The Self Inspired Chef

Thinking of running a restaurant? Think twice then... think again.

2009-07-05T11:20:00.003+08:00

Gordon Ramsay profits plunge due to recession and being so ambitious.

• Celebrity chef sells Ferrari to inject funds into business• Pretax profits tumble from £3.05m to £383,325
Profits at Gordon Ramsay’s UK restaurants have plunged by nearly 90% and the celebrity chef has been forced to pump his own money into the business.

Ramsay’s latest company accounts show the restaurant chain came close to the brink as revenues collapsed while debt and tax bills mounted up.

The precarious situation caused the TV chef and Chris Hutcheson, his father-in-law and business partner, to inject the business with £5m. Ramsay had to sell his Ferrari to help fund the move.

Ramsay’s business problems were blamed on ambitious expansion as well as the closure of key London restaurants such as the Savoy Grill, as pretax profits tumbled from £3.05m in 2007 to £383,325.

The Savoy Grill was shut because of refurbishment at its host hotel, while the Connaught lease expired. The two restaurants alone accounted for a £9.5m reduction in revenues.

The firm said a restructuring of operations meant the group had “successfully undergone change for the better” and was now “well placed to grow its operation with a more stable capital base and a more manageable overall structure”.

Ramsay’s restaurant business expanded significantly in 2007 and 2008 but, in the year to August 2008, turnover dropped to £35m from £41.6m the previous year. Net debt soared from £4.06m to £9.48m.

A full review of operations was instigated in December as part of a refinancing deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland and to help the business get through the troubled economic times.

The cash injection from Ramsay and Hutcheson came after the firm had to pay £8m in VAT, corporation tax and PAYE. This has now mostly been repaid and will be completely settled by the end of this month.

Hutcheson said: “2008 brought its own challenges, not just for our group, but for the industry as a whole and the broader economy.

“Whilst the restructuring has benefited the group, the significant contribution and commitment of all 750 staff to the business has been integral to moving us to a position of strength.”
The firm said 25 staff were sacked as part of the restructuring efforts.

Of Ramsay’s 11 London venues, the Boxwood Café and his restaurants in Royal Hospital Road and at Claridges emerged as the star performers.

The restaurant at the Connaught hotel was closed after its lease expired, but two further ventures were opened in the capital: Murano in Mayfair and York and Albany in Camden.

The Narrow has had extra seating installed, Petrus is due to move to Knightsbridge later this year after closing last September, Maze has been fully refurbished and the Savoy Grill is set to reopen with the hotel in early 2010.

But La Noisette in Knightsbridge ceased trading in January this year and was described as a consistently underperforming site.

taken from THe GUARDIAN NEWS, July 3, 2009

wow wow wow...

2009-06-17T18:08:00.015+08:00

Salam and Hello.

Im back in the blogging scene for now. I had wonderful Umrah 'minor' Pilgrimige to the holy land Al Haram city of Makkah and Madinah. Met all kinds of people with different culture and race with a mission for a holy experience. Im not preaching but now brace yourslef...

I haven't got a clue. I'm sure it was Seafood dish. Stuffed in a bread. (Zam Zam tower Makkah)

Arabic dessert. dough?? syrup?? pistahcio?? Filo Pastry??

Bird's nest with custard fillings.

Figs.

Array of mixed Western desserts.

Raspberry tart? didn't fancy them.

Arabic Mixed Grilled of chicken, lamb and Beef. (Low quality photo)

Lamb Rice.(low quality photo).

I guess this was trio of aubergines cooked in arabic spices. Lots of saffron there.

ahh... Rack of lamb.

Varieties of spring rolls. There were Cheese fillings.

Bread rolls.

Pendesal and Chicken Soup

Right... what was this called? It's vine leaves stuff with rice and minced meat. This is a traditional dish in the middle eastern country. Greek as well. Dolma? very earthy and filling.

Salad station. lots and lots of pickles!

Can you see Hommous there? Youghurt dips too...

Italian lover: you know this. M-O-Z-A-R-R-E-L-L-A

Our snack we had white waiting for Solat. Cream Cheese, Crackers and Grapes. Not too arabic is it?

Finally I had the chance to enjoy arabic Lamb Rice on a "Talam". Basically Talam is large saucer. Whats more unique is that I had this in Makkah. Can't compare right. :)

Grilled baby chicken from Al Tasaj??

Yes, Al Tasaj is it.

Daily bread in Maddinah.

Shish Kebabs at Madinah.

again... Stuffed Vine Leaves.

You won't miss Fried Chicken and Chips in Madinah.

haha... they love to take pictures.

Food court in Madinah.

Again...

Olive Salad.

Grilled Baby chicken from Madinah.

Fried Tilapia fish served at our Madinah Hotels.

I think thats all that i have. I can't seem to find the big clear water fish! it's tasteless. I coudn't find the picture. It has no appetite appeal at all. I will show you once I found it.

Regards...

Chef Pol

Aged Beef?

2009-05-14T13:15:00.007+08:00

Hi Eleanor :)

After good 2 and half hours, I did a nice braised short ribs with Sultanas using basic ingredients. I simply sealed it off (browning) before adding them to the pan. The idea of experimenting using aged beef was to find the difference using home aged beef and normal non aged.

Browning.

Cook everything in a deep sauce pan.

a good 2 hours and half in the oven

The end product. Now, how tender is the beef after it had been left to dehydrate for another 5 days? It's time comsuming for sure. Does it really give extra flavour? yes or no? Celebrity chefs can talk on and on. Cooking is no rocket science.

What can i say about this dish. My verdict is that I don't see any difference with aging beef. Maybe this is a one-sided cooking method (Braising). I will try again with steaks, sirloin or strips and try it out on the grill. It's time consuming and perhaps i can overcharged my customer and labelling them "22 days AGED Beef " Ha~~. Ask any idiots or a blonde they will tell you it taste just like a beef. :) so, is hung beef really economical? With the need of large storage spaces, controlled fridge and trimmings?

I believe good proper cooking method, proper basic ingredients and of course proper tools, the result can be achieved. So long you don't try to be poncey especially when you are a chef. Aged or non aged beef? It doesn't really matter. So Mdm Eleanor, that is my verdict. However, short ribs are delicious. Cook it right, it can't go wrong. :)

Tender?

Have a good Evening you Beefeater!

Regards,

Chef Pol

Home dry aging Beef

2009-05-09T13:00:00.005+08:00

The purpose for aging beef in a cool room temperature is a way to tenderise the meat. In Brunei, this is not our tradition. We normally like to buy meat where it is freshly slaugthered on the day then kept in the freezer. We tend to buy bright red colour texture because we like to think its fresh and clean. I also like to say Buffalo (KERBAU)and Cattle/Cow (SAPI) are not the same.

Buffalo is very lean, quite dark in colour, good flavour, light and a little sweet. As Cattle has more fat content, rich meaty flavour which takes longer to cook and not as healthy as Buffalo. :) I tend to use Buffalo meat when it comes to cooking Malay or Indian cuisine like Rendang. For Western menus like stew and also chinese braising method, I find cattle is the better option.

When beef is dry aged, the beef's natural enzyme (bacteria) breaks down the protein and the connective tissue. Well, thats the theory. On a real process, beef is hung at a specific temperature in order to get the right humidity. This method is expensive as after 22 days there will alot of trimming (mould) and when the meat dehydrates, this will cause in weight lost. Having said that, i think that justify my conclusion why our local butcher can't be bothered selling dry aged beef. I think so.

Anyway, Im experimenting using a fridge in the office. I will give this beautiful short ribs another 4 to 5 days. I will judge by looking at dryness on the meat.

Dry Aged short ribs

Lets make this sexy babes fantastic. I can't wait.

regards,

Chef Pol

Foodie Bloggers Recipe book.

2009-05-05T12:24:00.002+08:00

Get your copy now at $10 each., available at Shop@Sarah Qlap Mall. 200 copies left (I think). All proceeds goes to charity fund.

bye
Chef Pol

Fun dessert.

2009-04-28T15:58:00.008+08:00

I often see typical french pattisserie Mille-fuille on display in majority European cafes. It normally consist of many layers of puff pastry that could be stacked with all sort of berry fruits of Raspberries or Strawberries. It then incorporated with cream or mousse. Lined with flat layers of pastry. As a chef would like to experiment alot, I use spring roll pastry instead of the classic puff pastry.

Simply brush them with melted butter on each layer.

Baked till golden brown.

Shaped into rectangle and ready for the oven.

Since Brunei grow bananas, I round cut into half an inch then caramelised it on a pan. Drizzle with toffee or caramel or butterscotch whatever you want to call it. Addtional ice cream would complete the whole plate. You could also use chocolate sauce.

Not so French is it? Bananas?

Good for home and good in the menu too. It's not pretentious as it doesn't seems like it, hardly any wastage, minumum ingredients thus what else for an affordable dessert. One good tip for chefs, "sell something that you are good at, be creative, nothing pretentious and easy to prepare".

Poached Seabass on Egg noodle with baby spinach.with wasabi Vinegrette. Clean, refreshing and I cant think of anything healthier than this. Now thats a good thought.

Wonderful Vinaigrette of all. My 1st time using powdered wasabi. I have yet to see the difference between ready made ones and powdered. Judging by taste, Its smilarly the same. It balance the heavy texture from the noodles as the sharpness from the vinaigrette makes the texture adorably lighter on the palate. If your diner can't take Wasabi, you can substitute with lime and grate some zest off the skin. :)

Regards,

Chef Pol

[Foodie Charity event 2009]

2009-04-27T14:02:00.008+08:00

hi guys...

It was absolutely fun Sunday yesterday. I sort of compete in the Foodie Bloogers Charity event held at Pablo's. My charity recipe of Seabass got 4th place after the vote. Yesterday was my 1st time ever gathering among our local bloggers. I got to meet Chef Nash, Pablo, Nikki, Maurina and some others. It was really not bad with good host and lots of food. (damn!)

Since I'm recovering from minor gout on my left foot, I refrained myself from indulging those lovely range of food. I was so tempted to try out AnakBrunei's dirty Lamb :). I just didn't have the balls to eat it and risk another gout attack! sia sia pun.

To be able to watch our brigade of local Chefs (head by Chef Nash) cooking demonstration was indeed a positive thing. Lets hope we will see more locals will come into the ranks. Keep it up guys.

With that I also like to mention here about the winning sweets by Nikki. Her Macaroon is just like any french made ones. Forget Ladure'e Ladure'e Macaroon. Make orders from her. Trust me :). You just don't get Srewpine leave (Pandan) Macaroon in France do you? I think I'm going to give another attempt making macaroon.

On positive note, It was a nice meeting you guys. Till then. Enjoy yourself

Regards,

Chef Pol

Menu #3 [Foodie Bloggers Charity Event 2009] Pan seared Scallop and scrambled egg with chives

2009-04-21T11:59:00.007+08:00

I choose scallop for this event simply because they are cute and a unique shellfish. It would be nice if someone could supply me hand caught Scallop than the dredged ones. You can buy them at Utama Grand or Hua Ho.I bought mine from Utama Grand. Try to pick the nicest of all. Since this Scallop had been dredged, You will see a lot of bruises on the texture. So take your time before buying it. Yes, its expensive, but you'd rather make your own then paying for some establishment overly charged price just to make them look pretty and expensive.

Pan Seared Scallop and Scrambled Egg with chives.

Ingredients:

Large Frozen Scallop - 3 pieces
Eggs = 3 whole Eggs and 1 Egg Yolk
Local Fresh Chives - Chopped finely
Cream and Butter
Salt & blackpepper

To cook the Scallop: Make sure the Scallop is thoroughly thawed, dry them in the fridge then pad them dry with clean tea towel. This will reduce the water content absorded in the Scallop when coooking. Depend on size, Seasoned with salt & pepper then cook the Scallop about 2 minutes or so on a medium high heat with butter on each side.

Pan Seared Scallop with butter.

To make Scrambled Egg: Whisk 3 eggs and the egg yolk with a little bit of cream and salt to taste. Cook on a non Stick Pan with butter. When it start to scrambled, throw the chopped Chives and bind it together. Make sure its not to dry. Leave a little bit of moist.

This dish can be quite impressive if you put a little Green salad leaves or you could drizzle flavoured oil to it. It's fun for a small party, be it as a canapes or Starters. For chefs working in a restaurant, put this on your menu.

Regards,

Chef Pol

Menu #1 [Foodie Bloggers Charity Event 2009] Rib eye steak, pumpkin mashed with Peach Sauce

2009-04-19T19:16:00.005+08:00

Menu number #1 posted today. I would love this steak dish to be part of the charity. It is so simple and easy. I think steak is popular to everyone as it should. Since the invasion of cheap meat Buffalo from India and China, Many has forgotten how delicious cattle are. Don't get me wrong. Buffalo meat ryhmes well mostly on malay spicy cuisine like Rendang. Western cuisine does not use alot of spices. Having said that, Buffalo has got this raw meaty after test. It's very lean and has low fat content. So with a lot of spices it surely balance the taste.

Even so, in a business, you don't need to use cattle. Only if you want to indulge your customers then do so. An amazing cook can turn cheap cuts into something so delicious. Be it from the shin, blade, briskets or trimmings.

Get your rib eye steak with most white marbling fat.

Seared Rib eye Steak, Mashed pumpkin with peach Sauce.

Difficulties = EASY.
Served 1.

Ingredients:
Round Cut Australian PDS Rib eye Steak. - NOT WATER BUFFALO. (can be easily bought at SupaSave or Utama Grand)
Fresh Rosemary sprig - u can use dried ones too about half teaspoon.
3 cloves of garlic
Salt & blackpepper
Butter - NOT PLANTA

Yellow Pumpkin

for mashed:
Yellow Pumpkin - Cut into small pieces so its quicker to cook.
French Mustard - Optional
Butter

for the sauce:
One canned of peach with syrup.
A blender.

Methods:

Blitz the whole peach in the can. Blend until smooth. Put aside.
Boil the diced Pumpkin into a rapid boiling water. sprinkle some salt. Checked until it become so mushy. Mashed the pumpkin with a wooden spoon and add one tablespoon of mustard. salt & blackpepper to taste. To add richness to it, add a knob of butter. Taste until you are satisfied. Put aside.
Use Non stick Pan. You pan has to be very hot. Smashed the garlic and throw into the pan together with rosemary sprig. Seared your meat on the pan, seasoned with salt & blackpepper. now add butter (just enough to bast the whole meat). Keep basting using a spoon on each side. I cook my steak Medium which is slightly pink. Overcooked meat would make it go dry and boring. If you are unsure, fork out the meat on a chopping board and cut on the side. You can tell whether its medium or still rare.

Points:
Medium = slightly pink, or pale
Rare = bright and bloody.
To assemble: Pour the sauce, Place steak within the sauce, then scoop mashed pumpkin and put on the side. Thats it.

Seared Rib Eye Steak, Pumpkin Mashed with Peach Sauce

Regards
ChefPol

Bass and Leeks [Foodie Bloggers Charity Event 2009] Menu #2

2009-04-18T14:31:00.007+08:00

Pan Seared Local Seabass, Braised Leeks and Citrus Sauce.

4 main ingredients. Seabass, Leeks, Orange, Red Onion and Garlic.

Please ask your butcher to fillet you bass.

Firstly, Sqeeze about 4 orange juice. Pass it through a sieve.

To make the sauce: Pour half of the juice into a sauce pan, heat it up until it reduce into half. Once Reduced, Pour the rest into the pan and dilute. If you orange happens to be quite sour, add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Put salt and White pepper to taste. Finish it off with a little bit of Cream. Taste then keep aside. heat off.

Braised your leeks using *fish stock (don't throw away fish head and bones as u can make fish stock with this.) Simmer leeks until soft and easy to cut through. Use a knife to test to find out.
Have your Red onion diced into small cubes. keep aside.

Now prepare your fish. Use a non stick pan. Seasoned the fist with Salt & pepper, cook with melted butter. I assume every side takes 2 minutes to cook. Remember. Seabass is very delicate and it breaks up easily. So have your convinient spatula or flat spoon handy.
Heat your sauce and throw in the diced Onions. Just before starts to boil, take it off and spoon over your plate.

To assemble: Place the fish in the middle of the sauce, arrange your braised leeks on the side. garnished with mint leave and orange segment.

There you have it. Fresh and clean. Good for ladies. Wooo your love ones. I did not invent this dish but Ive created it and refined. This is not on the menu as this is a dish to be cooked at home. Very simple and very much straight forward. The use of local Seabass is absolutely important. Yes its quite expensive. It's sustainable and you know where your fish comes from. Compare some frozen fish which was brought all the way from Norway or the Atlantic. Tsk tsk tsk...

*Fish Stock: Fill up your deep sauce pan or any boling pan will do. Put the fish head and bones and fill cold water about 2/3 of the pan. Skim any scum using a spoon. Add just a little bit of salt and garlic to the boulion (stock). Boil until its half reduced. Strained and keep in the fridge until needed.

Regards,

Chef Pol

p/s : Few more recipes coming. I was supposed to email this to Senor Pablo (world-of-pablo.blogspot.com). I hope you can just refer the recipes from my blog. Macam 2 tiga kali keraja mate. hehe. On the other note, I think this post is very rare because I don't normally include recipes. I'm very bad with measurements so i rather not elaborate it in my blog unless requested through emails. Ok, lets hope this recipe goes into the book. :)

Bloggers Foodie Charity event 26th April 2009

2009-04-16T11:11:00.002+08:00

Farm local Seabass

I have been invited to contribute recipes for the Foodie Blog charity challenge. This morning i bought live farm seabass. Whats amazing about it, it doesn't come from Norway or the Atlantic Ocean. It's sustainable, definitely not endangered. Local breed.

Im going to create a few recipes that is easier to cook at home by just anyone. We will see.
Update later...

Puttanesca!!!

2009-04-11T23:45:00.003+08:00

What it means is kinda offensive. Why did they invented? I sure not know why. This fiery tomato based sauce with Anchovies is absolutely lovely. An Italian dish on the plate. Key ingredients consist of capers, Anchovies and Black Olives.

Spagetti Puttanesca with Beef Fillet.

Enjoy...

Chef Pol

My few many attempt on "Sweets".

2009-04-07T15:03:00.012+08:00

Here are few of my sweets collection. I won't retract what i wrote in my profile above. As much as I resent being pastry Chef. Learning and to be able to create from basic is okay. An all rounder chef is vital.
It is always nice to be move around section than sticking to just one section. I certainly would not prefer myself to be working on one section and doing the same thing for years and years. This could result an 'opportunist' chef (be it local or foreign) to bypass you, and that is just your lost really.
I think every young trainee chef should be given the chance to cook or be in the kitchen larder (Butcher) or mise en place (food preperation) rather than being abused to wash dirty plates on thier part of trainning.
This young trainee expect to be learning anything related to cooking.
This is the reason why we lack local young Chefs but dont get me wrong, we do have many of... Potentials. Unfortunately, potential counts nothing in the real world.
So, kau, kau, you and you, you, yes... you.. oii.. you... oii orang baru.. oii chef baru belajar... Cuci semua barang kotor ni sampai bersih. (mudahan aku dapat jaga periuk nasi aku dan geng geng aku for the next 10 tahun lagi he... he ...he....)

I think this was floating Island. It's a poached Meringue in vanilla mlik served with toffee sauce and white chocolate.

Who wouldn't like Chocolate Truffles.

Italian Meringue!!!

This was posted before. My few weeks stint at the hotel while still at college. I learned chocolate tampering. Fantastic.

If I can remember this was chocolate baileys cake and this Raspberry slabs mousse. I've forgoten what was it called. Sorry.

Souffles, Souffles... Classic French

Birthday Cakes too.

Wild berries Crumble with Ice cream. Apple tuiles on top.

Frangipane tart.

Apricot Delice. Rounded using white chocolate thin papper. It was an experiment. Now I wonder whether it actually went on to the dessert menus.

Brioche of chocolate chips and custard?

Crust salt baked Pineappale with Ice cream

Savarin with manggo and Vanilla Sabayon. Classic dish by the well known chef Brillat Savarin. This cake is rich in yeast it easy to absord syrup.

Brioche butter pudding. Playing around with Sugar work.

Petit fours.... amuse bouche...

Marshmalows, chocolate something and ice cream.

My beauty one. Melting Chcolate Fondant cake.

Panacotta, with almond buscuit.

Ive got alot more. I'll post again in due course. My pastry skills is getting rusty. It's ok, it doesn't bother me.

Have a good evening everyone.

Chef Pol

Almost Greek

2009-04-04T13:35:00.005+08:00

Today we did Greek menus. There were Lentils Soup, Pilaf Youghurt rice, Beef Stifado (Greek Stew), Cabbage & Leeks Cream, Steam Carrots and Baked Auburgine.

Greek Youghurt Pilaf Rice

Steam Carrot

Greek Beef Stidado. We use local Shallots as a garnish. Beef Stifado is basically a Stew Greek Style. This dish has lntense Cinnamon Flavour.

Baked Auburgine

Let me take this time to say a sincere Thank you to those readers for wishing to try out some dishes that I Posted.
Let me remind to some readers that this is not a Commercial blog. It's my way trying to inspire Potential young Local Bruneians Chef, or any under priviliege boys and girls who would love to take cooking as a career.
It's not an issue about where i Cook. Be it at home or at my work place. Im here to share, So far one particular guy say its bragging? like huh?
I'll be happy to give out recipes providing I am free. Just one thing you guys should know is that I don't do measurements. bad bad... I know.
I also believe we can earn a living being a cook or a Chef. Just what fascinates me is the amount of foreign "HEAD CHEF" (cooks or Chefs) flooding our Food Industries.
Until now we have yet to witness Local chef to hold the rein as HEAD CHEF, Executives Chef at any of Brunei's renown Hotel's, leading catering Industries. Cafes or Restaurants.
I just can't see why our local Chef can't be appointed. I can't dictate either ...
I can't do it alone. We need more local talent to take over our local cafes or restaurants.
As for now I'll post up any new menus for fun.

p/s: To Italian Lover, please stop being a stalker. I'll be happy if you yourself is a Chef, maybe we can set up 1st ever Local Bruneian Chef Association. Please be nice and Thank you.

regards,

Saifol

Comfort Food

2009-04-01T13:41:00.002+08:00

Cottage pie and Roasted sweet Potatoes today. Tomorrow we b doing Greek Beef stew called Stifado. Lets hope it turn out alrite. Greek baby...

see u tomorrow

Chef Pol

Moroccon Tomorrow!!!

2009-03-30T20:58:00.004+08:00

Speaking about food being the most tasty would be the likes of Indian, Arabic, Malay cuisines. These origin use lots of spices like cumin, cloves, cardamon, tumeric, dry chillies to name a few. I hope our Local palate can take spicy spices for tomorrow's lunch menu. Im going for the Moroccon Chicken BBQhttp://sefolism.com with moroccon Pilaf rice. The dessert to be feature tomorrow will be Baklava. Oh yes.. It's going to be arabic Menu tomorrow.

And today we had little experiment on which spices to make for a marinade. I mean look at that grilled chicken below. Tempting, NO? :P . I knew I just had something in mind what to do with it.

....you Guessed it...

Coconut Baklava

What Recession?

2009-03-20T11:27:00.003+08:00

Our own local Produce in the backyard of our Kitchen. I bought the seeds and the brigade planted it. A round Auburgine (Eggplant or Terong). It got me thinking about growing fruits and vegetables when I retired someday. Truly enjoy this local grown for our personal use. Saves money too. well... in a way it does :)

It's Organic and absolutely no Pesticide.

Regards,

Chef Pol

Stroganoff

2009-03-19T13:58:00.003+08:00

Roast Potatoes

Boiled Carrot baton with tomato puree

Poached Egg noodle in Garlic Broth

ahh... Saute'ed French bean and Soya Bean. Soya has full of nutrients you needed in your body. We soaked them for 24 hours, making its cooking time reduced and well cooked. The little crunch adds flavour.

Grilled Beef Stroganoff. Made with homemade sour cream. Quite popular among them.

Regards,

Chef Pol

Wednesday...

2009-03-18T13:01:00.002+08:00

Lunch for today was:

Cauliflower fritters
Stir fried Red Cabbage
Fettucine Aglio alio
Fish Stew with spinach
MInted Pea Soup with cream

This is the 1st time that we use Red cabbage on our lunch menu. It's sweet and nicely cooked to a certain crunch.

Who cares about presentation.

Minted pea soup with cream

Fettucine Aglio Alio

Red cabbage goes very well with braised Brisket too.

Fish stew with spinach.

Bravo to http://obcces.blogspot.com, a local chef from the Empire Hotel who just started his blog. We hope you will stay blogging. Get more local chefs out there...

Regards,

Chef Pol

Today's Lunch

2009-03-17T13:29:00.005+08:00

Greek Mousakka (layered auburgine, potatoes, Beef Ragu, Bechemel sauce and Gruyere Cheese)

I was trying out Selbourn Chocolate from Malaysia.

Hand cut fries. We use U.S Russets Potatoe.

Chocolate Ganache on victoria sponge cake for desserts.

Regards,

Chef Pol

Naughty but niceeee...

2009-01-28T16:06:00.002+08:00

I'll definitely put this in my dessert menu. Flourless Chocolate cake. Use quality Chocolate and when baked properly, obviously you will get quality outcomes. I think I could count how many times that I've baked sweets. Chocolate is always on the menu because it's commercial. Everyone loves Chocolate.

To topped it of as perfect as you like, I used VALRHONA Chocolate. It's an expensive brand. You don't have to use this but try it once in a lifetime. Then you will get what i mean.

Below is a Salmon wrapped with rice paper with peanut miso dressing. Interesting.

To all Restaurantuer, Put Tuna on the Menu..

2009-01-27T09:13:00.002+08:00

It's good for grilling. When overcooked, the texture will be rubbery. Since it's not delicate like other flacky oily fish, I think grilling is the best cooking method for Tuna fish. Support your Local TUNA!

Brunei caught Yellow fin Tuna

2009-01-19T05:46:00.006+08:00

Hello guys, Happy January. Hope all are well.

Today I wil be preparing pan seared Tuna with Manggo Salsa. It's a shame that Tuna is not popular in Brunei. My clear reason is that Tuna has low Fat Content and it's dry. Filleting Tuna is interesting. I spent a good 1 hour and a half working on it. Here are some pictures from the butcher room. One good thing Im so proud that this our LOCAL CAUGHT, organic and not farm and definitely not "TUNA DALAM TIN" haha.

Yellow Fin Tuna.

Lean texture.

Trimming off the belly.

When it got delivered before i wear my green wet proof apron.

HELLO...

Kitchen Pimped!

2008-10-28T15:06:00.007+08:00

Finally, I have invested some new kitchen equipment. It gives us a lot of ideas. Good saucepan, Good food. Atleast I can be assured this time, all this quality pans will last longer.

We only got these two 'Dome warmer' (below) very recently. We never favour having this in our disposal. Reluctantly we bought 2 in the end. It's heavy and no doubt it does look stunning with its chrome, shinning cover.

Whenever you see this "dome" warmer, it represent "V.I.P" dining. Naturally, it is placed at the centre of a round table with a capacity of Ten diners. Never been a V.I.P myself, It felt weird sitting so close to people and you do feel embarassed when it comes to digging up your portions to your plate (depends whos next to you). All my life Im brought up to any event on a buffet style. I never enjoyed my 1st time experience on a round table.

Now I can see why some caterer love doing V.I.P service. I mean lets not kid ourself, look at the portion. It's limited, you can even overdress the garnish and charged over $10 per person and let the waiters do the hard labour carrying those heavy domes. Job Done!. I don't think I have the pleasure watching those who has to carry them.

The chef having a laugh and feeling a bit amused. The ones on the orange shirt doesn't look convincing either. haha.

You work hard, you play hard. Fortuantely it was Sunday, No uniforms. so don't forget to have fun too. We have a joker in our kitchen. hahaha

The things I don't mind doing

2008-10-23T07:04:00.004+08:00

Filleting Salmon.

You have to scrap its scale first.

I like to start from the head. At this point your knife must be really really sharp. Slicing it at one go.

Not only human uses tweezer. This method is for removing the bones.

After filleting...

Nicely cut into portions and ready for service. This job is fun in the butcher room. Enjoy.....

It was a good weekend.

2008-10-12T19:10:00.005+08:00

I finally managed to get atleast 8 hours of sleep during the weekends. A good recovery for myself. At times, I just need to be alone and being away is the sort of remedy I need. Tomorrow will be another brand new day and I'm looking forward to be back in the kitchen.

Friends and people has been asking me how to recruit a chef. The only tips that I could tell them is that don't rely too much on thier C.V. I don't mean any disrespectful, but alot of restaurateur tend to think the best way to recruit a chef are the ones that hails from a hotel. Don't get me wrong. They are all talented cooks but that doesn't present them as 'talented' when running a restaurant.

Restaurant or cafe are not that similar to hotel's system. Hotel chefs works in a routine and scheduled system. Whereas a restaurant depends on the concept and it's customer's turnover. In Brunei, Customers can't be predicted. Provided the population Brunei have, the boss, chefs, waiters got to work hands on, on day to day basis. To me A good chef is one who has vision, good palate, creativity, knows how to refine classic food, not pretentious, not too much cutting corners, a teacher, team player with firm personality and of course, a chef who works from 6 a.m to 10 p.m six days a week. haha.

I am a firm believer that a restaurateur should atleast has a g0od knowledge of food. Atleast knows the basic of cooking. The main backbone of a restaurant comes from the kitchen and the number one is the CHEF!!! It is not easy to recruit chefs in Brunei. Sure, if you have that kind of capital, you might as well recruit those overpaid chef's with lot's of Hotel's experience on thier C.V.

If I can be honest with you, would I take a hotel chefs or ordinary cooks from a food stall? I would take both, so long they used to work in a busy enviroment. C.V counts nothing for me. They must produce the results and that matters the most. Once results are produced then you can start to negotiate about thier pay raise and incentives.

Remember Restauranter, you are the bosses and you make the rules.

All the best and lets hope we see more local bruneian chefs running thier kitchen and with that I pray so much this dream will come through. I also like to add, they are so many restaurants in Brunei. Unfortunately, there are not many locals who runs it. InshyAllah (god's willing), there is life being in the food industry only if you got the passion. (Tidak Hangat hangat tahi ayam)

here are good 'Pidato' that I like to share "....Kita cari makan untuk hidup, bukan kita kan hidup untuk cari makan....... " in english would be translated as ("We earn money to live and we don't live in order to earn money"). watever you may define that. :)

regards

Chef Pol'

p/s: thanks to Sheikh Khalid of http://www.arab-families.com who invited me on thier open house. I was outstation. Maybe next time. May you always be in good Health. AMin...

Salam Hari Raya

2008-10-02T00:09:00.002+08:00

To all Muslim Readers, Happy Eid Mubarak.

From your local Chef.
Chef Pol.

Added Menu

2008-09-08T12:56:00.002+08:00

Chicken Schnitzel linguine. Italian ala'carte.

Tuna 'Aglio Alio' Linguine.

Chicken Chop Salad with Mustard Dressing.

Hadi... enjoy..

Chef Pol'

More pictures Mike! sorry no flicker

2008-09-07T17:21:00.001+08:00

Just photos..

Chef Pol

English Boy was in Town...

2008-08-23T16:18:00.005+08:00

I had the pleasure to have Mike. Thanks to Yasmin for accomodating him. Chef Mike was on a 4 weeks holiday in Asia. Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. He had the courtesy to make classic bread & butter Pudding for us. I hope you had wonderful time during your stay in Brunei.

Mikes and his "Kueh Cincin"

Chef mike is more into Japanese Cuisine. We were in the same college. All the best in your further studies and may you oneday become a successful chef. (Hopefully you start eating animals again).

Regards,

Chef Pol

Lovely Vol-u-Vent

2008-08-18T12:29:00.004+08:00

We made this during Lufbru games meeting with team captain.

Vol-u-Vent of Eel with miso Dressing.

Yasmin made this a while ago. She's an expert when making Fish pie. We had it Watercress. So filling and do you wonder how many calories are there?

Yassmm's Fish Pie. No Price :P
Fresh Watercress from Indonesia.

Chef Pol'

Instant Noodle made simple

2008-08-10T21:55:00.006+08:00

Pan seared Salmon, Ratatoiulle, egg plant tempura with fennel & betroot salad.

Consider this my comfort food everytime I got back late after work. I like to mix green vegetables like pak choy or even sator beans. (Petai) keke.

Salmon, Salmon and more Salmon...

2008-07-20T11:44:00.008+08:00

The Symphony, Layered of Salmon tartare, Tuna with crab and caviar (Haru Restaurant NY)

Slow oven baked Belly of Salmon, Roasted Vegetables and Potato Fondant with Avocado Oil

Salmon, courgette and tomato Tart

Pan-fried Crispy Salmon with crushed Potatoes. Tomato ketchup Vinegarette and roasted Capers. (Made this on Mother's day 2008)

Poached Salmon in Thai Coconut milk, served with Potato Dauphinoise.

Smoked Scottish Salmon

Pan-seared Salmon on a bed of spinach with pinepple and yellow peppers salsa

Oven Baked Salmon with Chilli Chutney.

Enjoy...

Chef Pol

A visit to Borough market London

2008-07-10T03:59:00.011+08:00

Hello guys,

It was such a great holiday for me. I would like to say congratulations to my lovely other half :P for passing her degree in major Maths and Accounting and Financial managment. Im proud of you and may you have a better future.

Im back from a good one month holiday. A dream finally came through visiting the "Big Apple" New York. I also get to visit Borough Market on my last day before departing back to Brunei.

Immaculate

2008-06-12T17:36:00.003+08:00

It was in the morning and what else if its not time to have decent breakfast. We had friends sleeping over. I was blessed with a very clean stove. Im just as excited as if im in a real kitchen to start my day job. It gives me pleasure of cooking.

ha! Scrambled egg on Baguette with al-fresco style salad. It's fresh!

Not much for a clean stove. Nice one.

love,

Chef Pol

The Bachelor's trip to Singapore

2008-06-10T15:10:00.004+08:00

It was on saturday night (31st May 2008) at Newton seafood Palour. We made a point to which we cannot miss this place. It's all about the famous Singapore spicy Indian mutton bone marrow and chilli crab. There were 7 of us on the trip and that night was just great.

Here it is, Spicy, tangy, RED, tender suckling bone marrow with little meat.

We were about to dig in.

Sometimes you just need a straw. Traditionally, the bone marrow is being suck straight from the mouth. I guess the excitement was to suck the jelly inside. The other method is to knock the bones on the plate as this will make some noise. The goey bits will then come out. The important part of the dish has got to be the sauce. Served well with baguette. I can't describe more. If you happen to visit Singapore ask any taxi driver where you can get the best "Sup Tulang" or "Sup Ketok" as they call it in Malay. (Mutton bone marrow).

Half way through the meal... we ordered some grilled tiger prawns, Clams, B.B.Q Stringrays and veg.
Beautiful!

Makan sudah..

Chef Pol'

I will be back.

2008-06-04T19:20:00.002+08:00

Sorry guys...

Enjoy surfing...

Hi,
Chef pol

Who's That?

2008-04-29T21:11:00.005+08:00

Yes, that is Bobby Chin. Tv host of World's cafe Asia on travel and living. I met him at Catering wholesale store in Singapore. He's so loud and friendly too. I do watch his show. His interest on asian dishes makes him a celebrity. He is more of an entertainer cook rather than a Chef. He's half chinese, half Egyptain. Read more about him on http://www.bobbychinn.com

Chef pol

p/s: Thanks Hadi. haha

Shots from Singapore Expo

2008-04-28T14:32:00.007+08:00

This was from sugar works competition. Chocolates and sugar and also marzipan. Truly amazing. Just look and how tedious the job was.

So people, this is how a piece of Whole Salmon looks like. So when you go to the gadong night market from the grilled fish area, tell them gently, the ones on the grill is Mackerel and not Salmon. (Ikan Salman boss hehe). GET IT RIGHT.

ahh... I've been lucky before. I've tried king crabs before. Absolutely gorgeous!

I use Hela Products in my kitchen.

French pastries on display.

One of the exhibitor.

SIA SIA Pun. My dream car.. I mean my dream Oven. It's every chef's dream to own one of this Combi Oven. Just in case you should know my birthday is sometime in October. :) thanks

Kitchen essentials. A burner and deep fat fryer.

Modern Chinese Stove.

Robot Coupe, heavy duty blender. i got to have one of those...

Chefs in the competition.
More chefs...
Japanese products exhibitor.

Just bunch of chefs...

I could have took more photos during the culinary event. I missed out because I suffered gout on my left ankle. Bullocks! anyhow, I think FHA 2006 was much better.

chef pol'

See you there...

2008-04-21T11:23:00.005+08:00

Hi chefs, i will be going to the Singapore food and hotel Expo. i hope to watch the culinary competition and meet chefs all around the world. Be there...

regards,

Chef pol

Last minute Request

2008-03-31T11:17:00.004+08:00

Our 1st Yorkshire pudding.

Our supervisor text me last night about last minute catering order. They wanted roasted chicken, Beef Steak (awu..), Macaroni, potato wedges, coleslaw and fruits. As i knew most of them will be Mat Salleh, I substitute the wedges with Yorksire Pudding. I got reminded by Rbc as they were conducting cooking lesson and Yorkshire pudding is one of the menu. so Why not. I didn't inform the chefs until they came to me and start staring on this nice little piece pudding.

Minute Tenderloin Steak

I baked this Baklava last year. Im not sure if i've post it already. Im really craving for it. I couldn't find filo pastry at Supa Save. Maybe they have it at Guan hock lee. Will go there soon. This rich buttery pastry with pitstachio is one of the common Mediteranean desserts. It is so sweet. Simply melt in your mouth. One of my favourites.

It was ok but I could do better. Not bad for a 1st timer. I shall try doing it again once Ive get the filo. Im no Pastry Chef! Don't stay on one section, do change section Chefs.

Chef Pol'

Say it's easter...

2008-03-18T11:00:00.007+08:00

I bought some Goose eggs during my visit to Cambridge last year. It is such a huge egg and good for two. The best way to enjoy it is to fry it.

Actually i forgot to post this picture. It was in my other memory card. The shell is thicker than the normal egg we use. I think it took me 4 to 6 times trying to break it into half. I got so excited seeing the huge yellow rich york. Just by seeing one goose egg covering the whole pan.

I served mine with a little bit of holldaise sauce, Mizuna, Red Frills, Lump fish caviar and toast. oo I tell you...

The Mizuna works well because of it's peppery taste. It balances the rich egg york. The caviar is just a substitute for salt. The Hollandaise just add extra richness. I don't want my palate to taste so eggy.
Fresh organic Mizuna Salad I got from the sunday market. I miss going to these places.

Compare the size. Beautiful Rich egg york! Size don't matter so long you know what to cook with. :P

p/s: Next mission, Ostrich egg. If i can find some.

chef pol

Oven Proof Non-stick Pan

2008-03-15T10:44:00.006+08:00

I got this oven proof pan from Hua Ho. It's italian made. It's handle is made of rubber silicon. It's by Sorriso domo Brand. the lamb chops was 1st to be seared. The price was $50.

Classy.

Simple seared lamb with Garlic and Fresh Rosmery with butter.

bang in the oven for 8 mins

And look, nicely coloured, even. the handle is fantastic. Im gona get a couple more. Normally most hotels would use stainless steel handler. It's probably too expensive and i couldn't get it here. Singapore maybe.

chef pol

Which Salt Should I use?

2008-03-13T12:27:00.004+08:00

Salt of the earth. Most salt sold in Brunei are Iodized [iodine]. Im not a salt specialist but just to let you know something about Iodized Salt. A raw salt contains lots of important minerals. Some of its element are not good for thyroid gland. The thyroid is one of the largest endocrine glands in the body. This gland is found in the neck inferior to (below) the mouth and at approximately the same level as the cricoid cartilage. The thyroid controls how quickly the body burns energy, makes proteins, and how sensitive the body should be to other hormones. WIKIPEDIA. Basically it helps us to prevent from Thyroid problems. Too much salt could cause heart diseases, like Heart attack. Always practise low salt intake for the sake of your health.

Recently Ive made little experiment of which salt to use in my kitchen. I found a solution how to avoid making food so salty. I find out that if you use damp salt, the high chances are that you get tiny chunks of salt in your cooking. That will be just horrible. So if you use good refined quality salt, that sprinkles easily like sand, i believe the salt are distributed evenly. Basicaly its just that :) no rocket science.

Table salt, Flying Man Brand. They labelled as fine salt. Damp salt. I can even build a small salt -castle. It's a no in my kitchen. rating 4/10

Pagoda Fine Salt. Easy to use as it is easy to sprinkle. When tested, the salt is as runny like sand. It was not wet too and it is easy to avoid salt lumps. rating: 9/10

Faiza Salt. Not so gritty. What you can see is a damp salt. If you have this in the kitchen, Try not to use on dressing of salads. You might get lumps of salt and you wouldn't want somone who swallow little chunks of salt. It would be ideal for cooking in liquids but I rather not use it on making cakes or breads. rating 5/10. Moutain salt, I have no clue the quality between sea and moutain salt. As most salt in the store are refined, then it should okay.

Saxa. Everyone should recognise this. It's been on the market shelf since I was little. It's the perfect table salt you can get. It's as runny as pagoda when sprinkled but it's granules is not as finely ground like the pagodas brand. Perfect table salt but I would not use it for cooking. rating: 8/10

The perfect fine ground salt. Refined and Iodized.

Chef Pol'

Duchess Potatoes

2008-03-11T13:47:00.005+08:00

Poached Dory fillet with preserved Manggo and spice ginger flower.

Braised Leg of lamb with Peswahri Rice.

A chicken roulade stuffed with minced Lamb. We made this last Sunday.

we cut the chicken roulade into half and place onto the classic malay rouge Sauce. (Sauce Merah). Malay Rouge Sauce, is a classic sauce made normally with chicken. It's commonly serve on wedding events.

Mashed potatoes. In order not to make the mashed runny, I didn't put milk or cream. when making duchess potatoes, an egg and milk should be added. I omitted both of them and use Butter, salt & pepper, Parmesan instead and add chopped fresh Parsley at the end.

Duchess Potatoes, We simply pipe it out using speacial nozzle and piped out into spiral flower shape. We baked just until it's nicely brown. It surely looked Pretty. This apearred in our menu last sunday as a companion for the Chicken roulade.

Recently I made a decision which salt should be use in my kitchen. That will be next...

Chef Pol'

No cooking but weekend food...

2008-02-25T20:17:00.007+08:00

200 days aged Rib eye. Miso reduction. No, not Kobe Beef. Angus Australian Wagyu Beef at Pavilion B.bintang
Cheung Fun at Eest. Westin
1st Dim Sum for 2008.
Welcoming entrees at Eest Westin Hotel
Never had this, cuttlefish with seafood Broth
Scallop and prawn Dumpling with Black Summer Truffle. NEW to me...Brunei No have. I think this was the chicken With Saffron Wontan wrapped.. No have this in Brunei

Chicken Fajitas at CHILLIS
My Favourite, Wet Penang Popiah, Lots of radish and Carrots.
Hadi, DUCK RICE. No more Four Season Hadi...
Vietnamese prawn wrapped. Just ok.

250gm, New york Strips at Chillis
Kway Teow in Opah Leave (PINANG LEAF)

Where do you buy your chicken?

2008-02-21T12:58:00.003+08:00

We get our fresh daily supply of chicken from Ideal Marketing. They have been supplying for our kitchen for almost three years now. One reason we stick with Ideal is for it's prepared fresh clean chicken. They removed about 90% excess fats and unwanted skin. Our butcher would be spared extra time.

We use approximately 300 fresh chickens a day. Clean washed and proper pakaging. The problem comes if they have shortage of supplies. That would mean we have to buy the chicken by ourselves from the supermarket.

For lunch I made Penne tuna cabonara. I was showing my brigade how classic cabonara is made. We don't use bacon, I could have substitute it with salted beef but i used tuna instead.

also, Lasagne with ragu. As reluctant I was to use Buffalo meat, I just have to continue using it due to the high price of a cattle, the REAL BEEF! (Sapi) Buffaloes lack in flavour. Since the "Halaqah" invasion of bringing indian buffalo to Brunei, Now you can see most food industry using buffalo as it is so cheap. It is really indeed a sustainable cheap cuts available. The effect on economy as some would know that some well known abbatoir shops have to closed down some of thier branches.
A wise restaurant chef who put steak or mignon or rib eye or tenderloin on thier menu should highlight what kind of Meat they are using. If it's BUFFALO, PLEASE state on the menu page [BUFFALO MEAT!] Merci...

Garlic Honey chicken Breast... the chicken wasn't burnt, thats Camerelised Honey :P

chef Pol'

Bruneian cooks up Indian Dish.

2008-02-20T19:12:00.007+08:00

Hi, Me and second brigade made indian set lunch early morning just in time for 9 o'clock breakfast. I never like doing a huge batch of dish serving up more than 100 people say 400 people today. It's just not easy to maintain standard.

In Brunei, caterer are famous for serving up to 1000 people usually on a wedding day. I don't really like taking huge orders and i guess it's the reason why we turned down quite a number of customers. There's no specific reason for not taking it but don't do it if you don't feel it. You surely end up ruined the dish.

The locals are immune of catering food and how many times have we heard about food poisoning especially wedding event held under the hot sun sitting in a tent? It's not about chefs or cooks, I just find it not suitable. In this modern days some caterer tend to do lots of short-cut methods of cooking. (Minimise cost??)

Without proper Fridge and right temperature, Brunei whether is an ideal place to grow bacteria. No one is perfect but careless is always there. I always make sure every food that I cooked comes out of the kitchen safe to eat. nevermind tasteless. It's better having a loss than putting someone to the hospital.

Today we made Lamb Biryani and chicken Tandoori. Tandoor is a clay oven used in India using charcoal. We haven't got one that we grilled them instead.

I used dried tomatoes for special garnish. It's gives sort of sweet, sour flavour and a certain bite which marries well with biryani. An Indian Chef Thought me this.

Often you heard Sundried tomatoes. I find Italian sun-dried tomatoes more sweeter and full of body. What you see above is the slow 5 hr baked dried tomatoes. Hand cut too! Also, you can eat this as a snack. The purpose of drying is to get rid the acidity. It leave the natural sweetness and all is not lost. Four Rice cookers was used to make this morning Biryani.

Chicken Tandoori, Red is just a colour. Indian loves colouring thier food. Don't ask me why.

Overall, It was nice to see empty dirty plates back to the kitchen.

Chef Pol

British Today

2008-02-12T18:45:00.000+08:00

So it was planned. Simple and no messy job for today. Roast Chicken. When you are short of manpowers, sometimes you just have to make it as simple as you can but by standard. In my kitchen, there's 3 kinds of labels. 1) 'Western': when we want no mess, easy bland buffet. It would be something like oven baked dishes, stewing, boiling. 2) 'Chinese': when we want fast, busy hours in the kitchen or even last minute orders. Quick Stir fry, deep frying. 3) 'Malay': When we are in the mood, happy to do extra washing, scrubing and messy chef's white.

Clean boiled vegetables of French Bean, Cauliflower, brocolli and yellow peppers.
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Fresh and healthy.
Healthy cooking method. Tender and moist. = Oven baked
There you have it. Roast Chicken with Mashed potatoes and Gravy. haha. Simple and Earthy.

I also like to say thanks to Mr Brunei Resources http://bruneiresources.blogspot.com/ for recommending my "Blog". Thank you

Chef Pol

Potatoes and Salmon

2008-01-28T03:42:00.000+08:00

Potatoes Dauphinoise. Classic French Baked poataoes with milk. Simply delish.

Poached Salmon in coconut Basil with Potatoes Dauphinoise.

Comfort Breakfast = Toasted White bread with Scrambled egg and Watercress sprout.

I Tried Milliefuille Praline by Luderee. Quite okay.

Caramelised Pear Crumble. Never again. I don't think it ryhmes that well.

Baguette

2008-01-16T16:40:00.000+08:00

Thats the fermented dough mixed I made 48 hours ago. After that you knead them into smooth even dough. Shape it and dust some flour so it won't stick.

In a real bakery kitchen, they would normally use oven clothes as a divider in order the dough to keep it's shape. As you can see I used cling film paper box at home :). Let it prove for another hour.

Bake for about 20 - 25 mins at a temperature 220 Degrees Celcius (for Fan oven), 240'C (for normal oven).By 15 minnutes or so, you kitchen will start to smell a nice fermented yeast dough, sweet... ahhh

A nice Crunch outside and soft inside. Delicioous on it's own. You can have many kinds of fillings from egg mayo to chicken mayo, Tuna and sweetcorn, Sardines and anything you like.

Slow Fermented yeast dough. I used Strong flour, high protien. In Brunei they would normally call "Tapong Merah" :)

Regards,

Chef Pol

Avocado Oil

2008-01-12T21:29:00.000+08:00

Avocado Oil is very similar to Olive Oil. IT has almost the same health benefits as Olive Oil. It helps prevent illness such as diabetes, Obesity and some others. I use it for its flavour rather than it's health benefits. Afterall you are what you eat. Just watch your portion really.

It taste Avocadoey, a little nutty flavour, mild and delicate. Bright colour too.

Pan seared Trout fillet, Avocado oil, Roasted Potatoes

Pear, Sweetcorn and Rocket salad with Avocado Oil

I love grocery Shopping...

Big Hi,

Chef Pol

French

2008-01-03T15:14:00.000+08:00

Lobster Ravioli with lobster Truffle Veloute

1) Green Tea chocolate marquise. 2) Hazelnut Chocolate Marquise

Baked Fillet of Cod, Tomato olive tapenade with vegetable jus

Classic French Opera. [Pressed layer of sponge, buttercream, chocolate ganche]

Florence

2008-01-03T14:30:00.000+08:00

Gelato parlor in Florence [Firenze]

Lot's of flavours

Sweet crusty Cones

Ice cream selections

Little brother enjoying Gelato

holiday foods

2007-12-31T08:13:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas

2007-12-26T03:27:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas everyone.

Chef Pol

Dried Cherries...

2007-12-10T20:09:00.000+08:00

Missus got this cherries for me. I still got the duck thighs and breast in the freezer. I just simply braised the meat with cherries using chicken stock. I wanted that chinese touch and thought of '5' spice. I used star anise and cinnamon stick to infused the sauce and it gives that chinese aroma.

Dried Cherries from Tesco. This is good for people suffering from gout diseases. It has high natural enzymes that would dilute crystalising in the joint. A good antioxidant that can eliminate purines. I know because I have Gout :)

Braised duck breast in cherry sauce with Chinese herbs.

Happy wife, Happy life..

2007-12-08T14:03:00.000+08:00

I always have the tendency to served up 'VIP' style menu for the sack of having fun. Some people think we are crazy but why not.

Tandoori Chicken Drumstick. This dish featured last week catering menu.

Clean foil wrapped on the tip, makes it clean to hold and enjoy.
There were also Fish pie and minced beef.

Stuffed Duck Thighs with green herbs chick peas, Caramelised button onions, Crispy Taro, Served with cranberry Sauce

Stuffed duck Thighs with Cranberry Sauce. This was simply the best. Tender duck Thighs with aromatic sweet tangy cranberry sauce. Underneath the duck, I placed crispy yam cubes just to have that slight crunch and to sliced that sharp sourness from the cranberry sauce. It worked perfectly.

chef pol

Mafalde Competition...

2007-12-05T16:39:00.001+08:00

Staffs tasting the dishes.

This afternoon we had mini pasta cooking competition using Mafalde pasta. All cooks took part and the winner will get $10 as well as thier dish will feature on next year menu.

Mafalde Pasta.

A) Kolo Pasta. Thick Sweet Soy Sauce with chicken

B) Mafalde Pasta with spicy cream mushroom sauce

C) Mafalde Salad with eggs and crispy fish

D) Simple mafalde pasta with blackpepper olive oil.

E) Mafalde Pasta with sausage

The winner was clearly dish B. Just nice. They are all self-taught chefs who never had any formal trainning, let alone working in established hotels. Two of them are apprentice. They all did well. I just want to have a little bit of fun.

Chef Pol'

We love duck... someone just had to kill them...

2007-12-03T16:52:00.000+08:00

Tuiles [tiles] Moulding tuiles using rolling pin.

Many many tuiles shape... Today i made Sesame Tuiles.

More Tuiles...

Sesame tuiles for garnishing. Seared Carnard (Duck), soba noodles, sauteed tomato concasse with tomato butter sauce

ALL is not Lost. all the excess fats and carcasses are turn into duck fat. It's suitable for roasting potatoes or any root vegetables.
Duck [Carnard] is special. One of a kind. It's gamey, succullent and has more fats than other birds. Too bad duck does not provide enough meat for people. It's quite expensive.

Washed and ready to be chopped.

Cuts of duck. the wings, carcass, the tail, the neck, head, thighs, legs, breast. We normaly only use four cuts where it has more meat. Breast and the thighs.

I was preparing two duck dishes today. Stuffed duck thighs with green herbs and chick peas finished with Cranberry sauce. The other dish was Seared duck breast, with soba noodle and tomato butter sauce.

Duck fillings consist of Fresh Rosmary, thyme, Spinach and chick peas.

Once finished chopping, it will turn out like this.

Simply stuffed the fillings inside the duck thighs and roll it with a cling film into candy barrel shape. after steaming, i thought the meat would be intact into nice barrel shape but It didnt materialise as the meat opened up. So i was guessing, maybe duck has low protiene, unlike chicken and it won't set.

Chef Pol

Nutshells

2007-12-03T09:05:00.000+08:00

Can you guess what are they?

Just what hotels do...

2007-12-02T11:05:00.001+08:00

Just how would you turn cheap cuts into something extravagant. This was one of the menus we did for the 'VIP' guest during Eid events. We made chicken boxing tandoori using chicken niblet(Wings). Slow Roasted in the oven. Although we were not using authentic tandoor oven, I could have roast the spices like garam masala and just let it sit in the oven. by theory, the spice will infuse the chicken.
Chicken boxing in the Oven.

Chicken Niblet, with caramelised Onions and rosmery and thick balsamic reduction

This is more of a Italian Rustic chicken niblet. In the uk, whole chicken wings is so much cheaper at about 0.90 pence per/kg. They dont use them that often. In Brunei, Chicken wing is considered one of the prime cuts, where it's sold at an average of $7 per/kg. Funny ay...

Im not sure whether Ive shown you this, anyway This fish dish was also featured in the 'VIP' menus. It was Tengiri with pistachio herb crust. Believe it or not, not one diners even thought the fish was tengiri, a local produce. They believe its more of a delicate fish like the snapper, sea bream, and even Salmon. I hope they will get the idea that our local produce is as good as western fish. A good restaurateur will not try to put Salmon on its menu. I mean why use frozen and expensive fish. THIS is BRUNEI should I remind you again..... Cheap yet with qualities. No ones gona pay for overcharging dish. I envy most restauratuer who were able to put nice deco interior design in thier restaurant but I will be sad if they don't last long and try to be Over Creative and serve short-cut recipes.

chef

Food made it easy...

2007-11-29T17:11:00.000+08:00

Mafalde, [curly pasta] . I bought this pasta in Rome. I cooked with simple legumes sauce. Packed with vegetables nutrients and basil. Lazy cooking yet filling. Vegetables Mafalde Pasta.
Again simple rustic food. Braised 'Tengiri' with celery, carrots, lemon slices and leeks. No mess that cooks in the oven.
lean, Fresh beautiful fish. Not dry...
ahhh absolute beauty. Fish head curry. Fresh okra, cilantro, pineapple... wahh Nice.
Pancake with maple syrup. light thin pan cake i always make.

Surf and Turf...

2007-11-12T16:03:00.000+08:00

So they say Ostrich meat is low in fat, calories and cholesterol. It's similar to lean beef meat and tender. It's colour is dark red. Anyway... This is my version of Surf & Turf. Ostrich and Dredged Scallops. Ostrich Meat
Pan Seared with olive oil and butter.
Cook Scallop in clockwise direction for 1 min each side.
Simple and Rustic cooking. Pan seared Ostrich and Scallops with balsamic Reduction.
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. This vineger can be aged from 1 year up to 10 years. It has intense flavour and rich fruity flavour with full body.

When you just miss NANDOS Peri Peri Chicken...

2007-11-12T15:43:00.000+08:00

Suddenly I'm missing Nandos chicken. SO what now... make it. Here, simple Peri peri Marinade.

Garlic (lots of it)
fresh lemon juice
Cayenne pepper or normal chilli powder
Dried oregano
paprika

Mix all together until it resemble a paste, season to taste, pour onto your chicken and marinade atleast 30 mins, do it overnight makes it even better. Just becareful when adding the Lemon Juice. Grilled it and If you don't have one, Oven bake them and keep basting with Garlic oil or butter. Poke the chicken and if the juice comes out clean, then it's ready. Served with potatoe wedges or chips. enjoy

Chicken Peri peri with Wedges.

Italy soon... yay.. haha

Weekend treat...lil brother and his cousins

2007-11-12T15:29:00.000+08:00

A weekend treat for my cousins over the weekend. Three lucky boys! So long ive got someone to cook for then I will be happy. Mujib
Muqni
Saidon
Pan seared Rib eye with Ratatouille and jus lie (gravy)

My New Bazooka

2007-11-07T10:49:00.000+08:00

Before, we minced our meat by hand using large cleaver on a chopping board. Imagine chopping meat of 10 kilos a day manualy everyday? Tiring right. so we decided to invest an electronic mincer and it does help Big Time. Minced meat has alot of purposes especially when making beef patties, sausages.

glug glug glug...
Minced Meat!

Rib eye of Beef

2007-10-27T18:57:00.000+08:00

Today i actually was going to bank in some cash. Soon as I saw the long queue, I decided to take a detour and browsed into the supermarket. In the meat section I found this lovely rib eye steak. I couldn't resist and I guess I miss cooking. Speaking about self-indulgence, Im making a Rib eye of beef, mozarella of wild mushroom gratin and caramelise Lychees, JUST FOR MYSELF haha.

Rib Eye of Beef = (Delmonico steak) = [Scotch fillet (australia)]. The most expensive cut of beef. It's part of the ribs. Rib-eye steaks are very tender, well marbled with fat. (look at that white thin thread of fats). It' so juicy as it just melt like butter in the mouth.

I use oyster mushroom because it's light and delicate. The mushroom is Shitake Mushroom. It's heavy, full body and has that exotic smell.

I pan seared with Garlic and Fresh Rosmery herbs.

Baked in an oven and finished with caramelised Lychees. Lychees add this dish to the next level and it compliments that heavy cheese gratin in your mouth. This could one of my 'Dish of the year'.

Save the best for last...

Love,

Pol

Haddock

2007-10-17T15:36:00.000+08:00

Haddock is a marine fish. Mostly use for "Fish and Chips". It has flaky flesh. To determine how fresh, the texture has to be firm. haddock has that laterel black line along it's body. Haddock is also commonly smoked.

Smoked haddock Florentine. Florence Style of cooking. It's normally placed under a bed of Spinach then garnished with tomato concasse with cream and chives.

Happy Eid Mubarak...

2007-10-14T00:08:00.000+08:00

To all Muslims, Enjoy Eid Mubarak. "Selamat Hari Raya"

Dried Coconut shell and Jasmine Flower Tea

2007-10-07T14:31:00.000+08:00

China Made jasmine Flower tea.

Jasmine Ball
after few seconds in hot water there.. Jasmine flower tea. Nice, detox, cleansing and warm.Coconut Shell... I prefer this than smoked chip wood.

Dried Coconut shell Smoked Beef

2007-10-04T12:55:00.000+08:00

We use this steaming equipment on a big iron wok.
That simple smoke big chunk of beef.
Scrumptious tender meat cut into slice..trainee chef trying to impress. work harder chef!.
I didn't get the picture for it's sauce. It was hot tamarind chutney and hot sweet soy sauce. It worked very very well. Imagine... smoky tender juicy beef slowly melt in your mouth. ahhh

Join foodie Blog Roll...

2007-09-29T01:03:00.000+08:00

Hi guys,
I've just join foodie blog roll http://www.leftoverqueen.com. Come and join, the more the merrier. Surely they will be many foodie bloggers linking to your site.

Say hello to Queen.

Cendol...

2007-09-26T23:31:00.000+08:00

Cendol made from rice flour, screwpine leaves extract and cornflour. Cendol is our local dessert. Often you find them on sell during the fasting month of Ramadhan.

I learnt how to make cendol. It's almost the same method like making spatzle. Not bad. I did ok.
Look at the droppings.
traditionaly Cendol should be about an inch long. I just made mine like long worms. the final bit is to fill it up with coconut milk and palm Sugar. Enjoy once chill.
Our Local grown dragon fruit.
It's so purple. Its taste is quite pungent and juicy. becareful when eating it, you don't want purple stain on your shirt. Nice fruit

Sexy chicks

2007-09-19T14:18:00.000+08:00

We're making Roasted Crispy Chicken today. I think those chicken are just sexy hehe. We hang them to dry them up and let any excess liquid to evaporate naturally. This is definitely a chinese technique in order to make the skin more crispy when roasted. We hope not to overcooked the chicken. Soft inside, crispy outside. Im sure it will work.

Brunei grows Passion Fruit.

thats what it looks like inside. It has sour and sweet taste with exotic aroma. It is jelly-like and watery too. The seeds is edible. I just don't know why most British chefs like to use this for desserts. I guess for it's sharpness. They use them for souffles, Ice cream and so on.

My 7 sexy dancers.

Less Activities

2007-09-17T05:27:00.000+08:00

This was the fish main course during Lufbru Dinner. A Pan seared Seabream, maple pumpkin mashed, Quail Egg bonito.

Avocados. I made crabstick guacamole crepes.

Crabstick Guacamole Crepes Roll

ahhh.... Shoulder Lamb Chop. What a simple dish to make. Pan Fried and add a knob of butter.

You Get Lamb chop au Poivre. Simple sauce of Worcester, green peppers and cream. It's FRENCH!!!

Lufbru anual Dinner

2007-09-10T09:50:00.000+08:00

I had to be a little bit creative that night. I didnt make enough brownie mixed, and I couldn't get any smaller tray so i had to make do whats available. I used carrots as a barrier so that my brownie gets even when baked.Brownie Mixed.
Again we served Stuffed chicken Caponata
I deviened this lovely tiger prawns for my Avocado rolls
1 minute on each side, start turing them from the 1st prawn one by one until you get to the last ones. Thats how you cooked it to perfection. Just like scallops. Scallops take a little bit longer. It's the technique.

Custard for my ice cream base.

Vegetarian anyone??

2007-09-05T07:41:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was quite tough for me. One of our Commis chef felt sick. To make things more wonderful, Chef Zaed had a very bad headache and can't continue work just after lunch service. Thank god (Alhamdulilah), the rest of us managed just fine. A very busy day ahead with convocation funfair till saturday. Last night I was preparing dinner for special guests for 20 covers. They had requested for some vegetarian dishes. Im sorry, but i think vegetarian has a very bad palate, I wonder if their breath are any sweeter? hehe

Green Salad and trio peppers with mustard garlic dressing.

Pilau Rice and vegetable pasta

Root vegetables medley of Yam, Sweet potato, japanese purple potato and potato 'potato'. Simple Roasted with Rosemary.
ahh... this is such a beaty. I definitely going to serve this tomorrow Lunch time. Roasted Pumpkin with Brocolli.

For non-vegetarian, I prepared malay chicken Percik and B.B.Q Beef Stew.

Pol

Onions

2007-09-02T10:02:00.000+08:00

Grilled Onions
Loot at that...
Look at the inner beauty... Soft, juicy, tender, full of flavour. Keep the skin on and you wont lose it's flavour.
Pandan Chicken featured on our menu last week.

I woke up at 5am last night just to do this Medeline for some V.I.P guests. Never again.

International lunch menu on Wednesday

2007-08-30T09:12:00.000+08:00

We made b.b.Q Beef Stewed with Grape juice. (We don't use wine in Brunei). I was not happy with the quality of this sparkling grape juice. I had to add extra pure Grape juice and had it reduced. The Beef cubes was then marinade for one day.

No, It's NOT Red Wine. Bought it at Hua Ho. :)

Guess what, We didn't have a name for this dish. In the end, we just called it UBD Beef Stew with Asparagus Specials. hahaha
Morrocan Chicken Tagine. This dish is just great. I envy how the morrocan like to add fruits to thier dish. This dish has it's fruity flavour extract from an apricot. I also could add prunes or dates. This dish wouldn't be the winning dish if i had chicken korma next to it. It just has less fats as it's seared then stewed on a very low heat with no creams or any fattening agent to it. I used chicken fats of it's own.

Yesterday was so hot. There came the devil in me. Chef Mujib made some yoghurt the day before. I coudn't resist it that i had one of the waiter to get me come cup and filled it with ice. I had 3 tables spoon of sugar syrup, fresh yoghurt, sqeezed lemon. What do you think I had?

FRESH HOME MADE LASSI! Love it..

We went Italian last Tuesday...

2007-08-30T08:50:00.000+08:00

It was my 1st pasta in Brunei. I haven't done it in a while. It was so exciting, dusting, kneading and rolling. I just like watching the pasta sheets as it comes out of the pasta machine.
We had Ravioli of minced chicken, spinach and basil. As much as I love to put Ricotta or any kind of cheese, I also got to considered my fellow Malay Asian Palate. That's why I decided to just use minced chicken straight forward.

Stuffed Ravioli. It's juat another way of saying Italian Dumpling or Pasta with fillings.

To finish the dish, I served simple arrabiatta sauce. Quite spicy tomatoey sauce.
Chicken Supreme pomodoro. Pomodoro means Tomato. That's it and nothing fancy.

I hope they enjoyed it.

Anyone Can cook....

2007-08-29T13:00:00.000+08:00

A Rat in a 5 star restaurant making soup...

FilmEgde.net

Cooking is fun. yea yea...

what we've been cooking...

2007-08-28T11:58:00.000+08:00

This is Stuffed Chicken of minced Lamb caponata. This dish was specially made for the Lubru games held at Ubd sports complex.
We did Chicken kebab for lunch yesterday.
and i had to do fish pie. It's more of a kid's meal.
Banana Fritters with Chocolate Ganache.
This is truly Bruneian. Deep fried Tamarind Fish (Rumahan)

so it's Friday

2007-08-17T09:10:00.000+08:00

Im still at home just relaxing and compiling my pictures. Busy day towards the weekend. There are some new dish added to our menu.

'Pulut otak-otak' (Stuffed Glutinous rice with minced fish). The word otak otak comes from one of many singapore malay delicacies. A minced Fish marinated with spices and coconut milk where it is then filled in coconut leaves. To cook this is to Chargrilled it. I would be lying if I told you we did the whole traditional whole process. We baked the fish instead, still it has depth in flavour but missing the Char Aroma.

We made Beef pattie yesterday. Quite hard work to mould and then pan fry to seal it then finish it on a flaming grill. One thing that ive got to say, you can't beat a homemade burgers. Since i started making them, I hardly buy any frozen manufactured burgers for myself. For sure homemade is 100% Meat and no extra excess fats or ofal being minced into it because you are the ones who minced it haha. So you are what you eat.

This was the day when i was having my day off in London. I came across a caribbean restaurant and it's halal. I had always wanted to try Jerk chicken. Often we heard the word 'YOU JERK' especially when a guy didnt treat thier girlfriend right. I guess we guys are jerk for Chicken. I tell you, sooooo nyaman and so Jerky. It's basically marinated tangy bbq-like sauce on a barbe' (bbq).

The way to enjoy your jerk chicken is to use you fingers and lick it good! Scrumptious and what Chef cooper like to say "ORgasmic!"

I'm Looking forward to this event. Our Company is providing the food. It will be an exciting day for me and the brigade. i'm honoured to cook for this people and what makes it great is that a good friend of mine will be joining my team to prepare 8 course dishes. More on that later...

Enjoy Friday

Pol'

Mini competition

2007-08-10T17:35:00.000+08:00

When to local fish market last week. I was organising little competition among my chefs. So I did some shopping for local ingredients.

I decided to use Local seabream "Kerisi Bali" as one of the main course.

Beautiful local Seabream = 'kerisi Bali'

This is one of the dish Ive managed to take. It was not the winning dish though. I just like the presentation. On that note, Seabream has very delicate meat. It's easy to break and go mushy if your knife is blunt. One thing that caught my attention is that when the fish was cook, the texture becomes firm and not too flaky. This dish was pan seared. I'm thinking of poaching it in coconut juice and see what happens. Interesting fish and quite expensive too.

Missing in action

2007-08-10T17:10:00.000+08:00

Hello guys, I have been away for a while. No particular reason. I finally got my 1st commercial oven. Cheap oven from china, the thermometer is not accurate. Heat is not sufficient. Being a chef is to know how to use things surround you, whether you like it or not, you've got to find ways how to make it work. I'll see how long this oven can keep up with me.

My 1st test drive was baking some crusty loaf bread. My new Oven haha.

It was a good feeling kneading the dough. Too bad im just not a pastry chef.

My cousin who is a bakery chef, help me trying out the new oven.
Results was good. Nicely baked. My 1st Crusty Loaf made in my kitchen.
Bread rolls. The smell was fantastic. The sugar, yeast, bread smell really seduced me. I guess I just love watching bread in the oven gets baked.

Back to civilisation...

2007-06-29T00:04:00.000+08:00

It's good to be back home. Time flies so fast. Nothing so new about Brunei but a few brand new shophouses around Kiulap. I managed to surprise my mom, then that's it. The highlights of my touchdown in Brunei. I'm a bit sad, with so limited ingredients I just don't know how much i can do with. I'm pretty sure there will be an outcome with lots of experiments and commitment. At the moment I think it's best to take one step back and climatise myself and to start believing that I'm back for good (civilisation :P). Still feeling jetlag aiyooo.

Today was great, I visited our humble kitchen, saying hello to almost everyone and in fact I couldn't wait to start working again. I miss my daily life in the kitchen. So does anyone knows how to make chicken Kiev?

Here goes....

What is chicken kiev? Kiev is a place in Russia. It's quite similar to chicken Schnitzel but with butter fillings (parsley and garlic). To my fellow Bruneian food lover, don't get confuse with it's name. It's basically Chicken fillet with bread crumbs filled with seasoned butter. thats all. I certainly wouldn't call it Chicken Kiev on my menu. It has got to be something like Stuffed seasoned butter with Chicken coated with breadcrumbs. If thats too long, to make customers understand more you could call it Crispy chicken with garlic butter. So please do try this at home.

Firstly of course, You will need a chicken.

Then take the rolled seasoned butter and place it on the centre

sUse salt around the edge in order to let it stick together to prevent the butter to ozzz out. chicken has protein and it react with salt.

then you PANE Anglase. To coat the chicken with breadcrumbs and flour

You then Egg wash them and pane again for the final stages before you deep frying them.

You can always tap away the excess flour.

Thats ready to be fry.... yummyyyyyyyyy

And there you have chicken Keiv.

As you can see on the last picture, the probe registers at 87 degrees celcius. Well, thats just way too overcooked and you wouldn't want that, Cooking chicken should about 72 degrees celcius and off the heat. Once you cut the middle, you can smell and see that butter oozing out. Beautiful!

It's coming to an end... but not yet.

2007-06-17T15:28:00.000+08:00

Whats organic? I don't really go into detail about organic food. After all you are what you eat. I've been using wild Alaskan Salmon these days. It's not for it's brand or lifestyle eating, but for it's lean texture. It's natural bright colour and texture almost like seabass seduced me. I think if I have to present a dish to a woman, this would be just perfect. Woman should be clean, not heavy, luminous and fresh. You don't end fishy foul mouth breath in the end.

Beautiful wild Alaskan Salmon

These days whenever i come with such exclusive fish, I always tend to use reduction method for it's companion. I came out with mango salsa reduction of white balsamic vinegar. Laid on a bed of spinach.

Seared pan-fried Wild Alaskan Salmon, Mango salsa reduction of White balsamic vinegar and spinach.

Missus was so stressed during her exam period and decided make some meringue. I just got to showed off her brilliant meringue. It's just so perfect as you can see.

Fresh meringue, no cornflour, no arabic gum, no stabilizer just egg whites and sugar and delicate hand work hehe. You are the Meringue CHEF! :P

Indulge...

2007-06-07T00:12:00.000+08:00

Mr Amzar giving thumbs up on my flapjacks and Cocopops crunchy. haha good pose man... he is our future engineer!
Making pralines.
Close up.
This is not close up.... KING Strawberries from the states.
compare that with normal strawberries. Beautiful when dipped into chocolate sauce. Sweet, not so tangy, juicy! I dont believe it grows naturally. hehe American can do anything and its nice to food lover.

Spiced Indian lobster with tamarind juice, penshawari rice. From Laze.ez Signature Restaurant Birmingham. Trying out Fennel. It was first time using Fennel. I tell you what, It's certainly beautiful aniseedy fragrant. Once roasted you know it can't go wrong.
As a compliment for my trout dish. Simple, rustic nothing PONCEY! Pub style food which i think suits bruneian diners. That Manggo salsa tops it all. It gives sharpness to the dish. Love it!
My princess usual morning malay typical breakfast. Prawn egg fried rice with unsalted dried anchovies.
Since we had Fish curry head sauce leftover, I made some simple glass noodle rice with trims of trout, carrots, celery and scrambled egg. more rustic and such filling dish.

Done and dust it...

2007-06-02T16:06:00.000+08:00

I finally completed my trainning. So much as wanting to become a chef. I look forward to introduce beautiful ingredients and cooking techniques to my family and friends. It has been great experience coming to France, well not quite but England :). Attending college itself won't give you that much knowledge as it is more technically done(unless you want to become what i call MANUFACTURED CHEFS then thats fine). I've ventured out in order to extract more food knowledge. I don't mind giving away recipes. I just wonder why is it such a big deal to give away simple recipes. It's funny especially in Brunei, most chefs think they have 'secret recipes'. What alot of rubbish!. As Marco Pierre white said, *You can't have secret recipes unless you have secret ingredients. By taking that into heart, I thought, so what if they have secret recipes, There are millions of dishes to offer. Thats one funny thing about food industry in Brunei. People hardly tells thier 'secret recipes'. Maybe the market is too tight hmm... could be the reason too.

I still believe with dedication and no "hot hot chicken shit" (malay proverb for a person who talks alot but no actions) I can turn my gardener into making good desserts or pastas. Being a chef is big commitment. So dear Bruneian young chefs, dont expect too much respect,dont expect too many breaks, dont expect short working hours. Keep it going and try to produce quality stuffs and that what matters. what I like about being a chef is that the more mistakes you made the more you get to learn. If you think you have been commis chef far too long, fight your way up and venture into another world. Let's show to our people that Bruneian chef are as good as other foreign Chefs! haha.

here are more pictures...

Im addicted to it. Whelks. A dash of cayenne pepper and tabasco sauce and malt vinegar. Orgasmic! Expert says it has hugh in iron. It has sea smell and can be quite rubbery.

Oeuf a'la neige.[OUFS ah lah nehzh]; it's poached meringue. Served with custard and toffee syrup.
Squid linguine with lamb

Marinated Salmon fillet with honey and grain mustard. Pomme puree and beet dressing.

Apfel Streusal. It's German.

Random pictures from Mandarin Oriental

2007-05-22T17:00:00.000+08:00

Fancy some 5 star selection of cheese?

Selection of cheese. Price at 60 Pounds. yeaaa I know.....

New on the menu. I think it's called Apricot delice. It has white chocolate mould with creme pat and crunchy candied nut inside.
Oriental mandarin Apple crumble with raspberry.

Sweet pastry sticks for garnishing cremme brulee.

Brioche fillings of creme pat, orange confit and pecan nuts

Energetic chef at work. Chef wilfrado
The Oriental Brioche

Petit fours. Fudge, raspberry jelly, flapjack, chocolate crunchy, macaroon, madeline, dacquoise, muffins, lemon meringue mini tart and nougat.
moulding a chocolate for gifts

Mise place for Carrot cake. I dont like grating carrot this much.

Preparing the tins

Carrot cake mixture.

wallah
Mini tart casing, Just Baked.

Some weekend activities at home...

I made some mashmallo together with chocolate brownie cake.

This was very nice I cooked at my aunts place. Boneless Rosemary chicken

Day 3

2007-05-11T13:26:00.000+08:00

Hello Chef Cooper. I just thought you wanted to know how am I coping. So far it had been great and yesterday I had the chance to learn chocolate tempering. It was not easy. the interesting part was scrapping the temperature checking. Melt it to certain degree temperature and it must be accurate. We did white chocolate slabs for Raspberry milliefuille.

Fantastic! Chocolate tempering

Anyone want wants to become a Chef? You can start peeling the Apples!

I was making Apple Puree. Once cooked, I had to put in a muslin clothes to extract the excess liquid.

Doing my mise en place for Raspberry slab. This was the ingredient making the sponge layer. Whats so interesting about this was that we need to use Raspberry which had been dried and grinded which of course turned into powder.

The Raspberry Powder.

The Oriental Mandarin Hyde Park. It use to be called the Hyde park Hotel. Marco Pierre White got his 3rd michelin Star here.

Some of the afternoon tea desserts we prepared. Raspberry Milliefuille and Baileys Opera.

SCONES! Lots of fats! We made jam rom scratch. It can't go any fresher than that. I was disappointed when I found out Empire Hotel in Brunei uses manufactured Croisant and bread rolls.

This shot was taken from the Foliage with One michelin star to its name.

Cold Kitchen preparing Blueberry souffle' with basil puree, Blueberry jelly, Ice cream and fresh mint crisp.

Finally in London

2007-05-09T05:14:00.000+08:00

this morning, the smell of London at 7.30 a.m. Walked up the underground stairs out to knightsbridge. Beautiful hotel sits right at the opposite... Mandarin Oriental Hyde park. Im lucky enough to be able to get my trainning here. Im glad the chefs are friendly. I was so excited but I guess i was a little bit off. I kept forgetting stuff. hopefully things will get better starting from tomorrow. I miss you love. teruk eh, I was not fit. I was quite behind and slow. Id do a comeback tomorrow.

pol'

Patisserie...

2007-04-16T03:56:00.000+08:00

Pain au Chocola, Apple Danish, Peach crumble tart.
Varieties of sweets. I love that pecan Brownie

I have nothing to do with this place but I would recommend Baker and Spice Shop for sweet pastry lover. It's in London though. It's so nice...

Ciao Bella...Manjari!!

2007-04-16T03:12:00.000+08:00

Mom, Some italian dished we had. Bueno!

Napolitane Pizza (anchovies & capers)

Monkfish carpaccio (very thin sliced raw fish with italian dressing)

bella bella ....... Seafood Mixed Grill (langostine, Tuna, prawn, bass & monkfish)
Spagetti with cockle sauce. As soon as it was placed on our table, I could smell the sea. I guess its just soo fresh! I like this because it has no cream! unlike common pasta dish u usually see.
Penne pomodorro with gorgonzola. Does quite look appetising but the taste is definitely there.

When boredom sets in...

2007-03-30T19:08:00.000+08:00

Hello guys, Im not sorry for the lack of post. I was not feeling it. It's been 7 months since I'm away from Brunei. I've been facing dilemmas. Looks certainly that I will be going back home in July or early August. I miss my daily job, I miss my kitchen, I miss having control of the stove. There's not much i can offer here as being moderate muslim with regards with all the wine and non-halal ingredients. Being a good chef is all about taste, taste and taste. It's been quite frustating when you got turned down to work alongside non-muslim good chefs. It's not a setback but honestly If I were to accept a job, It would mean me starting again from the bottom. Let's hope that I will get a work placement in London. I really need that experience. I'm off to Italy today.

Yesterday, my missus had some leftover bechamel sauce and i found half-cut lemon in the frigde. I made Lemon souffle with parmesan. In Italy would be Souffle' parmagianna al limone. A recipe I got inspired from Italy. Unique Remekin using Lemon Rind or skin.

Lemon souffle with parmesan cheese. Fantastico!

Happy Easter holiday

'Chilean Sea Bass' anyone?

2007-03-08T16:39:00.000+08:00

Brunei Sheraton is promoting a delicious fish which swims in the sea of antartica. It is a Pantagonian toothfish?? (if my memory tells me right) and definitely not a bass and not from Chile. Why is it called Chilean sea bass? I dont know. It is said to taste buttery, tender and not so fishy. It has white texture like cod.

I dont think i could find this fish on the menu today in the uk. Perhaps some restaurants do. This fish is coming to an extinct since its been overfish. I never cook this fish before but i could imagine by just pan-seared fry it and a trickle of hot thai lemon dressing and a teriyaki sauce would be delicious.

I bet the fish would arrived in Brunei frozen. hehe of course. The "executive chef" of the hotel didn't quite promote this fish to why he should try and sell it to Brunei but fair enough he did not forget to mentioned the fish is cholestrol free and healthy to eat. I still think salmon has more omega nutrient.

If you honestly ask me whether i would go for $38 of frozen fish or $35 buffet rate at Empire hotel? what do u reckon? Be Bruneian yourself you would know the answer. Personally to me it's so undermining to our own 'local' catch. For example, Tuna fish caught from our own sea. Im sure there's alot of recipes got to do with tuna, an executive chef should know that. I could name few list of fish which we can get locally, the 'brahan' (ikan merah), local sea bass, 'ikan putih', ayam laut?? , siakap, the catfish and tons more.

One more thing, It is just cynical when tiramisu comes into place after a chef talked about healthy fish free from cholestrol. So would it be the dessert or the fish you are after? I wonder.

http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Mar07/080307/nite39.htm

Food and more Food

2007-02-27T15:29:00.000+08:00

Pan seared sea trout, Scallop ravioli with vanila cream sauce. - French/italian combination

Roast Beef sirloin, yorkshire pudding and jus roti - traditional english (College)

Seared rack of lamb, rich saffrom mashed potato with tomato chutney and ceps gravy. (Cap & gown pub)

Smoked Haddock monte carlo with chive cream. (kitchen skill)

Pressed rich Chocolate cake brownie

Healthy italian

2007-02-20T15:49:00.000+08:00

Quick sauce called PESTO. Rich in texture of green basil. You can use any types of pasta. A quick 2 minutes dish surely will impress your guest. Love it. all you need for your fresh pesto are:

toasted Pine nuts. (Best toast in a wok without any oil until lightly brown)

Fresh Basil leaves.

Parmigiana {Parmesan}. Blitz them all at once. with Some Garlic!!

A little bit extravagant here, Black Truffles. A unique fungus that grows below ground with pungent smell dan garlicky flavour. It is well used by great chefs and you can find them serve mostly in big restaurants and definitely michelin starred restaurants. It is rare and grow by itself. The one thing is in fact it's undesirable appearrance. Pooo :)

The word Truffle in my country would be 'Chocolate truffles'. You know, chocolate truffles :). I guess we were never told where the word 'truffle' actually comes from. A fresh truffle will still has its flavour and aroma. If you happen to order one from a restaurant and its tasteless, Return it back and ask for really Fresh truffles.

Pesto Pasta with black truffle.
MANJARI.......

Offal with Great Use

2007-02-15T16:09:00.000+08:00

I was thinking to how would people back home (Brunei) would preceive me and for whatever kind of labels would be on my head. whether or not I intend to cook classical Bruneian dish remian sceptical to some food bruneian lover. I sat there and thinking what is Bruneian dish really. Suddenly 'soup Ekor' - Oxtail soup came crossed my mind. It wouldnt be much of a local dish but it's common. Rice being the staple food would always be great companion just as anything. I had a little chat with Chef Wright about oxtail dishes. He suggested me that its nice to go with meditaranean twist by using couscous. He also insist me on using apricot for it's sweet and lightly sour flavour.

To add that bruneian twist, well trying to, I found bread fruit from the local market. Believe me, back home in Brunei my dad grow lots of these beautiful fruit. We normally have it deep fry as afternoon high-tea during any weekends. Ithought that would be nice compliment and last. As planned, i thought of using chou-flour puree (cauliflower), but i believe this is all about eating the offal parts with nothing intervene the oxtail slices but the sauce.

slices of Ox-tail

Bread Fruit, It's ripped and changed colour. Fresh ones looks green.

Cut into half, white, soft seed in the middle.

Braised Oxtail, Ratatouille couscous with apricot, Roasted 'SUKUN' bread fruit and garlic & shallot confit.

Sukun [su- kon] ; Malay transalation for sweet bread fruit.

That apricot in the couscous relieve that fats in your mouth. That tangy, citrus flavour is just the perfect combination. I guess it work well with under-ripped manggo too.

Thanks to Chef Wright for his kind wisdom.