tasting tales

Russian borscht soup with ossobuco

June 14, 2015

by Kelsey

Quick and easy

“Borscht is a soup of Ukrainian origin that is popular in many Eastern and Central European cuisines, including those of Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and Russia. In most of these countries, it is made with beetroot as the main ingredient. In some countries, tomato is used as the main ingredient, while beetroot acts as a secondary ingredient. Other varieties that do not use beetroot also exist, such as the tomato paste-based orange borscht and green borscht (sorrel soup). Potatoes and cabbage are also standard; some regions have green borscht, where green spinach is substituted for the cabbage.”

A few years ago, when living in Cyprus/Paphos, mom’s friend who is originally from Rusia taught her into making borscht. Then when she and dad moved to London a few years later, this dish became a winter meal and to make it more filling, we added ossobuco and rice.

Sambal belacan

June 10, 2015

by Kelsey

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Asian cuisine

Quick and easy

“Sambal belacan is made by mixing toasted shrimp paste with chilli peppers. A traditional manner of making sambal is using a stone mortar. Sambal is an Indonesian loan-word of Javanese origin. Region’s that serve sambal are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Netherlands.”

When i was a toddler living in Singapore, both mom and my grandmother introduced me to chili. Back then i was known as a real “kepoh” which directly translates from Malay as, nosey/busy body. Apparently, according to my grandmother, she and mom were eating in front of me and I kept watching, encouraging them to let me taste. Since then, I’m known among the family to be able to handle incredibly lethal spice.

Chicken mushroom risotto

June 7, 2015

by Kelsey

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Western cuisine

Quick and easy

“Is a north Italian rice dish cooked in a broth to a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetable. Many types of risotto contain butter, wine and onion. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy.”

Apart from Asian food being my number one choice, Italian food comes in second place. Dad being half Italian, I guess this explains why I’m always craving this diverse, yet homey style of cuisine? I learnt how to make risotto back at Le Cordon Bleu during my first semester. Usually risotto rice is cooked and served al dente but my asian side obviously prefers rice to be well cooked.

Oxtail stew

May 30, 2015

by Kelsey

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Asian cuisine

Quick and easy

“An Indonesian cuisine, oxtail soup, also known as sop buntut is a popular dish. It is made of slices of fried or barbecued oxtail, served in vegetable soup with rich but clear beef broth. A relatively new variant is called Sop Buntut Goreng (fried oxtail soup), where the oxtail is seasoned, fried and served dry, the soup is served in separate bowl. The dish is commonly eaten with rice and accompanied with sambal, sweet soy sauce and lime juice.”

In my old blog in 2011, at the age of 19, I video blogged this dish in my kitchen back in Perth, whenever I now make this dish, I always remember that day filming. Oxtail takes a long time to cook as the meat is very tough, so it’s best to slow cook it along with the other ingredients added in for the next 2-3hrs. This is my ultimate favorite dish, even though the duration in making this dish takes half of your afternoon, in the end it is all worth it. I hope you enjoy my mother’s signature dish as much as I do, Bon Appetit!

Chicken balsamic and sage penne

May 25, 2015

by Kelsey

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Western cuisine

Quick and easy

“A straight forward penne dish, perfect for summer.”

At the age of 17, while working in Santorini, I used to work with a chef who’s signature dish was chicken balsamic and sage penne. I remember always craving it when I would serve the hotel customers the dish. It’s very easy and whenever making it, it brings me back to that perfect summer on the magical island.

Chocolate chip and orange madeleines

May 23, 2015

by Kelsey

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Western cuisine

Quick and easy

“A traditional small cake from two towns of the Lorraine region of Commercy and Liverdun in northeastern France. Madeleines are very small sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape.”

During my time at Le Gavroche, I started my work placement in pastry and learnt to make dark chocolate chip and orange zest madeleines. While at Roux at Parliament Square I learnt to make lemon zest madeleines.
And in the beginning of the month, Nepal was struck by two devastating earthquakes and there was a strong world wide appeal for help. My brother’s workplace decided to host a bake sale where the money raised would go towards donation.