A crafty beer-pairing session

Happened at Craft Brews recently. It was a special five-course dinner that paired the dishes with certain beers.

The beers were Rogue, which had its launch party recently. The chefs were specially hired for the event – Cuisine Riot, a team of Malaysian-based TV chefs. The dinner was open to the public for a fee.

The food boyz

Beer-pairing is actually not uncommon, although most times it’s wine, not sure why. Beers (as in ales mostly), have depth and complexity as well. The problem here has been the lack of variety as most beers used to be lagers. That has obviously changed.

Craft Brew founder Paul Khong  says that Craft Brews wants to spearhead the beer education and appreciation trend in Malaysia. “We see it as our responsibility to create new and exciting opportunities to help and educate people on how to enjoy beer.”

Cozy

Craft Brew has a range of beers, with the latest being American-made Rogue.

Nite began with a glass of OREgasmic Ale (pale ale, ABV 6%), paired with pork belly, onion tagliatelle, onion coulis, pickled daikon and papaya ketchup.

It was an excellent dish of tender, juicy slabs of meat, with a very wild-tasting ketchup. The beer was a little too bold and tasty for me. The OREgasmic was the only beer i couldn’t finish at the launch party.

When the next dish showed up with a couple of syringes, it got my attention.

Where the needles at?

This is a mix of mushroom consomme, sago pearls and… instant noodles. As you fire the syringe into the soup (not your arm), it turns into noodles.

Cool. I enjoyed playing with my food.

This dish seemed herbal-ly, and refreshing, with medium-strength flavours, and went well with the light-medium beer – the pairing was with the Mom Hefeweizen (Belgian ale, ABV 5.2%).

Next was the duck fillet, Israel couscous and beetroot, with the Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale (brown ale, ABV 6.2%). The bird was cooked quite rare, with a nice roasted skin, and gamey – which was tempered by the sweetness of the couscous. It was a good mix for the roasty, caramely beer.

Hey there brown sugar

I missed out on the tandoori chicken and dessert as i had to split early.The next pairings were the Juniper Pale Ale and the Chocolate Stout. Dammit!

Well, am sure there’ll be other such events comin up. Look out for it if you’re into beers while dining.

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With the Blue Man

The Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ambassador is Jonathan Driver.

Blue Label. Nice job.

Met up with him when he hit town recently – he was around to launch the brand new Blue Label bottle. He’s a travelling man, on da road for most of the year.

Jonathan sure loves his job. His enthusiasm when talking about his job and product is real obvious.

Can u blame him?

The man enjoying his product

He introduces the new bottle, saying that “the Blue Label bottle aesthetics is definitely younger. It would fit in nicely at a nightclub, it would fit in a restaurant.”
I was a fan of the previous bottle; classic style. But the new bottle? Refreshing, trendy and classy at the same time. A beautiful piece, so it’s time I upgrade mine!

Ta daa!

Although Jonathan himself represents the Blue Label, it’s not a drink he consumes daily. “I do enjoy Tanqueray and tonic.” He also enjoys Black Label over ice. And a cup of tea!

Amazingly, he’s a qualified and certified sake brewer, after having spent some years in Japan. “Part of the training included spending a week brewing sake during winter in a temple in the mountains!” Obviously he’s a big sake fan, adding that he’s amazed by the sophistication of sake.

Jonathan showing us the origins of Scotch on his pimped map

He’s been on the job now with Johnnie Walker for 18 years. “These days, I’ve become more than a travelling showman, I also help develop the liquid, and work with the master blender.”

Envious? Good.

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Blog of The Year?

That’s right. COCKTALES has been nominated by JUICE mag for the above. Haha

The Best of 2011 thing is goin on right now.

You can vote (or not) for this blog here. Dont have to vote for every category there. That’s optional.

Bersih has also been nominated for sumtin – Most Up For it Crowd. Dam right! And u can also vote for KL Roadblock!

Do it.

It ends on Friday i think. Results in JUICE Dec issue.

Round 2?

Aint expecting anything, but of course winning it wd be a great reason for another party! And a bonus of a birthday present.

 

Brain damage: TBC

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Bush party!

Believe it or not, i did a BBQ in a forest, and it was right in front of my house. How convenient.

I live in Bandar Utama, an urban estate in PJ.

A 20-second walk into that direction

Been wanting to do it for awhile. Managed to pull it off when i scored a 100m-long electrical cable from a friend, so we cd have tunes, lights and a fan.

Obvioulsy this was one of the tunes:

There’s this forest that has built itself up over the years.

Settin-up, section 1

I had some strange reactions to d idea, but d crowd eventually loved it. I partied in da bush from 6pm to 3am.

Section 2

Complete with bar stools

Firin' up

Layaning a Snakebite made from Baad Apples Cider

Party on

Loads of Snakebite went down. Loads. Cider sponsored by Baad Apples™.

So good, might have to do it again. Tried to cap it at 12 pax due to the limited space, but there were 15 at one point and quite cozy.

The bush is pretty large, a few acres. It’s privately-owned, so it could be developed some day.

Thus I wanted to do this. Before the bastards with chainsaws come.

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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