"Goose Liver" with Chocolate and Popcorn Cream (Photography: Ian Mak)
Joachim Wissler, the much decorated chef of the 3-Michelin starred gourmet restaurant, Vendôme, winner of 19.5 Gault Millau points, widely regarded as the best chef in all of Germany, was recently in town cooking at the Centurion (Hong Kong Jockey Club) for 4 days as part of Jockey Club “The Greatest Chef” series where famous chefs from around the world were brought to Hong Kong to show off their culinary excellence to local diners. Previous visiting superstars include Magnus Ek (the man at the helm of Oaxen Krog for 17 years before it closed its doors for the last time in 2011), Alain Passard (the 3-Michellin starred chef of L’Arpège who runs a red meat-free menu) and Jean-Michel Lorain (one of the best chefs in Burgundy and the youngest chef ever to attain 3-Michelin stars, at the ripe old age of 27). While they are all great chefs in their own right, their style of cooking cannot be more different. Transporting their gastronomic expertise thousands of miles has also met with varying degrees of success.
"Champagne Lobster Velouté" (Photography: Ian Mak)
"Black Angus Beef" with caramelised Chorizo, Green Beans and Smoked Potato Puree (Photography: Ian Mak)
Wissler’s is a 7-course dégustation menu featuring the usual suspects of quail, prawns, foie gras, lobster and beef. What differentiates Wissler’s style of cooking is his ability to incorporate modern execution into traditional German cooking. Memorable dishes were not in short supply.
The “goose liver” interlaced with South American Guajana dark-bitter chocolate and popcorn cream was precise, creative and unassumingly excellent.
The central mound of lobster flesh in the “champagne lobster velouté” was sumptuous and the surrounding smooth creamy snow peas champagne mousse, decidedly luxurious.
Equally splendid was the “black Augus beef”. Here the caramelised chorizo added a hint of smokiness to the perfectly cooked – charred outside, pink inside – Aberdeen doddies. Despite these wonderful dishes, there is another aspect of Wissler’s cooking that I admire more.
Many many moons ago [editor (read wife): (recte) “Not that many moons ago……”], when we were a kidless time-poor doctor-lawyer couple working in London, we cooked almost everyday. Nothing fancy and certainly nothing that requires more than a quick trip to the local supermarket to pick up the ingredients and an hour in the kitchen to rig up – but certainly tasty! Something that allowed us to sit down and share our rigmarole of the work day (or work nights, more ofter than not) over a glass of wine. The time spent together in the kitchen and around the dining table became the most looked-forward-to part of the day, a time when burdens in life were shared, work troubles lamented, joys celebrated. Thinking back at those times (and subsequent years), I will always say that marriage is underrated in this day and age.
Ever since moving to Asia, the task of cooking in our household has largely been delegated to our very capable domestic helpers. I no longer visit the supermarkets frequently and aside from the general physical location of my kitchen, I hardly know anything about it. Come to think of it, I even have reservation calling it “my kitchen” much the same as knowing the postcode of the bank does not make it mine. Fast-forward to a year ago, I invited a few friends over to our place for a home-cooked dinner. I made a small mistake in attempting a 4-course dinner produced all by myself in “my kitchen” (yes, the same one that I only know the postcode of). Slightly more problematic was that I unintentionally picked a night when my domestic helpers were having their day off. Without their help, I wondered in gingerly – feeling for all the world like an extra from Gordon Ramsey’s “Hell’s Kitchen”. The figs, rocket leaves, parma ham and buffalo mozzarella were easily located in the fridge. The whereabouts of the knives were much less obvious. After an unsuccessful 20-minute search, I gave up. I thought the “hand-torn” mozzarella and figs just added a certain rustic feel to the salad, which is no bad thing. The fact that it had no dressing – due to the yet-to-be-discovered balsamic vinegar and olive oil – is another problem altogether. Next up was the mushroom risotto, or so I thought. I found no fewer than five types of rice in the kitchen but the Arborio that I bought a few days back for this specific purpose was nowhere to be found. Since no rice means no risotto, and the ETA of the guests rapidly approaching, the lamb shank would have to be done first. Thankfully, it went into the oven without too much drama (aside from the fact that I had to take a gamble on the oven temperature gauge being marked in Celsius and not Fahrenheit and I had to pummel the herbs and spices with the backend of a wooden spatula and a coffee mug since the pestle and mortar were missing). Following the lamb, the apple cake went into the oven soon after. That too was relatively painless if you discount having to thinly sliced the cooking apples with a butter knife. Now the quest for the Arborio continues. At one stage, I even considered changing the menu to truffle oil wild mushroom Hokkien congee. I am convinced that that was how fusion cuisine was created. In the ensuing carpet search, which lasted the best part of an hour, the Arborio was found. So was the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil. I also located the 2 half bottles of Sauternes that I thought would go well with the cake. They were right next to the sesame oil (I guess they are of the same appearance after all). Suffice to say the evening went well and we all had a good time.
Now back to Wissler’s cooking that I enjoyed and admired so very much. Nothing impressed me more than his ability to recreate his dishes to such a thrilling standard in an unfamiliar kitchen, with minimally acquainted kitchen staff and for 200 dining guests with high expectations – no less. I begin wonder what it is like at Vendôme …… more tk.