PASTA 101

I am crazy about pasta and sometimes my wife says that I should be born in Italy. (laughs)
Maybe someday I must really go for some serious Italian culinary classes, but for the moment practice my basic pasta.

Lets see what pasta I am cooking today.




Taglierini alla Bottarga
(Taglierini pasta with mullet roe)

Ingredients:
Bottarga
Taglierini
Garlic
Italian Parsley
Olive oil
Red pepper
Salt
Pepper






Bottarga is a specialty in the Sardinia island, Italy. I got my bottarga when I went Taiwan, they called it "乌鱼子", and prices are relatively cheaper. Japanese also produces very good bottarga and they called it "Karasumi", but prices are also alot higher than Taiwanese. This explains why I saw many Japanese buying bottarga when I toured Taiwan.

My second time trying to cook the bottarga pasta. This time I sauteed the red pepper and minced garlic to golden brown in olive oil followed by adding the freshly boiled pasta. After mixing the taglierini in infused oil, I garnished the pasta with chopped parsley and grated bottarga. I think the whole did not blend well together and it was also a little too oily.

Regretting this way of cooking, I researched on a better bottarga recipe in the internet and I found one really good one. It was prepared by Chef Giuliano Gargani and he is the owner of the famous "Trattoria Garga" in Florence, Italy. I saw his youtube video and immediately it caught my full attention. His restaurant is also very well-acknowledged by Japanese, and he owned one at Tokyo, トラットリア ガルガ TRATTORIA GARGAS.


Youtube URL for video recipe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSfMvXTw7r8

Trattoria Garga

Location: Via del Moro 48r, Firenze
Telephone: +39 005 239 8898
Email: garga@fol.it


トラットリア ガルガ TRATTORIA GARGAS
http://www.vinvino-to.jp/gargas/

S&B Instant Pasta Sauce by Chef Ochiai

When instant food is mentioned, one will instantly think of Japan.
Japanese can proudly say that they one great inventor of instant, a good example will be instant noodles. For me, I like to explore their retort pack instant pasta sauce. Japanese creates alot of fusion with pasta, they have their special way of preparing food all over the world and never too apart from original.

In Japan, there is an Italian Chef that inspires me alot and he is Chef Tsutomu Ochiai, owner and chef of La Bettola. He loves sharing his techniques and do not over complicate method of cooking pasta. (I have watched him on TV). When I saw his collaboration of pasta sauce with S&B, I immediately bought and tried out.
The first S&B pasta sauce I bought was arrabiata pasta sauce. Arrabiata is an Italian word for Angry. Why? It was made with rich fruity ripe tomatoes, garlic, red chillies and olive oil. Simple yet packs alot of punches.
My second choice was the "Uni" (Sea Urchin) pasta sauce, I chose it because I like sea urchin. The box contained two retort pouches. One with the sea urchin and another was cream sauce. The only thing I could figure out was the difference in retort timing during the packaging process. I boiled my favourite De Cecco Fettuccine to pair with it but found out that Taglierini would be a better choice. (Taglierini picks up the sauce better) Here is the outcome of the taste, sauce was packed with flavour of the sea, a rich sea urchin sauce.

("Uni" pasta is the best seller at La Bettola)
The pack contains a good amount of sea urchin and the price is just 380円, definitely a good buy.

I really look forward to my next few purchase which will be included in one of the URL below.


S&B Pasta
http://www.sbfoods.co.jp/products/catalog/products.php?CGLCODE=00700&CGMCODE=00200&CGSCODE=00100

LA BETTOLA
http://www.la-bettola.co.jp/

De Cecco
http://www.dececco.it/EN/

Lunch at Gattopardo

Having stayed at the Fort Canning hotel for once, a restaurant had caught my eyes with display of a range of 'GAJA' wines from Piemonte, Italy. It was Gattopardo. However, I did not dine there until recently when I thought of having some nice pizzas. It was all because of the news about the opening of Antica Pizzeria "Da Michele" in Japan.

Gattopardo was opened at the 'Hotel Fort Canning' and like any fine Italian dining it has quite a big window wine cellar. Entering in there is a bar top that looks somewhat like a Japanese sushi counter where one can view and order the fresh seafood. Gattopardo offers free corkage for BYO wines on Tuesday and they also participated in the 'World Gourmet Summit'.
Top: Starter, Capellini alla Moresca (Angel Hair Pasta with Grey Mullet "Bottarga" Roe and Sea Urchin), Margherita (Mozzarella,Tomato Sauce and Fresh Basil)

I have decided to order the pasta because I was crazy over cooking the famous Bottarga pasta from Sardinia after I bought some bottarga from Taiwan. Capellini alla Moresca was well-coated with a layer of bottarga sauce with subtle aroma of Italian parsley and topped with grilled sea urchin which gives a richness of the sea. What I like about this pasta was the handmade capellini.

Armed with a wood fire oven framed by travertine walls, how bad can the pizza taste. (Laughs)
The Margherita pizza give me the feeling of warm and cosy food, with just the right amount of tomato paste and good amount of mozzarella cheese. In addition, Chef Lino Sauro makes an effort to walk around to greet all the guests and I find him really friendly and also funny.

In summary, Gattopardo is a good place for Italian food but the pricing is a little to high.
I might want to try their Sunday Brunch someday.
Adult
$78 (free flow of juices)
$118 (free flow of wine and beer)
$148 (free flow of Champagne, Wine and Beer)

Child
Free (below 6 years old)
$ 24 (6-12 years old)

*Brunch is open from 11.30am to 3pm. Last order is at 2.30pm.

[On the topic of Antica Pizzeria "Da Michele", I will leave a url below. They only serve two types of pizza for the last five generations and their pizzas are awesome. At the entrance of Antica Pizzeria, crowds and crowds of people are queuing up waiting to have their pizzas.]

Gattopardo Italian Grill & Pizzabar

Cuisine: Contemporary Italian and Mediterranean cuisine
11 Canning Walk, Fort Canning Park, Singapore 178881
Tel: +65 6338 5498
Email: reservations@gattopardo.com.sg

Opening Hour: (Lunch) 12.00pm - 3.00pm, (Dinner) 6.30pm - 10.30pm [Daily]

http://www.gattopardo.com.sg
http://www.worldgourmetsummit.com
http://damichele.net

Attended a friend wedding in Japan

(Wedding ceremony held at Hiroshima Gokoku Shrine)

Traditional Japanese weddings are normally held at shrine and the priests will perform a ritual to bless the newly-wed. Sake will also be serve at the end, followed by a group photo. I was invited for some weddings in Japanese but could not make, luckily I managed to attend one.

(Left to right: Avocado Prawn Salad, Salmon Carppacio, Forest Mushrooms Soup, Hamaguri Clam CoCotte, Provence Style, freshly baked bread)

Like Singapore, wedding reception will be held at the hotel. Popular wedding meals are French and usually last about two hours with some performances by the couple's friends. This wedding reception I attended was at Rihga Royal Hotel, Hiroshima and they served French courses with wine pairing.

(Top: Grilled Sea Bass & Scallop, Chestnut Puree, Lobster Bisque dressing)
(Bottom: Roasted Beef, Season Vegetables, Horse Radish Demi-Glace sauce)

(Assorted desserts)

In Japanese wedding, a whole decorated cake will be made fresh on the day. During the middle of the wedding reception, the couple will feed each other cakes. ( The ancient Romans believed that the joint partaking of the cake created a magic bonding. The sweetness symbolized the couples' future happiness and the grain held the promise of a fruitful union.)
The cake will also be cut to serve the guest before the wedding reception ends.

In summary, I felt that Japanese wedding is more meaningful than Singapore's. Parents of the newly-wed will personally go round every table to greet everyone and serve drinks. Friends will perform for the newly-wed in form of performances, dances and speeches. I think I will try to attend another Japanese wedding in this year.

http://www.h-gokoku.or.jp/
http://www.rihga.com/hiroshima/

Meals onboard ANA

Changi Aiport - Haneda Airport - Changi Airport
Having fly SIA for some time, I felt ANA serve up something better. Not that I have missed the good old days when SIA used to serve warm sandwiches or panini for night flight but the way ANA thinks for their passengers. Before serving any refreshments, I received a goodie bag with a Fiji water, a bag of chips, wet towel and a small bar of chocolate. Air stewardess saved time pushing plain water around and passengers can refuel their body fuel along the flight as and when they need. [For me, this is an edge better than SIA]
Top: Western Breakfast. (omelet, sausage, baked potatoes)
Bottom: Low Carbohydrate Meal. (egg white omelet, peas, tomatoes)
Breakfast was served from Singapore to Haneda Airport. Nothing too fanciful but simple and hearty, with a yogurt and orange juices to refresh.
Top: Japanese Breakfast. (teriyaki fish, 筑前煮, seaweed salad with assorted seafood, konnyaku, seasoned aubergine, soyabean sprouts)
Bottom: Low Carbohydrate Meal. (fish in colourful dressing, chicken salad, mixed salad)
Breakfast was served from Tokyo to Singapore. I compared the Japanese breakfasts of ANA and SIA, ANA was an edge above SIA in term of taste and appearances.

Overall, ANA leaves me a good impression from the food to their services.
I will try to take ANA more often.

http://www.ana.co.jp

BOEING Dreamliner

Established since 1952, ANA motto's to bring a pleasant flight to Japanese. In Year 2011, they are proud to be the first to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Why are they so proud? Well, of course, it is a plane made from Japan. The big collaboration with the Boeing, they create the greatest history of engineers, pilots and passengers. The 787 is developed with Toray, Kawasaki, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and everyone from ANA (pilots especially with the software flight programming and the customized O2 mask designed to fit faces of all sizes). The wings curved so smoothly because it was a plane made with composite materials, making every production engineers a 'dream come true'. The 787 also consumes less fuel making it able to fly from Japan all the way to New York without fuel refueling where else the normal commercial jet can only reach Los Angeles.
On the way to a friend's wedding at Hiroshima, I planned and was lucky to be able to boarded the 787. It was exciting, most of the Japanese will take a photo when they passed by this aircraft.
Rainbow cove lighting (LED) greeted me as I entered, then spacious dome shaped bar top with sweets and postcards.
On board the 787, one can find the window larger and no windows shades. The technology behind this is the special electrochromism-based "auto-dimming" features, reducing the glare. Clearly, these windows are an edge above the rest, allowing passenger to enjoy the view outside.

The latest Rolls Royce Engines are designed with cowling, this is to reduce the noise created allowing passengers to have a much more pleasant flight.

Finally, one get to enjoy the TV facilities on-board the domestic flights, with a larger touch-panel screen and new controller.

The lastest 787 air-conditioning is also equipped with the latest air-filtration system allowing the air to flow in 4 directions instead of two, creating fresher and moist air-conditioning.

Here are some of the nice images I took on the flight. It was truly a very pleasant and safe flight.
I Love Boeing 787 Dreamliner!!!


http://www.ana.co.jp/
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787family/