Weekend bites

Three birds in one

I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve always wanted to eat a turducken. The idea of a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey just sounds too amusing not to one day try. The idea of making one though looks a little daunting. From what I’ve read, it’s a pretty involved process and one that’s a too time-consuming and messy for me to try this holiday season. If, however, you have a few days to spare and want to give this rather unique dish a whack, you can try out Chef Paul Prudhomme’s recipe. Click here to check it out. Fortunately for lazy old me, I’ve just discovered a supplier right here in Singapore. Melvyn Tan, an ex-Michelangelo’s chef, now runs a small private dining and catering business simply called 289. This year, Melvyn is making and selling turduckens. Each one comes with gravy and a cranberry dipping sauce and runs around S$200 (5.5 kg – 6.5 kg). Each of these triple-fowled feasts can feed 10 to 12 persons. One of these, I’m thinking, would make a rather interesting centerpiece for anyone’s Christmas dinner. In addition to turduckens, Melvyn also offers full holiday menus that can be “taken away” or served in his private dining space. Contact Melvyn Tan at melandaddie@gmail.com.

OCBC Holiday dining

While you are planning all your meals this holiday season, if you are an OCBC credit cardmember, be sure to keep in mind all the various dining promotions available to you. Click here for a full list.

Some of the more interesting ones to consider include the following:

The Regent Singapore, Something To Go, Tel 6720 8000
15% off Festive Takeout with a minimum spend of S$50. Offer is valid from 1 Dec 2006 to 2 Jan 2007. Discount will not be extended for any purchases that are to be collected on 24, 25, 31 Dec 2006 and 1 Jan 2007. To order, pls call 6720 8000 at least 3 days in advance and quote “OCBC Festive Redemption Programme”.

The Oriental, Singapore, MELT – The World Café, Level 4, The Oriental Singapore, Tel 6885 3080
15% off Christmas Goodies. Offer is valid from 1 to 26 Dec 2006. Please order 3 days in advance.

Wasabi Bistro, 4/F The Oriental Singpaore, Marina Square, Tel 6885 3091
10% off Weekend Champagne Brunch. Offer is valid till 31 Oct 2007.

Jaan, 70/F Equinox Complex, Swissotel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Rd Tel: 6837 3322
Platinum & Titanium Exclusive: 15% off food bill on a la carte menu for lunch from Mon to Thu. Offer is valid till 31 Dec 2006.

Calling all food bloggers!

I don’t know how many of you remember or took part in Menu for Hope II, the super-duper, web-based, food bloggers campaign, started by the always energetic Chez Pim, that raised money for UNICEF last year. Either way, I hope you will take part in Menu for Hope III, which launches internationally and all across the Web on 11 December 2006. This year, we are raising money for the United Nations World Food Programme. I can’t imagine anything that’s more fitting for the festive season than the world’s food bloggers raising money to feed the hungry. It’s simply perfect.

Here’s how the campaign works. If you are a blogger, you’ll need to either come up with a cool gift/prize to donate or source one from a generous sponsor. Then inform your regional “host”, i.e. the blogger in your region who is consolidating all the various donations from your region. He or she will post what everyone is donating on the 11th. At the same time, you should also post about your donation on the same day.

Here’s a list of this year’s hosts:
US West Coast: Sam of Becks and Posh
US East Coast: Adam the Amateur Gourmet
US (the rest): Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen
Canada: Jasmine of Cardamom Addict
Europe: David Lebovitz of Davidlebovitz.com
Latin America: Melissa de Leon of the Cooking Diva
Asia Pacific: Helen of Grab Your Fork

Readers are asked to donate funds in order to get virtual raffle tickets for these prizes; they also get to choose which prizes they want to be in competition for.

This year, by the way, I hear that the prizes are going to be awesome. Rumour has it that a certain Thomas Keller is sponsoring something. (I am so totally bidding on that!)

For more info on how to take part, please go to Pim’s blog by clicking here. To steal a famous phrase, help us feed the world this Christmas!

The other man in my wife’s life

photo courtesy of the Les Amis Group

Married guys out there will understand my predicament. It wasn’t all that long ago that I could get my wife’s pulse racing. Sure, I may have gained the equivalent of a Golden Retriever in extra pounds, but that’s partly her fault. She’s the one who has been feeding me so well. I remember a time when she’d be breathlessly captivated by me, hanging unto my words, eyes twinkling with excitement. These days, however, I’m lucky if, even when I try my hardest, I can capture her attention, usually followed by a response of, “okay, sweetie… that’s nice.”

Which is why I used to really hate Pang Kok Keong. After first meeting the suave, spiky-haired chef, he was all my darling S could talk about. “Chef Pang has done this. Chef Pang has done that. Chef Pang’s created this. Chef Pang is so cool.” It was so very aggravating. I felt emasculated, wounded, cuckolded… and well, jealous. I thought I was the Big Dog in her life. But instead of wanting to talk about me, she wanted to talk about another man.

As soon as I tasted Chef Pang’s desserts though, any feelings of ill will I had for him disappeared. As the Executive Pastry Chef for the very well-known Les Amis Group and the creative force behind Canelé Patisserie Chocolaterie, the awesome pastry shop in Robertson Walk, Chef Pang is consistently and constantly producing new, exquisite sweet things for hungry hubbies like myself to feast upon. I won’t bother transcribing Chef Pang’s impressive CV. If you want to read it, please click here. I will say though that Chef Pang is easily one of the most talented dessert chefs working in Singapore today. I really like his caramel-sel macarons, his ice creams and many of his cakes.

He also happens to be one of the nicest chefs in town. Over the past year or so, S and Chef Pang have become good friends (and yeah, I still do feel a small tinge of jealousy when she talks non-stop about him, but as long as she feeds me his desserts, I keep my mouth shut). One of the things that S and Chef Pang have talked about a lot is the idea of creating a multi-course dessert degustation dinner. While some restaurants, most famously Espai Sucre in Barcelona and ChikaLicious in New York specialize in serving such sweet meals, there aren’t any places in town that do. Taking advantage of my recent partnership with OCBC Bank, that allows me to create special promotions with (and only with) chefs and restaurants that I like, I recently approached Chef Pang and suggested that he do exactly what he’s been talking about for as long as S has known him, i.e. create a super-sweet degustation dinner for a group of 14 greedy gourmands. OCBC has generously agreed to cover the costs of this very special dinner and is allowing me to give away 10 seats to my readers (as you should expect, only OCBC cardmembers can apply).

First, let me whet your appetite with Chef Pang’s menu. Here it is:

Pan-fried Duck Breast – Orange Chocolate Jam – Roasted Hazelnut
Tuna Tataki – Mustard Vinegrette – Crab Tuile – Seaweed Marshmallow
Roasted Pepper Tagliatelle – Olive Oil Cake – Spiced Pine Nut
“Tako” – Potato Jelly – Paprika “Cloud” – Aioli
Frozen Asparagus & White Truffle Lollipop
Pina Colada
Apple Ravioli – Apricot Coulis – Tomato Marmalade
Hot Chocolate Espuma – Frozen Kalamansi Chibouste – Exotic Fruit Compote
Raspberry Foam – Chocolate Tea Cream – Cocoa Bean Tuile
Flambe Banana – Milk Chocolate Yoghurt – Lemon Cloud
“Pain Perdu” – Spiced Fig Compote – Cinnamon Ice Cream
Rose “Bombe”
Orange Tea Savarin
Chocolat – Chocolat – Chocolat
Selected Petit Fours

That’s 15 courses of sweet, sweet fun. The dinner (valued at S$180 a person) will be held on 6 December 2006 at Canelé. We are offering two seats each to 5 lucky couples. To win an invitation for 2 to this unique meal, you will need to email me no more than 300 words on the subject, “My Sweetest Experience”. I’m totally leaving it to you to decide how to define the subject. Of course, only OCBC cardmembers are eligible to apply (and yes, this is a very transparent way of encouraging you to sign up for a card if you don’t have one yet). When you email me, you will need to give me your full name and IC number. Email to aun@chubbyhubby.net no later than 28 November. The winners will be announced on 30 November.

I’m really looking forward to this dinner. And I’m really grateful that Chef Pang has made time to make this meal. He’s currently otherwise swamped with work; he’s opening a brand new branch of Canelé Patisserie Chocolaterie on Orchard Road this coming December. Good luck and hope to see you at dinner.

Canelé Patisserie Chocolaterie
11 Unity Street
#01-09, Robertson Walk
Singapore
Tel: +65 6738 8145

More free stuff

{NOTE: AS OF 1014AM ON WEDNESDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 2006, THE TICKETS HAVE ALL BEEN SNAPPED UP. CONGRATS TO PING LAN, DAVID, VENISHA, AMANDA AND JACLYN! Please do not send me any more entries. Thank you.}

Regular readers will know that from time to time I’ve been giving away free tickets to performances by Singapore Lyric Opera. I’m a fan of this under-appreciated and often under-funded performing arts group. In exchange for an ad space for each of their concerts, SLO gives me several pairs of tickets, which I in turn pass onto you.

This December, SLO is putting on “All That Jazz”, a concert featuring popular pieces that straddle the line between jazz and opera. A great example might be music from Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin and Richard Rodney Bennet, which they have on their programme.

I have 5 pairs of tickets for the evening (8pm) performance on 8 December 2006 to give away. The seats are excellent. The concert is being held at the UCC Hall at the National University of Singapore.

To win a pair of tickets, just email me (at aun@chubbyhubby.net) the correct answers to the following questions:

1. What was the real name of the jazz musician nicknamed Bird?
2. What famous Chicago-based chef is a huge jazz fan and compares his cooking with jazz improvisation (hint: he has a jazz band playing on his TV show)?
3. In which town in which country is the opera Porgy and Bess set?

Tickets will be awarded to the first 5 persons with correct answers. Please note that this is only open to Singaporean or Malaysian residents.

The winning entries

The fabulous winners of the Justin Quek dinner contest, brought to all of us through OCBC’s generosity, have kindly agreed to allow me to run their winning entries. To recap, I had asked readers to write a short essay (100-200 words or so) about their own chubby hubby or sexy spouse. Here are the winners, in no particular order:

1. We met 9 years ago and I can still remember the T-shirt she wore, what she drank, where she worked, the colour of her hair, the sparkle in her eyes. I remember thinking ‘WOW!’

Unfortunately she has no recollection whatsoever of this meeting!

Fortunately, fate threw us together 6 months later and she was bowled over by how much I knew about her – particularly her love of food. For our first proper date I took her to the famous Swee Kee restaurant at the Damenlou Hotel. The 4 C’s! Not in her mind. Can he order good Chinese food! I ordered the chicken, broccoli and the special tofu with crab meat. I passed the test.

We’ve since been to hundreds of restaurants all over the world and that remains the only time I have ever ordered for her! Food is King in her world…we chose our apartment because of the kitchen…the TV remote is stuck on AFC…and a small forest no longer exists due to the books and magazines lining our walls. Food is her passion. And I’m much the better man for it and her (even if a slightly bit chubby). SEAN DONOVAN

2. My once chubby hubby, Eric, has been my pillar of support, my buddy, my makan kaki and personal Aunt Agony all rolled into one. Lately he has also become my iPod fairy as I am not as technologically inclined like he is. New songs and photos get uploaded into my iPod every time I charge it while I am asleep. The next day while commuting to work, I would hear new songs on my iPod and it makes me smile as these songs bring back sweet memories of our relationship that started in ’88, which was a great vintage year, and it has been an ongoing sweet marathon for 18 years of which 9 were spent together as husband and wife.

Food is one of the strong links that binds us both. From trying street food in Shanghai to hunting down the best ramen in town to satisfying my midnight cravings for frog leg congee in Geylang, he has always been game and relishes the food experiences each time with as much as gusto as me. He has been my “guinea pig” and diehard fan as I try out different recipes at home after reading cooking books and the numerous local food blogs such as Kuidaore, Nibble & Scribble, Umami, Slightly Pretentious Food and yours.

After being together for almost two decades, every day with him is still fresh and fun and most important of all, my chubby hubby still makes me laugh and I love him for that and so much more. ANNIE TAN

3. “Greta Carbo”
Not the screen goddess. I am talking about my XM and her craving:

“Get-her-the-Carbo”

She simply must have her carbohydrates. Bread, potatoes, rice, noodles, pasta – one of these characters must cameo at some point in every meal. I on the other hand am a carbo minimalist: I love my fruits and greens, meat and oceanfare. Of course, XM likes all of those too, but her true passion is carbo.

As the cook, you can imagine the balancing feats I am obliged to perform to achieve peace in our time:

“What’re you cooking for lunch?”

“Seared striploin in its pan juices with sauteed mushrooms on a bed of wilted spinach?”

“Atop a quivering slab of pommes dauphinoise?”

“Of course, what was I thinking…”

Sometimes I try to outwit: pseudo-carbos like carrots, radish and lotus root parade in different guises, though often in vain. Sometimes she lets it slide, mostly I do.

But when I see her nibbling blissfully on a piece of hot buttered toast or starting dinner with that first unaccompanied mouthful of steaming white rice, I understand why she has the final word:

“Carbo makes me happy.”

You can’t really get smarter than that, can you? CHONG KIM SOON

Movies and free tickets to the opera

(Note: as of 1230pm on 3 October 2006, the five pairs have been snapped up. Congrats to the winners!)

I’m a huge, huge movie buff. Sometimes S is amazed at the number of films I’ve watched and the sheer volume of ridiculous movie trivia that I know.

Of course, I love food-centric films. My all-time favourites are Babette’s Feast, Tampopo, and Big Night. I love the cooking scenes in Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, but I always found the female characters a little too annoying to enjoy the film thoroughly.

As a movie fan, I was quite thrilled by Singapore Lyric Opera’s idea for a concert which was aimed at introducing new audiences to opera. Titled “Opera on Silver Screen” (yeah, I know it’s grammatically incorrect), this performance features arias and other great pieces of music from some super-popular films, like Armageddon, Babe, The Godfather and Superman Returns. The concert runs on 13-14 October at the Drama Centre (National Library); tickets are available here.

SLO has been gracious enough to pass me some tickets for the 8pm performance on 13 October. Which, of course, I am passing onto you. This is open to anyone who can actually get him or herself down to the concert (which means that Malaysians or Indonesians or Thais, etc who really want to take part can).

I’m giving away 5 pairs of tickets (good seats in the stalls). All you have to do is be the first 5 persons to email me the correct answers to the following quiz questions:

1. What were the names of the two chef brothers in Big Night?
2. What kind of food was Tampopo, in Tampopo, trying to perfect?
3. In The Bad News Bears (original version), Walter Mathau’s character was constantly whistling an opera tune. From what opera was it?

Please email answers to aun@chubbyhubby.net.