Magical Macarons

My first shock, regarding these desserts, was the spelling. I always thought it had a double O, like carTOON, bufFOON, but I guess I was wrong. In fact, macaroons, according to Wikipedia, are different from Macarons, just like a CarTON is different from a CarTOON. However, I think by and large, no one really cares, and in fact, even the advertisement in the Cooking House said Macaroon. Heck, even Laduree, the Mecca of Macaroons, spells them with a double "O", in their website. (Incidentally, the Laduree ones look terribly oorgasmic)

I only ever recall eating the ones from Lemon Garden, Shangrila, and they were horrible. Enough to give you diabetes from one nibble, and completely unsubtle taste.

As I've always been very curious to know HOW these little biscuits are piped to such perfection and such circular shapes, I was thrilled to see the Cooking House feature this class, by a French lady no less. I apparently cajoled Ciki, into coming with me, as we both had RM100 vouchers from Cooking House to be utilised. And, the class was on a WEEKDAY!!! Yay. I love weekday classes. Just tell the office, I'm going for a course.

The instructress, Chef Nathalie Arberfeuille, has an aura of Chefdom about her. You straightaway feel you are in the correct hands. It's kinda like going for boxing lessons with Muhammad Ali, as opposed to going for singing lessons with Mawi. It helps, with that sexay French accent....it sends shiversss up my spine....

Everytime I go to the Cooking House, I feel very at home. To my surprise, the class was packed. (aiya, these people all no need to work one ah). Fortunately, I was not the only rose amongst the thorns, as there was another chappie there attending as well. (But he professional chef).

First, we were briefed about the sensitivities of the project. Apparently these are very sensitive, precise biscuits, with very low tolerance for mistakes, or inaccuracy, temperature, etc. When she says 118C, its 118C, not 121, or 115....make no mistake. 75gms of egg white is SEVENTY FIVE GRAMS, don't try to be a smart alec and allow 78gm. Phwah.....sounds like some people I know..



She looks a bit like Julie Andrews hor! I felt like I was in the Sound of Music. Minus the music. And annoying small children. And nuns.



Check out Ciki...she looks like she's racing with the other girl to see who can Mac-simize their Macs...pump it Ciki Pump It...yeah....actually, I meant Pipe it...

This fella here is the raison d'etre for Ciki's presence at the class. (by her own admission) Debonair and youthful chef Ryan Khang.



It really is a miracle of physics, I reckon, how the batter just spreads evenly to form perfect circles.





And look at those baked biscuits...amazing how there seem to be two distinct layers.


Dang, previously not a fan, just looking at these while I'm writing is making me hungry. Who'd have thought.



Hey, the ganache filling is valrhona chocolate okay. I reckon, it would taste good any which way!!!


Part of the process was to find each biscuit a matching mate. It was almost like a mass Korean cult wedding. Pairs of macs waiting to be tied together in holy matrimony.




I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.





I am now a macaronian. A convert, to the macaron religion. The ethereal light melt in the mouth biscuit, albeit a bit sweet, is complemented by the dark valrhona ganache. Divine.

However, not all macs are created equal. One of my classmates told me that this was not the first macaroon class she was attending coz she wasn't satisfied with the previous ones. Wow, talk about commitment. Even she was impressed with Nathalie's product.



We also had coconut and pistachio macaroons, but we missed the assembly line, coz Ciki, Ryan and I snuck out for lunch...which is another story altogether.

These babies taste better after a few days in an airtight container in the fridge. That's what the Chef told us, and the Chef was correct.

Now, to find a recipe that needs lots of yolks, so I can use the whites for my first attempt!!!!

Commercial Break: MORE OF MRS MACGREGOR

As in, more of Mrs Macgregor's Bread, as a sequel to an earlier post, Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread.

Two more new items on the already extensive range of grainy goodness.

HONEY OATS WHITE BREAD LOAF

If you like honey, try this loaf. The honey taste is subtle, and not overpowering, but definitely distinguishable. Lovely toasted, and as you can opt for a whole unsliced loaf, you can cut lovely thick fat slices slathered with butter, jam, kaya, or whatever spread that tickles your fancy.

RAISIN BREAD (WHITE BREAD)

My favourite. Good enough to eat on its own, and I imagine, would be glorious for bread and butter pudding as well. ...OR just BREAD AND BUTTER....the best things in life, are simple.


BREADS AVAILABLE AT VILLAGE GROCER, BANGSAR VILLAGE, or ROCKY COFFEE SHOP, JALAN TELAWI 5. (next to old MPH building, same row as MacDonalds).

Or Call Mrs Macgregor herself at 016-238 9313

Project Not-So-Lonely- Anniversary [Phase 2] : Mission Accomplished

Team: Nippon Tei
Mission: Surprise Devil Phase 2
A sequel to Phase 1...

Truth be told, I feel a bit nauseated at all extreme displays of affection and lurve. Flowers at Valentine's, OTT wedding proposals, couples who observe a monthly anniversary, shudder, it's more horrifying to me than The Exorcism of Emily Rose...

To me, all these external displays and gift giving are the triumph of marketing of western commercialism. A scene in Fiddler on the Roof, when Tevye asks his wife, Golde, of 25 years, "Do You Love Me?". Theirs was an arranged marriage, and the question "do you love me?" was quite unheard off. She mulls the question, and says something to the effect, for 25 years, i've milked your cows, washed your clothes, borne your kids, tended to you when you're sick, if that's not love, WHAT IS?!!!!! I soooo agree with her.

But the youth of today take expressions of love to different dimensions. One such case, ladies and gentlemen....was our dear Life for Beginners man himself. To cut a long story short, he was to be away for work on his 1st anniversary with Devil, so, to make it up to Devil, he plans this ELAAAAAAAAAAABORATE series of surprises for Devil. Various groups of friends are to meet with Devil for various meals, over a few days, armed with presents from LFB. Devil is told where to rendezvous, but apart from that, does not know who to expect, or what. Phase 1 was already brilliantly encapsulated by Qwazymonkey, in his hilarious post.

Part TWO, consisted of Unkaleong, Yin Yin and Me. The place, Nippon Tei, KLCC, lunchtime. We were to be there by 12 sharp, as Devil's lunchtime is 12-1pm.

You see, it's always a super effort for me to make it into town, as the car is tied up ferrying the kids from school. However, for Life For Beginners, I deigned to join the rakyat to get to my destination.


Yup, took the LRT, carrying a box of this:





What lies within the box?

I failed to capture a picture of his look of suprise, mainly because, he already saw us thru the glass at Nippon Tei. He was surprised, cos he wasn't expecting US. Hmph, obviously not in that closeness circle....




He's buying lunch, so please pick the most expensive item on the menu to make our trip worthwhile.


I'll have THIS thank you, with lots of raw fish.


The first present of two. Guess guess, what it is. It's in a Bally bag. Belt? shoes? Slippers?


What in tarnation is Unkaleong doing?


Yay, its a SCRABBLE set. History: Devil is a LEXULOUS addict. He sits at the screen and talks to himself, declaring himself "Yeah, I am the Lexulous King", when he trashes his opponents, so LFB thought it would be a nice gesture for him to receive a hard copy of the game, passed to him by his supposedly favourite Lexulous opponent... ME.



Oooh, there's more. You better appreciate this, it had to come with me on the LRT.





Yay, the Devil's supposedly favourite Flourless Chocolate Cakes with Molten Centre.

Thank Gawd we got that out of the way, we can now eat.
























Since I didnt really get to try the other dishes, apart from my own, I shan't bother reviewing the food, as was not the main intention of this post anyway. The food pics, badly taken as they are, is to qualify this post to be on this blog.

Suffice to say, the food here in Nippon Tei is not bad, and the sets are good value for money. The bill for the four of us came up to RM184, which is quite reasonable. I enjoyed my beef terriyaki, though I had ordered beef teppenyaki... and I think Devil, no stranger to the place, knew what he wanted.


Oh dear, I think I have accidentally reduced the file sizes of these pics to very poor quality. Anyway, here we are, the Terror Trio, smugly basking in our triumphant execution of phase 2. Yin Yin reads out the text from her phone, telling Devil what to do next.
Phase 3, Meet at Delicious Dua Annexe at 7.30.



Sigh....LURVE. Contrast THIS episode to one of my recent wedding anniversaries.

Time: 3pm
Date :8th March 200X
Place: Office

I'm writing a cheque, to pay some bills. I write the date. GASP!!! It's our anniversary. I ring the wife:

ME: Ooooooi, howwww DDDAREEE you forget to wish me....
Wife: huh, forget to wish you what?
ME: Think, think
Wife : Gasp, oh, ya hor, ...heh heh, happy anniversary
ME: Heh heh, don't forget to buy eggs ya. Got baking orders.
Wife: ya la ya la. Bye.
ME: Grunts....

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

If you love wholemeal, grainy, crusty bread, thickly sliced, (or thinly also can), then you have to check out this new range of breads, lovingly made by my good friend, who goes under the name MRS MACGREGOR.... she is married to a scotsman, afterall.

An amazing variety....buns, rolls, loaves, with an a dizzying array of seeds...poppy, pumpkin, sunflower, ....some I cant even name.



Burger buns. I have often heard a grouse that local burger buns have a sweetish aftertaste. These don't.

The mini loaves, at approx RM5 per loaf.

Anyway, I had a lovely poppy seed roll this morning, at my regular breakfast coffee shop, Rocky, in Bangsar Baru. The landlady, my "godma", keeps a special tub of butter for me, ahem, (I don't eat margarine), and I always get some extra goodies thrown in, such as the baked beans.....AH, wholesome wholemeal poppy seed roll, heinz baked beans, half boiled eggs, boiled to perfection.... can breakfast be any better?

YOU CAN BUY THESE LOVELY BREADS AT VILLAGE GROCER, BANGSAR VILLAGE, or ROCKY COFFEE SHOP, JLN TELAWI 5, or CALL MRS MACGREGOR, at 016-2389313. She also does a wide variety of premium cakes, and the most divine shortbread.

Below are the official "STUDIO SHOTS", taken by professional photographers. Kinda like the bride in the studio, as opposed to on a non wedding day.....

Decanter Too

About 18 years ago, a good friend of mine brought me to this quaint neighbourhood pub, DECANTER, on Jalan Setiakasih 5. It was run at the time, by two sisters, Jo, and Eileen, and well, it became the pub where everyone knew my name...(it's not NORM). From thenceforth, me and my friends kinda "grew up" there. Seasons came and went, girlfriends became exes, we held meetings, discussing the latest "acquisitions"....indeed, many a life defining moment were captured in that pub. Their fried rice with extra bulls eye was our staple diet, so muh so, Jo always chided me for recommending "only fried rice" to my friends. They had other stuff too, chicken pot pie, their signature peach and banana crumble, home baked cheesecake..... ah, nostalgic glassy look in my eyes.

Fast forward to 18 years later.....the original had been bought up by a prominent retired politician's son, who also has a string of other F&B establishments. Decanter itself went through a total image change, and spawned more outlets, like religious people who don't use contraception. I kinda stopped going..... I mean, part of the charm of the place was the personal touch the two sisters brought...and even the waitress etc, knew what my normal order was. A new era had dawned, and the old had diminished.....

Until.... Ryan Khang of MY NOURISHMENT invited a select group to try out the food at Decanter Too.

In place of the two (occasionally) grumpy sisters, a young lad, who was probably not even in primary school, 18 years ago...helming the outlet at Desa Sri Hartamas. Okay, so they have a different target audience, and a chick magnet is placed there to lure them in.


The very affable manager, Timothy, made us feel very welcome ....

A few serious moments, or so it looked. James is one of the editors of MY NOURISHMENT, together with Ryan etc. Cumi is the other half of Ciki.....



Black boards. There's something so quaint and charming about specials written on a blackboard, using chalk. I wonder if schools today still use blackboards. Remember how we used to rush to volunteer to de-dust the duster? Life was a lot simpler those days. Whacking up a cloud of chalk dust was enough to make our day. No play station, no facebook, no handphones....we could concentrate on what mattered, such as dusting the duster and making sure blackboards were clean.



I wondered about the Rib Eye steak...RM 25, almost half the price of what is usually charged at other restaurants. Perhaps the owners have their own cow farm.


Our starter was a lovely spicy Tom Yam Soup, which only James & I managed to finish. Ciki was melting from the pedasness, Cumi doesn't take prawns, Nipple Joe had turned a scarlet shade from the chilli padi, Ryan ...well, just looked too delicate to finish the entire bowl...afterall, he has his svelte figure to maintain. I enjoyed it thoroughly, have always been a fan of Tom Yam, and this one was good. Lots of ingredients.

The next dish that was served were these chicken wings, but they flew away, after being photographed. Apparently they weren't meant for our table. Drat. Had we not had been busy snapping away, we'd have polished it in a sec.

Then came the Sang Har Yee Mee. Tasty, and adequate. I personally prefer sang mee to yee mee, but it was tasty enough, and the gravy not overly starchy, though someone did comment on the liberal use of corn flour in a lot of the dishes.



One thing I have to say is, it tasted very "clean". It lacked the years of grime and probably the wok hei that you'd find in Soo Kee's sang har mee, or other older establishments.



Mmm, the yummy oxtail stew. I am not sure what's ethnicity of this dish, it tastes like a cross between our soup ekor, oxtail soup, and stew, all combined in one. No complaints here. The meat on the tail was tender and falling off the bone. The gravy was screaming for some carbo, either bread or rice, but Nipple Joe was too Hak Hei to ask for it.


Pan fried garoupa, with garlic butter and vegetables. Alas, I think because of the photography, etc, the dish had gone cold.



Hainanese Chicken Chop. Now, I am almost sure the moniker came about because some Hainanese flers must have been working as cooks for the British, in the good old days when we were part of the British Empire, and must have been instructed to prepare chicken chop, AND THEN passed on the recipe to their descendants, who eventually open their own coffee shops, and name it HAINANESE CHICKEN CHOP. I am PRETTTTY sure you cant find these in Hainan island. Rule Britannia!!!




Aren't they a gorgeous bunch.....



Peach and Banana Crumble. Different from the one I remembered from the original decanter, and I can't really taste the peach, but the crumble was yummy. Very buttery. However, I didn't care much for the custard sauce in which it swam. I'd have much preferred it with whipping cream, as the crumble was sweet enough on its own. Timothy on the other hand, indicated that he had a sweet tooth and liked it sweet.


Admiring the shoot, all in a day's work.

I assume all the outlets serve more or less the same thing. To summarise, I reckon its a good place for wholesome, non pretentious food, in a relaxed atmosphere. Most of their outlets have easy parking, (Setiakasih 5, Setiabakti, Section 17, and Desa Hartamas...the latter being the hardest to park).

Of course, it helped that the manager, Timothy, was so accommodating and friendly, and made us feel very much at home. Thanks Ryan, for organising this, and thanks Timothy for being a great host.