Sunday, March 15, 2009

Western Food with Oriental Festive Flavor

Mandarin oranges are always associated with the occasion of the Lunar New Year; and most of us would peel the oranges during the festive season; when relaxing with our family, relatives and friends.
However, besides the festive fruit perception, have you ever thought of having it served with your food; especially grills and fries in the restaurant?

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That was exactly what the owners had in mind in Little Cottage; where they offered a festive flavor to your dining experience with their special lunch sets.
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It was a unique and captivating twist to the conventional western food or even fusion food as they made use of the festive fruit to attract their customers to their little cottage of a restaurant.
Not just that, their notion of the festive food addition was aligned with the idea of the Lunar New Year and the associative/derivative meaning from the names of the food.

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For instance, the starter was replaced with the peach bun (associated with Longevity) instead of the usual dinner rolls with butter
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The peach buns; with their rosy appearance is often used during cheerful celebrations; and especially birthdays for the elders.
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The two buns served were with peanut and lotus paste respectively; a tantalizing start for a meal.

Mushroom soup was served next; with the light creamy texture and the peach bun's soft taste in your mouth, this soup brings realization to your taste buds of the western course meal.
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The main course of the pan fried fish fillet was topped with the special sauce served with Mandarin oranges.
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Of course, expecting the whole round geometry of a mandarin orange sitting on top of the fish fillet would be a ridiculous idea =)
The fish fillet was lightly fried before garnishing with the thin slices of mandarin oranges atop the light gravy sauce.
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I personally felt that it was definitely a fresh idea but the taste was on the average as there was not a strong tinge of the mandarin orange flavor in the fish fillet. It was used more of a garnishing purpose rather than marinating the fish fillet with it.

Another option on their set meal was the chicken cutlet with wolfberries
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This was a rather sizable portion and the sweet and unique taste of the wolfberries was appetizing for the taste buds; and it suited the slightly thick brown gravy served atop the cutlet.
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Even the dessert swayed from the conventional chocolate flavored jelly; as they used strawberries this round for the reddish color of the fruit to complement the festivity.
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I prefer this version actually; but since I am strawberry fan, guess it is not a strong testimonial for a recommendation huh?

So, if you think festive food are only meant for the celebration, think again, be creative and you'll be in for a surprise.
Hmmm...I wonder whether they will try kuih kapit or longan next with the creative cuisine? Just my thought =)

9 comments:

  1. interesting idea with the mandarin oranges

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  2. Oh Ya.....it's gonna be a great idea for you too right? Hehe, I remembered you were one to experiment with unique cooking ideas... =)

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  3. very interesting .. but i suppose it needs to suit the customer's taste too.

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  4. fusion! was the wolfberry overpowering?

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  5. OMG!!
    The chicken chop looks simply irresistible! how does it taste like btw?

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  6. Duckie, true true, some may not be so receptive to such an interesting concept...haha:p

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  7. cumi&ciki, the wolfberries was not too bad; but the amount was not too overpowering though;)

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  8. kaiba, hahaha, the person who tasted it said it was tender and juicy!!
    Tempting to you? *winks* ^_^

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  9. Hey, where is nice place ? the chicken chop looks nice

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