. you may enjoy it better that way. and i may just learn to do that.

dancing away the blues

just got California Dreaming by Mamas & Papas from KS. was dancing away while trying new clothes with the beat of the nonchalent rhythm. wish i was there in the 60s...so carefree..so happy...and that was life.

2nd round failed. Time to move on.

Fashion bonus

I, for one, protest against lousy brassieres with underwires/fabric so uncomfortable to wear. I don't understand why brassieres are made the way it is and wish there could be further development for us ladies to feel as "free" as it is for men. ha..

I've discovered a great product for the fashion conscious victims. yeah! Here I'm introducing you the Nippies - one of the best invention in the market (after the aircon which I cannot live without!). Created for those who dare-to-bare and not submit to incompatible undergarments. Nippies are made of silicon and all you need to do is to stick it on. It's secure and can be used up to 50 times. They can be easily washed with normal soap and all you need is to dry them and they can be reused again. So easy right? It's really comfortable since it's as good as not wearing anything underneath. So don't submit and make do with lousy brassieres when wearing revealing tops. This is definitely a great fashion product worth trying!

You can find them selling at Warehouse outlets, Tangs and probably other outlets in town.

Majestic Restaurant

A twist of cantonese and contemporary/fusion cooking, Chef Yong Bing Ngen placed the best for cantonese cooking dishes with a little touch of difference and surprises.

Today we had 2 goals for dinner - to try something new and nothing too oily. We long to try the Majestic Restaurant since its opening, but never had the chance to. So we decide to fulfill it today. The restaurant is located at Bukit Pasoh, a neighbourhood at Chinatown which houses lots of old coffee shops and unknown eateries. It's not a place you'll be during the weekend unless you had planned to have lunch/dinner there.

The decor was surprisingly warm and had a little look of fine dining with wine glasses on each table (not something I like actually). However, it was not as intimidating as it seems. Everyone there seems to be at ease and comfortably dressed (slippers are allowed!!).

We got a good 2 seater against a wall and from there we could have a good view of everyone in the restaurant. I especially love the round tables which seats a group of 4 to 6s pax and the individual portions of appetizers and dishes.

Our choices tonight :

1. Soup of the day ("leng tong" in cantonese)- turnip soup
2. Appetizer - Wasabi prawns, beijing duck, foie gras
3. Main - (1) Individual portions of steam perched fish; (2) Sweet & sour pork
   
4. Fried carrot cake

They were so good. The soup was boiled long enough to feel the richness and all-round taste of the ingredients. Though I prefer the beijing duck at Lei Gardens, this one was quite good too. The foie gras however had room for improvement. Having steam fish let us taste the freshness of the dish. And the sweet and sour pork was not too bad for D's palete (this was his choice as he loves this dish). The surprise came from the Fried Carrot Cake which was the signature dish of the restaurant. Salted fish and bean sprouts were added to bring up the taste of this common hawker food. The carrot cake was done perfect together with eggs added to give the right texture to the whole dish. Not much to say about the dessert though - Mango puree with pomelo which we thought didn't give its best. Overall, we're happy with our choice tonight.

As I was looking at the round dining tables and the set menu, i was hoping to go there again either with my family or girl friends. I think it is a great place to get together, chat up and relax. Will definitely revisit the place again.

Writing a card

I've had a gift card with me for a longest time. Been trying to fill it up with words for a friend. Can't seem to gather my thoughts to put down some words in writing. Probably got it 2 weeks back and though deadline was today, I still couldn't pen anything down. I've kept the little card for the next time. And perhaps once the alphabets get in the right place and with a better perspective of what I had in mind, I will try again.

Till then.......the gift card heads back in the drawer.

Sony should check this out!

"New Sony Bravia teaser??? Maybe it's a new Sony campaign... Maybe not!!!"

A holistic/schizophrenic effort by London-based animation director Kobayashi (see hi-res versions here) in this test commercial. If you like the fantastic original with all the coloured balls or paint, you may like this one (especially if you like rabbits!):

Potential Bravia Commercial


Interestingly, found a similar one on Youtube, an actual commercial effort by ad agency Fallon: