Day 2 of International Influence

a) Quails 'Yakitori' marinated with Lemongrass, Port Wine Glaze, Lime Sauce - served with potato fondant on a bed of baby spinach.

The quails are marinated and grilled yakitori style, and there's a dollop of miso/cream in the hole of the potato.

Chef liked it, but warned that because of the sugar in the mirin, it could burn easily, mine was still ok, but not more than that.

b) Shortbread with Crab, Lime and Lemon Balm, Green Mango and Lemongrass Sauce.

The white rounds you see are Japanese yam. Topped with some crisp serrano ham.

This is an extra, since we were using foie gras in a later dish, Chef showed us another way of using it - Pan Fried Foie Gras with Balsamic and Cocoa Sauce, and some warm apples.

c) Scorpion Fish with Foie Gras, Bouillabaisse-style Vermicelli, Turmeric and Chorizo.

The vermicelli isn't the kind we get in SG, it's actually a pasta, angel hair, broken in smaller strands.

The fish and foie gras are lightly pan-fried, sandwiched, and steamed. Personally, I didn't like too much turmeric, so I added less in mine.

Chef liked it too, though my cut of the fish was a little thick, so the middle was still a liiiiiitttlllleeeee raw.

d) Sweet 'sushi'!! It's actually Thailands' mango sticky rice, but fashioned to look like sushi! Served with some pineapple/coconut sauce, and a ball of red pepper sorbet!! It was good, Chef approved. My sauce was nicely thick, cut of the fruits were good too.

Last of Superior Cuisine

In this week, we had the same 3 demonstrations, but only 1 practical. The other 2 practicals were taken up to prepare for, and the final practical exams itself.

Starters:

1) Green asparagus and crab charlotte, verjus sauce. Verjus is actually the juice made from unripe grapes and lends a tangy taste, thus an alternative to citrus or vinegar.

2) Lobster salad with citrus fruits

3) 'Greek style' artichokes with saffroned mussels

Mains:

1) Stuffed guinea fowl breaks cooked 'en cocotte'

2) Crisp wrapped lamb fillet with provencal vegetables

3) Roast rabbit legs tandoori-style with herb salad. The green juice in the shotglass is cucumber juice to reduce the heat of tandoori. Tandoori is normally served as a whole, but this was sliced to for the photo.

Desserts:

1) Warm mascarpone souffle

2) Raspberry souffle, tropical fruit salad with spices

3) Orange and lime sorbet, sweet wine jelly balsamic vinegar dressing

Thus ends our journey with Le Cordon Bleu Dusit, Bangkok, Thailand. I hope you enjoyed the sensory delights of these dishes, desserts, pastries and cakes as much as I did.

Looking back, it was quite a dive into the deep end, but the best part of all is the satisfaction of knowing your level skills have improved by a couple of notches.

Still a long road ahead in this absolutely fantastic journey! Stay tuned for more updates as I take up an internship and September in Paris for Cert IV "Professional Perfecting of Skills".