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Megabites: Food News – 12 May, 2015

Vive la France
There’s lots of great wet and produce markets spread across the SAR – but what about the vegetables they don’t sell… That’s where supermarkets can step in. As part of the Le French GourMay Great in Pacific Place is running a French food promotion through May. As well as some wonderfully tasty new products they’ve signed up with a new fresh produce consolidator to bring an expanded range of fresh seasonal European vegetables. Among those new on the shelf in May are yellow, red and white carrots – yes, you did read that correctly, not all carrots are orange. A fresh multi-coloured carrot salad is easy on the eye, healthy and very tasty. Other vegetables that come in colours you’re not used to seeing include beetroot and tomatoes. Locally we’ve got used to seeing and eating cherry and ‘regular’ tomatoes but there are many different varieties of tomatoes – Great had sixteen different types the day we were exploring. All with different colours, shapes, textures and flavours, mixing a few different varieties can enhance any ‘dull’ tomato salad.

France is renowned for it’s cheese and among the new varieties in the Great cheese room is the delicious Bleu de Severac ($95/100g) which could be confused with a Roquefort cheese as is made from unpasteurised ewes’ milk and follows the identical method of production. The only difference is that it’s not matured in the prestigious cellars of Combalou. The uncooked, unpressed soft cheese with veins of blue mould is firm, creamy and smooth with a sublime tangy, slightly spicy/acidic flavour.

For many years now Hong Kong has gone rouge, blanc et blue in May. Originally Le French May was about raising awareness and appreciation of French music, art and culture, but 8 years ago Le French GourMay was launched to enhance the appreciation of French food and wine – perfect for a city full of hedonists. Check out the website to explore the wide range of promotions and dinging offers www.frenchgourmay.com

CheesebyTom
In Europe cheese is an everyday food item and it’s common to have several types in the fridge all the time. Locally however cheese, like ice-cream, has been and continues to be priced as a luxury item. Architect/Entrepreneur Tom Higgins is looking to change that with his new cheese delivery website www.cheesebytom.com The Lamma based site currently offers Brie, Double Gloucester, Emmental, Cheddar, Gruyere and Manchego and delivers across Lamma and also to Hong Kong island once a week. We ordered the Cheddar ($35/250g) and the Brie ($50/250g) both are good solid very edible cheeses, perfect to be enjoyed at anytime. Yes, you can find finer cheeses around but cheesebytom returns cheese to everyday item it should be – at a price accessible to all HongKongers.

Tsim Sha Tsui East
TST East is one of those areas just off the main arteries that’s thronged with tourists who sleep there and office workers – consequently there’s a lot of restaurants and bars with many places offering outdoor seating and views of across the harbour. Among those is the Italian restaurant Spasso (Empire Centre, 68 Mody Road. Tel: 2730 8027) who celebrate the start of summer with a new promotional menu and the ‘opening’ of their terrace.

Also in the area is the wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant Ra (Wing On Plaza, Tel: 2721 3600) which offers a mix of Moroccan and Egyptian cuisine and for those who like it some of the best shisha in Hong Kong. A perfectly relaxing way to spend an evening.

Megabites: Food News, 15 April, 2015

Fast Food Pizza
Napoli’s Pizza & Caffe which opened at 40-46 Carnarvon Road in Tsim Sha Tsui last week, see’s Italy’s traditional staple re-worked Japanese style as fast food. In a traditional pizza restaurant the pie often takes about 20-30 minutes to arrive. Using a 400+ degree oven the pizza at Napoli’s is cooked in 90 seconds! Yes, we found that hard to believe as well but it’s true. From order to table/ take-away was around 5 minutes.

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Is it any good? Surprisingly so, and not expensive. The basic 25cm Margherita is just $35 and there’s a wide range of flavours available including prosciutto rucola ($78). Quattro Formaggi ($58), this four cheese classic, is given a Japanese twist with the addition of a side of maple syrup which adds little sweetness to a savoury dish – and very popular with Japanese women. One the most popular topping’s in Japan, and sure to be here too, is the cheese less Cicinielli ($68, baby sardines, clams,). A pizza with no cheese, as a cheese lover the idea seemed sacrilege. But it’s very tasty, add a splash of Tabasco to make the flavours sing

For those with a sweet tooth Napoli’s has some very tasty desserts including panzerotti (pizza dough deep fried and coated in sugar and other flavours $8-15) and chocolate banana pizza ($35)

Fresh Pizza as a ‘fast food’ is something different, but it tastes good at a price that’s hard to beat. Does it survive the cold pizza next day reheat test? Definitely – not that’s there’s much chance it’ll make the fridge, unless you buy and extra pie.

Waitrose @ Great Food Hall
Through the end of April, Great Food Hall in the basement of Pacific Place is featuring British supermarket chain Waitrose’s own brand basic food products including the Love Life ‘Quick Cook’ grains range which features various combinations of whole grains, beans and pulses that only requiresa ten-minute boil before using. There’s also the Duchy Originals’ (produced in partnership with Prince Charles) range of organic products.

Free Sandwiches
Free give-aways seem to be the promo-de-jour as Caribbean themed bar Rummin’ Tings (G/F, 28 Hollywood Road, 2523 7070) picks up where a sexually discriminating burger joint left-off when on Saturday 18 April between 2-5pm they’re looking give away 500 sandwiches.

There’s three types to choose from Jerk Chicken, Grilled BBQ Beef & The Cubano. There’s also cold slushies and beer to enjoy with your sandwich while getting your grooves on as DJ Noel spins the tunes.

Advertising v Reality
Pizza Hut recently launched a ‘new’ pizza the Golden Lava Pizza and it looks gorgeous on the posters and on the front of the menus… The reality is somewhat different, so different that we cheese lovers decided to pass and order from another pizza outlet.

Megabites: Food News, 31 March, 2015

America’s Culinary Bounty
In the basement of Pacific Place, through April 7, Great is showcasing America’s Bounty as it introduces and features many new American products. From seafood: East Coast Clams and Pacific Northwest Oysters, to fresh produce: meats to superfoods and grains – there’s lots to explore an savour. In Great’s wonderful cheese room there a selection of artisan cheeses from California. A wonderful firm and tasty Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar is a delight, while the Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor is truly a gorgeous soft-ripened goat’s cheese. Among the other new products is Tolerant Foods range of bean based pastas which are wheat and gluten free, non-GMO, vegan and organic. For those who love grains and ‘superfoods’ there’s organic grains including quinoa from Arrowhead Mills and chia from Bob’s Red Mill. Many of the products will remain on-sale after the promotion period.

During the promotion Great’s hot food counter is introducing a range of take-away Tex-Mex dishes including nachos, quesadillas, fajitas and tacos

Free Milk @ Circle K
As the price of milk continues to increase, up almost 25% from last year as the regular price of a 946ml carton of milk surges past the $25 mark. It’s not often that you’ll find convenience store prices are lower than supermarkets but currently Circle K is running a long term fresh milk promotion buy 5 cartons of Nestle milk and get the 6^th free. Simply pick up the chop card at any shop and chop away.

Buffet ala Hung Hom
Newly opened in Hung Hom is Sav, one of these new modern hotels looking to be your trendy home from home and full of bubbly friendly staff. Located on the first floor adjacent to reception is Palatte the hotels industrial looking dining space. With raw concrete floors, clear perspex chairs, the look is very modern and bright – but for all the staff buzzing around it’s strangely cold and functional with everyone trying that bit too hard to be nice.

The dinner buffet is prettily displayed, with a table of enticing desserts looking to draw you into the main dining area where cold and hot dishes stretch the length of one wall. Two cooking stations offer fresh pasta and noodles. There’s lots of seafood – lobster, oysters, yabbies, muscles – some sushi and sashimi, various western, Indian and Chinese hot dishes and the obligatory range of salads. Organic greens grown in the New Territories and a cheese board round out the offerings. It’s a reasonable sized dinner buffet, but… at $588 it’s not cheap. The extensive seafood offerings may be a factor in the price – as this was a special media tasting it’s impossible to know if on a regular night when the place is full, it seats 100, these will be constantly replenished.

It’s a very pretty looking spread, sadly though the food is very bland – the hot dishes lacked flavour, the salads identity and the quality of meat wasn’t all that you’d expect. There are a lot of very good buffets available in Hong Kong these days and Palatte’s at the moment isn’t good enough to make it worth the trek to Hung Hom. If you’re in the area though, the high tea sets look good at $288/two people and the lunch offerings of a hot dish, salad buffet and tea/coffee range from $68-$138 are very good value.

In-n-Out Burger
Family owned burger chain In-n-Out returned to Hong Kong for their third pop-up burger event, this time in Causeway Bay. 250 lucky customers got to sample In-n-Out’s burgers – at American prices: a double double ($25) hamburger ($15) and cheeseburger ($20). Cooked either ‘animal’ or ‘protein’ style, the tasty fresh ingredients were a big hit and well worth queuing for. Sadly Brian Nakao the organiser of In-n-Out’s foreign events confirmed that the burger chain has no immediate plans to open a store or three in Hong Kong.

Sevens Carnival @ Lan Kwai Fong – 8-11pm, 24 March, 2015

Choose Life! Harvest Festival @ Sangwoodgoon – 22 March, 2015

“Are there still farm villages in Hong Kong? What kinds of people live there? Who can live there? What kind of ‘investments’ are needed to live such a live? Can I make a choice too? What can I choose from? What are the stories there? What about the place I live, the food I eat…are there any stories behind too?”

The Choose Life! Harvest Festival will feature various activities throughout the day including a “Farmer’s Dining Table” to illustrate the freedom of choice in food and eating, food cooked from plants harvested from this at Sangwoodgoon will be shared at one big dining table. A “Plant-rubbing Print Make Workshop” and “Stories of the Farming Village” will formate more appreciation and awareness of organic food. There’ll also be a “Sunday Farm Market” for buying local and organic plants. Guided tours of the farm will be available to show those living in concrete boxes about planting and maintaining farm lands.

The Choose Life! Harvest Festival
When: 11am – 6pm 22 March, 2015
Where: Sangwoodgoon, Tse Uk Tsuen, Kam Sheung Road, Yuen Long│新界元朗八鄉錦上路謝屋村生活館
Tickets:
More info:
Directions:
1) Interchange to Bus 64 K (to Taipo Direction) at Kam Sheung Road West Railway Station (Exit C), take off at To Uk Tsuen stop│於西鐵錦上路站C出口轉乘64K巴士(往大埔方向)，於「杜屋村」站下車
2) Interchange to Bus 64 K (to Yuen Long Direction) at Tai Wo East Railway Station, take off at Tse Uk Tsuen stop│於太和火車站轉乘64K巴士(往元朗方向)，於「謝屋村」站下車

Mongkok Street Eats @ Chinese New Year

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Portland Street was a heaving mass of revellers, as long queues waited patiently for some late night street food snacks.

Sterile soul destroying malls provide the perfect shopping locale for over-priced branded consumerism. Street eats and markets offer a vibrancy and energy that malls can never replicate or replace. There’s a place for both, as the government – who are supposed to be representing our interests – should remember.

Licence them and ensure they’re hygienic and clean up after themselves is fine. But don’t drive them out of existence – the long lines show there’s a demand and a desire for what they’re selling.

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Saturday Night @ The Great European Carnival

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The rides are working, the games are open, the midways are full, it’s time to have fun!
Click on the photos to see more

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The Joy of Beef

American beef is very popular locally, in fact by value Hong Kong is the world’s 4th largest importer of American beef. Recently the US Meat Export Federation and the Texas Beef Council were in town to promote US beef and raise awareness among supermarkets and butchers about how to best cut, trim and prepare raw beef for their customers. As well as an effort to encourage shops to help advise and inform customers on the best way to cook different cuts and to buy their meat based on how they’re planning to cook it.

While they were in Hong Kong bc spoke to Tom McDonald (Chairman, Texas Cattle Feeders Association; VP of Environmental Affairs, JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC), Ross Wilson (President & CEO, Texas Cattle Feeders Association), Austin Brown III (Vice Chairman, Texas Beef Council; Vice Chairman, Beef Promotion and Research Council of Texas), Jason Bagley (Sr. Manager, Beef Resources at Texas Beef Council).

With the concerns locally about counterfeit meat, what should Hong Kong customers look for when buying American Beef to know that it’s authentic and the real thing?
Hong Kong requires country of origin labelling for meat sold at retail. We would assume most follow that. The US Meat Export Federation also supports importers and distributors for promoting US red meat and their stickers often appear on packages of US beef.

Texas is renowned for it’s BBQ, for non-Americans what is it that makes Texas BBQ so special?
It takes the right cut of beef, time and a low cooking temperature. It can be done on the smoker/grill or even in the oven. Texas BBQ uses mainly salt and pepper as a dry rub and then cooks the beef at a low temperature, about 120C.

What are good cuts of beef to use when BBQing, and what should customers look for in their meat when shopping?
Some good cuts are steaks from the ribeye or loin, or thicker roasts like the strip, sirloin cap, brisket or shoulder. It’s best to look for a little fat on the outside to protect from the heat while cooking, but more importantly to look for marbling in the steak or roast.

HK flats tend to the small size with limited ovens – are there ways to Texas BBQ at home?
Absolutely, the same cuts Texans cook on a BBQ pit can be cooked in the oven with the same spices. For a little smoke flavour you can even include some liquid smoke if it’s available. Use the same salt and pepper seasoning.

We love our outdoor BBQs, can HongKonger’s get a Texas flavour from these open pit style BBQs?
Yes, choose wood or charcoal that will enhance the flavour and season as usual. It’s best to BBQ with indirect heat so move the meat away from the coals to decrease the temp and slow the cooking process.

‘Organic’ and ‘Natural’ are increasingly popular words locally, what is the Texas beef industry doing to improve sustainability?
The beef industry has done many things to improve the sustainability over the years. One of the things cattle ranchers in Texas and across the US have done is to use the best genetics when selecting bulls and cows to use in their herd. This can ensure that cattle have higher quality meat, at the same time as decreasing the amount of water, food and resources needed to grow an animal to a given weight. In short, they breed efficient growing cattle that produce a quality product.

The drought has driven US beef prices to an all time high, and made beef from other countries attractive on a price point. What does the future hold for the price of US beef?
I think the future will continue to see US beef prices stay high. Until the cattle herd is able to rebuild and supply increases. However, we continue to see demand stay at high levels due to the high quality meat being produced compared and the great eating experience that you get each time. The “value” is still very good.

Many people think of Texas and cowboys + big cattle drives. How has the life of the cowboy changed? What impact is technology having on our romantic movie driven view of the cowboy?
The days of cattle drives are long gone. Although today’s cowboys still wear the same hats and boots, they also use lots of technology, from the smart phones used to check emails and weather from horseback, to the computer software and RFID ear tags that are used to track cattle birth, growth and sales. Another example would be the computer programming and technology that ensures cattle are getting the exact food ration needed to meet their nutritional needs. As with many businesses, technology has become a major part of being successful and creating a high quality product.

If you don’t fancy or aren’t able to cook your own beef, head down to Great in the basement of Pacifc Place and have your prime US Beef cooked for you.