New Year Nibbles

A celebration of a festival best proves the fact that cuisine and culture are deeply intertwined. I went on a voyage of discovery as I sa...

A celebration of a festival best proves the fact that cuisine and culture are deeply intertwined. I went on a voyage of discovery as I sampled the various Chinese new year spreads at the different hotels. The Year Of The Rabbit is being ushered in on the eve of January 15. My first try was at I8217;Ching, Radisson Hotel. But all it did was to fill me with an immense curiosity as to what the celebrations were all about. We were simply piled with food, but no information. The restaurant was bare and soulless.The Bengali chef was very forthcoming about his recipes, but naturally had no cue as to what happened in a country so far away.

I felt much richer in my knowledge of the use of sauces. We had delicately flavoured lobster in XO sauce made of dry scallops and shrimps. There was chicken in the chef8217;s own Black Beau sauce and its subtler cousin 8211; pepper sauce. I sampled bean curd tossed in dry chilli sauce, prawns with lychees in a cloying sweet and sour sauce and a very standard chicken in honey sauce. But what was missing was the natural flavours of the food 8211; everything was so tasty and spiced up.

At Taipan Oberoi, too, Chef Jakie Soo had planned a proper new year8217;s meal and introduced us to the highlights in his halting English. We were welcomed with hotly fried moneybags little stuffed dimsum-like pouches.. Next we were introduced to the mysteries of sea moss lohan chai without which no new year is complete. Along with this was special New Year8217;s fried rice with the mandatory Chinese sausages and rice cake in vegetables 8211; another must.

The Scallops with snow peas and Jumbo Prawns were a true testimony to the amazingly light Cantonose style. But the culmination of the meal was the Peking Duck. Tiny pungent slices of it are rolled up with crisp cucumber and spring onions in little phulkas of maida. We ended the meal with New Year8217;s candied sweets a taste of which I must develop, and good luck oranges.

The rabbit is supposed to symbolise graciousness and good taste. If this can be represented in food you will find it at the Empress of China Parkroyal. The food here is an example of good sichuan flavours 8211; pungent but not overpowering. Here too there is a special New Year8217;s menu, with a wide choice for vegetarians. If you go there in a group try the beggars chicken 8211; a whole, but boneless bird, stuffed and cooked in the oven.

You can also check out Sampan at Surya for your very own Bugs Bunny. Between February 17 and 24, it will be there to welcome you and send you off with bunny-shaped chocolates. And if you get lucky, you may win a complimentary meal at one of the Surya restaurants.