"Best of" Tasting Menu 2012

Similar to 2011, I had many, many wonderful dishes so cutting the list down to the items presented here was a difficult task. So much so that the list is slightly larger with more amuse bouches and a couple of extra courses.

The most stunning venue of the year was Jaan based on its view of the Singapore Strait from the 70th floor of the Swissotel Stamford.

Carrying on the theme of 2011, the meal kicks off with a cocktail. This time it was the wonderful ALN from Kin Shop in New York, a wonderful blend of gin and spicy Thai pickle brine.

Moving onto amuse bouches, the start would be the wonderfully peppery and wispy cheese straw with its strong lingering cheesy kick from Club Gascon. The curried carrot soup with toasted cumin and caramel vinegar from La Becasse in Ludlow was a rich smooth soup benefitting hugely from the sweet depth added by the caramel vinegar.

2012 was a good year for breaded and deep-fried tasters with great examples from L’Enclume, Roganic, John Salt and La Becasse. However the best of them was the gloriously hot and oozy ham croqueta from Esquina in Singapore where the use of nutmeg to complement the ham and Manchego cheese made them really special.

The Gourmand tasting menu at the Tippling Club in Singapore included six amuse bouches that were all superb. The pick of the bunch was the charred green pepper with a wasabi dip. The charring appearance actually came from a squid ink batter on the pepper that was then deep-fried.

Part of the theatre at Eleven Madison Park was the parade totalling ten small tasters to introduce the meal. Some of these were spectacular. The fried fingerling potato topped with caviar and lemon “caviar” and the smoked sturgeon sabayon were the pick of the bunch.

Breads throughout the year were of a universally high quality. The standouts were the potato and sourdough loaf from Alyn Williams at the Westbury with the wonderful dense chunks of potato, the cheese and jalapeno flavoured sourdough flatbread from John Salt and the green pepper and cheddar roll from Jungsik in Seoul. 

 It was great to see some of the imaginative accompaniments especially the beef dripping from Aumbry in Prestwich, the butter with honey from Blackbird in Chicago, the lentil and chestnut hummus from Jaan and the cod brandade from Pollen Street Social.

Moving onto appetizers, the first of my top dishes was the Jerusalem artichoke soup braised smoked duck leg, celeriac tagliatelle, nuts and seeds from Pollen Street Social where the combination of smoked duck and creamy artichoke particularly stood out. That said the light touch of the parsley and the earthiness of the celeriac worked really well too.

Next up the poached and roasted Hen of the Woods with aromatic ketchup, Douglas fir crumbs, lettuce and persimmon from John Salt. This was a wonderful blend of flavours with the lettuce providing sharp contrast to the wonderful lush mushroom, the fir crumbs providing a tangy edge and the ketchup chiming in with sweetness.

I had two different variants of the next starter and both were fantastic. The dishes revolve round light cheese dumplings made with cheddar of choice. The L’Enclume version combined Westcombe cheddar dumplings with turnip broth and anise hyssop and the Roganic version took the more classic approach of combining Keen’s cheddar dumplings with cream of onion, liquorice powder and wild chervil. Both dishes were simply superb. 

The scallop starter at Lumière in Cheltenham was a fantastic find last year and the 2012 version was still wonderful. However, the River Severn wild sea trout with quinoa, smoked eel, cucumber and keta was even better. An expertly cooked piece of trout topped with smoked eel cream in a cucumber jelly wrapper was superb but what made the dish fantastic was the supporting piquant cucumber and tomato sauce some of which was absorbed by the quinoa giving it substance. This was another fine dish from Lumière with an impeccable mix of flavours.

Another excellent fish starter was the 60-second saba (mackerel) sautéed young squid, baby bok choi, smoked ratté potato and a red wine vinegar reduction from Jaan. This was dish of strong flavours with the combination of mackerel and smoked potato the highlight.

Another lovely inventive dish with a strong blend of flavours was the broken duck’s egg at Hedone. The deep yellow slow-cooked yolk was served with girolles, red wine sauce and lardo di Collonata. These bold ingredients all worked well together but a light parsley foam and a vinegary mayonnaise under the yolk provided fresh and acidic contrast, respectively, to make the whole dish soar.

The highlight of the tasting menu at the Tippling Club in Singapore was the gently warmed smoked eel was served with braun bread crumbs, shallots, mustard ice cream, fennel fronds and coiled cucumber shavings and topped with a shallot net. The dish was stunning to look at as well as being a glorious combination of flavours. I never thought I’d sing the praise of smoked eel and mustard ice cream but it was a very special pairing.

The next course showed how stunning venison tartare can be. The L’Enclume version combined tender venison with diced capers, mustard cream, fennel rings and a caper purée. Small sugar globes of fennel gin were the sensational topping to a delightful whole.

The soused mackerel at the Hind’s Head in Bray was a spectacularly good version of one of my favourite dishes from my childhood.  The mild spicing in the sousing liquor enhanced  the wonderful mackerel flavour and the classic accompaniments of cucumber, pickled onion and horseradish combined to make every mouthful a joy.

The tasting menu at Gwynnett Street in Brooklyn was based on a series of imaginative dishes the lamb breast with carrots, caraway and yogurt was the star of the savoury courses. The tender lamb confit was spectacular with caraway crumbs and the other high point was the pickled carrot slices that provided a fresh sharpness.

One of the simplest dishes of the year but a true standout was the parsnip mousseline, fried sea bream and red wine sauce from Mon Vieil Ami in Paris. This was a dish where three very strong-flavoured main ingredients that played with each other perfectly.

Although ordered as a starter, the hare, spatzle and chestnut gratin with a Fribourg, bacon and sage crust from Chez Bruce would definitely work as a main. This was a delicious rich autumnal dish where every ingredient was perfect in this setting.

The star of the tasting menu at John Salt was heel of beef cooked in wine and served with kimchi, roasted carrot purée, mushroom and bok choi. The rich tender beef soared in the presence of the combined kimchi and ginger flavours that slowly seeped into the gravy. The gravy was so good that I ended up drinking it from the jug that accompanied the main dish after everything else was finished.

Back to Lumière for another outstanding dish, this time the squab pigeon with truffle, girolles, black pudding and sage. Juicy, tender pigeon breast was served on mixed cabbage and onion and accompanied by breaded spicy pigeon leg. The terrine of truffles were layered with potato in strata was a perfect foil for the meat. Black pudding purée that provided mildly spiced rich pockets of flavour that elevated all other components. As I said at the time, this was an utterly brilliant dish.

To round off the savoury dishes, I’ve chosen the utterly decadent roast grouse from Medlar served with red wine sauce, leg and liver pate, game chips, bread sauce and a watercress garnish. Typically for Medlar, the dish was very thoughtful. The breast meat, red wine jus and bread sauce combined superbly. The leg and liver pate on toast was incredibly rich and although the crisps seemed incongruous, they helped provide a clean balance to the rich meat. 

Moving on to desserts, the mojito from Castle House in Hereford was lovely balanced dish playing on the ingredients of the cocktail. Mildly alcoholic white rum pannacotta was served with mint sugar and lime granita and accompanied by strawberries that had been cooked in syrup. The star of the show was the refreshing sweet lime granita.

The mess of blackberries at the Hind’s Head was an inventive take on a classic dessert including the use of star anise in the cream and candied pistachios to add crunch.

To round out the desserts, the milk chocolate, peanut and blackcurrant from Gwynnett St was simply brilliant. Wonderfully creamy milk chocolate ganache combined perfectly with the cassis sorbet and was ably supported by the addition of peanut crumbs and mousse.

To finish things off the best of the petit fours from the year were the Kendal mint cake ice cream on an aerated chocolate base from L’Enclume with its wonderful combination of mint and rich chocolate and the passionfruit sorbet in white chocolate from Alkimià.

All of these dishes were superb. The best amuse bouche, two starters, fish dish, main meat course and dessert can be found here.