Liquidity

Black Tiger Prawns with Coconut Sambal

When S and I were trying to think of a nice place to dine at in Christchurch, I suddenly recalled being told by the proprietors of a Dunedin cafe that Liquidity was very good. They especially mentioned the pork belly and tiramisu, and we just wanted a nice meal at a good restaurant, so we decided to go with what we had heard. Unfortunately, we found that the food and service at Liquidity left much to be desired. 

Japanese Spiced Squid

First of all, the wait-staff were inattentive. We walked into the restaurant and stood around waiting and looking around for at least a few minutes before anyone attended to us, even though there were several staff standing and walking around doing absolutely nothing. I was already unimpressed, but they could have still changed my mind if the food was good. No such luck.

Japanese Spiced Squid - see the oil at the bottom of the glass?

To start, S had the black tiger prawns with coconut sambal and I, the Japanese spiced squid. The 'coconut sambal' was far too salty and the dish as a whole was a little too heavy for a starter. My squid wasn't scored so most of the seasoning slipped off the pale, rubbery, overcooked, not very tasty, greasy pieces of squid. If you look carefully at the second picture of the squid, you will see the amount of oil and seasoning that had collected at the bottom of the glass. It was not very appealing. Worst of all, S found a piece of hair in the rice and when she pointed it out to the waitress who came to clear our plates, all the waitress could manage was, "Oh, that's not very nice is it? I will tell the kitchen staff". Where was the apology?! It doesn't matter if you're not the one who made the mistake, you are representing your establishment and you need to apologise if there has been such a embarrassing, serious oversight. I was appalled, to say the least. 

Five Spiced Monkfish with Seared Scallops

Of course, then I was wary, albeit still (inexplicably) hopeful, about our mains. Alas, S's five spiced monkfish with seared scallops was 'blah' at best and my braised pork belly was served with a completely burnt black top layer. I was somewhat stunned. Still I ate it, thinking that maybe there was the tiniest possibility that that's how it is supposed to be served. Of course, I should have trusted my first instincts. The black top layer was tough, sticky and of course, tasted burnt and the rest of the pork belly was overdone, dryish and quite firm. I should have sent it back...I need to learn to start doing that especially when I'm served substandard food at high-end establishments. I do tell them what I think of the food, if they ask, but sometimes that just isn't enough. Needless to say, we did not order desserts, even though we  had been looking forward to trying the tiramisu.

Braised Pork Belly

Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Christmas Paella

S and I both love watching Gordon Ramsay's F Word, Cookalong Live and Hell's Kitchen. He is entertaining, intense, doesn't mince words and best of all, his recipes are relatively straightforward. Between the two of us, we have tried quite a few of his recipes that have generally turned out well, but only managed to photograph a few. As luck would have it, one of the ones I photographed isn't one of his better recipes.

Maybe it was because we didn't use a 'paella/large enough frying pan'. Or maybe it was because we forgot to heat up the store bought vegetable stock before pouring it into the mix. Nevertheless, these oversights/omissions would have only addressed the moistness issue, not the taste. Gordon's Christmas Paella (as seen on Cookalong Live) wasn't inedible, but it was bland and rather wet and risotto-like. I didn't really mind that it wasn't as dry as a paella should be, but the lack of flavour was unacceptable and thoroughly disappointing.

In retrospect, the dubious use of vegetable stock, rather than fish or seafood stock, in the recipe should have set off warning bells. Dissatisfied, I looked up meat paella recipes on the same website and found exactly the two missing things that I thought should have been in the recipe - in the meat paella recipe, the meat is cooked in the pan first, then the oil from the meat is used to flavour the paella rice and chicken stock is used. Therefore, to maximise the flavours of the seafood, I think Gordon's recipe should have had us searing an oily fish like salmon or cod, skin side down, in the pan first (or whole prawns, etc) and using hot fish or seafood stock.

We will definitely be making (or at least trying to make) paella again, since we love it and are on the hunt for a perfect recipe, and maybe next time, if we're in the mood for seafood paella, we will try Gordon's recipe again with our modifications. Otherwise, we will be testing this Chicken and Chorizo Paella recipe.

Anyway, we sat down with our bowls of paella and watched this episode of the F Word. By the end of the show, S was ready to try another recipe of Gordon's (from the show) to make up for the disappointing paella. To be continued...

Simon & Alison Holst's 100 Favourite 20 Minute Dishes Cookbook

Critic Issue 15 - Num Nums

When I happened upon Simon and Alison Holst’s ‘100 Favourite 20 Minute Dishes’ cookbook at D’s family home some months ago, I decided that it would be a good way to gain some insight on Kiwi home cooking as well as test the recipes of this Dunedin/Kiwi icon. Based solely on the appealingness of the pictures, we have tried six recipes, with varied results. The first, and the reason the cookbook came out of the cupboard in the first place, was the ‘Orange Syrup Cakes’. Fresh out of the oven, the cakes were nice, soft, warm and orangey but not so much after they’d been left to stand (for at least an hour, as instructed).

A few weeks later, we tackled two more recipes - both were relatively easy to make and I enjoyed the ‘Curried Cauliflower and Eggs’ so much that it has become a staple for me. The combination of cauliflower, eggs, potatoes and peas coated in mildly spicy, thick curry is great and it’s one of those tasty and hearty vegetable dishes in which you don’t miss the meat. Of course, each time I’ve made it since, I have modified the recipe to suit my laziness. As a result, the most recent attempt just wasn’t up to par, so I will have to go back to the original recipe.

The ‘Beef Stroganoff’ also turned out well, but we foolishly omitted an ingredient, which compromised the end result. There was a nice winey, beefy richness to the sauce but it was thin and lacked (for want of a better word) ‘punch’. That’s what we get for leaving out the sour cream, which would have given it a fuller flavour.

We did not have as much luck with the next three recipes. The ‘Stir-fried Chicken & Mushrooms’ recipe had, in my opinion, several superfluous ingredients, making it a little fussier than it needed to be. It turned out okay, but a week later, I managed to concoct a better version with far fewer ingredients and steps. The ‘Fish Battercakes’ were a complete and utter disaster. The batter was thick, hard and tasteless and those are the three things you don’t want in something battered and fried.

All the components of the ‘Black Forest Roll’ on the other hand, despite failing to turn into a roll, were delicious. The top layer of the cake stuck to the baking paper, even though we buttered and sugared the paper as instructed, and the cake cracked and all the filling oozed out the ends when we tried to roll it up. There was nothing to be done except scoop up the mess, dump it in a bowl, slap some extra filling on top and eat it all with a spoon. The undisputed star was the divine, luscious, sweet whipped rum cream filling (beat 1 cup of cream with ¼ cup icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of rum until thick). I’d recommend this as a cheat to enhance your desserts. There are about seven more recipes that I would like to try, and overall, it’s a pretty handy cookbook even though the instructions are a little more lengthy than I would prefer and the recipes aren’t as ‘quick and easy’ as I imagined 20-minute recipes would be.

Soy Sauce Chicken

This Soy Sauce Chicken was made according to a recipe from Rasa Malaysia. It didn't turn out as well as we hoped - I was expecting it to taste more like my favourite Soy Sauce Chicken from Mei Wah (which I already have pictures of and will write about soon hopefully) but it actually tasted more like 'Tau Yew Bak' (soy sauce pork), except with chicken. I know there is little difference in the name, but in my opinion, Soy Sauce Chicken and Soy Sauce Pork (should) taste very different. 'Tau Yew Bak'/Soy Sauce Pork is heavily spiced with cinnamon and star anise and is sweet whereas the Soy Sauce Chicken that I love from Mei Wah is savoury and has a subtler soy flavour. This Soy Sauce Chicken turned out smelling like 'Tau Yew Bak' and was far darker than the Soy Sauce Chicken that I am used to. It was quite salty, yet also carried the sweetness of the star anise and cinnamon spices. It was edible, but I wasn't crazy about it and I won't be using this recipe again. I also didn't think that the (again quite salty) ginger and scallion dip was necessary since the chicken was very strong tasting as it was. Usually these garlic/ginger/scallion toppings complement the plain/mild tasting chicken in steamed/boiled chicken rice dishes.

Oh well...my hunt for the perfect Soy Sauce Chicken recipe continues...

Wartime Recipes

Critic Issue 8: Anzac Day Issue - Num Nums

Mock Goose

In keeping with the theme of this issue, I thought it would be interesting to try some wartime recipes. These were not what soldiers were fed, but rather recipes that women used, with what little rations they had, to feed their families. After some quick research, which consisted solely of entering ‘wartime recipes’ in Google, I settled for what looked like the recipes that would produce the most palatable food of the lot – ‘Mock Goose’ and ‘Honey Cakes’. Ah, the lengths that I go to for material for this column…

The ‘Mock Goose’ was horrid. Okay maybe I am exaggerating a little but it was one of those things that tasted tolerable at first but got exponentially worse the more you tasted it. It was basically made with layers of sliced potatoes, apples and grated cheese, baked in vegetable stock. In addition to that, we were instructed to season each layer with salt and pepper. The combination of the cheese, salt and vegetable stock made the entire thing far too salty for me. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if it was a side dish that accompanied a sweetish or citrusy fish or meat, but on it’s own it was AWFUL. Whoever named it ‘Mock Goose’, deceiving me into thinking of it as a main meal and thus aggravating the experience, needs to be charged for the worst misnomer crime in history.

The tasting of the ‘Mock Goose’ left us in an understandably fragile state so we were very suspicious of the ‘Honey Cake’. Luckily, although not at all cake-like, I must say that if I lived during the war and got to eat ‘Honey Cakes’, I would have considered myself quite lucky. It had a somewhat stiff exterior but the crumbly texture of peanut butter cookies on the inside. The mild sweetness and the honey and cinnamon flavours were quite pleasant and I think ‘Honey Cakes’ would be great with a hot cuppa. My obliging colleagues ended up being the unsuspecting guinea pigs for the cakes (I chose not to inflict the goose on them) and 5 out of 7 quite liked them.

Honey Cakes

I am not going to try to prove it but I don’t think it gets much better than these recipes – I avoided things like ‘Pea Puree Pancakes’ and ‘Carrot Fudge’. Obviously with rations like 1 packet of dried eggs and 100g of margarine a week, people who lived during the war had to eat and do whatever they had to do to stretch their rations and survive. I truly have a newfound respect for people who survived that era.

Honey Cakes

Quantity 16 to 20

Ingredients

1 level teaspoon sugar

2 and a half oz. margarine

2 Level tablespoons honey

6 oz self raising flour

1 level teaspoon cinnamon.

Beat together the sugar and margarine until the mixture is soft and creamy, then add the honey. Sift together the flour and cinnamon. Add to the creamy mixture with a spoon until it binds together then work it with your fingers until it is a soft smooth dough. Flour your hands, take off a piece of dough about the size of a large walnut and roll between the palms of hands until it is a smooth ball. Put onto a slightly greased tin and flatten slightly. Continue until all the dough has been used up. Bake in a moderately hot oven until the cakes are done – about 15 mins.

TC

We went to TC for dinner on Saturday. I forgot to bring the camera, so there are no pictures, but that is no great loss as I was extremely disappointed with the food. The service wasn't that flash either.

For the entree, I had the risotto with the salt and pepper baked (or fried?) quail. The quail was overcooked and tasteless - except for the skin, which tasted only of salt. The risotto wasn't terrible but was flat and boring. The combination of the quail and the risotto was just poorly conceived as the two didn't go together IMO. I've had good risotto, so I know what I'm talking about. A good risotto can have wonderfully complex, complementary flavours that make you go, "OOO" when you have that first taste - this one was just a big blah.

D had the rabbit (can't remember what else it came with). I didn't try it but D said it wasn't great. I would have guessed that just by looking at it because it was crumbed and deep fried and looked like two sticks of fish fingers. Not something you'd expect in a restaurant charging fine dining prices.

For the mains, we both had the rib eye, medium-rare. I had the same thing about 2 months ago and thought I'd give it another shot. It was worse this time. I have never in my life had such a bad cut of meat in a fancy restaurant...TWICE! This is the punishment I get for giving it another chance. The steaks I usually get at fancy restaurants are tender, juicy and 'melt-in-your-mouth' delicious. This place has taken to serving the kind of grisly, fatty meat (not in the marbled Kobe beef kind of way - more like in the 'chunks of fat you have to spit out' kind of way) I had previously thought I would only find at road-side food shacks back home or cheaper "$10 steaks" establishments. The only thing half decent about this meal was the hand cut fries, which were chunky and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

I was so annoyed that I didn't want to stay for dessert (the dessert menu did not offer anything interesting IMO anyway) and I will never dine there again. That dismal meal set us back $98, which is expensive for two courses and no drinks, at a "bistro". Having said that, the price wouldn't have mattered if the food was good. Bad food at high prices however, is a double whammy and is inexcusable.

TBD

[Edit 6 August 2006: I've just added pictures to accompany this post. Pictured just below is the lamb main that B had.]
We had heard good things about the food and desserts at TBD. We had expectations. We were disappointed. Not because the food was bad. The food wasn't bad at all. It was worse than that. It was mediocre. At least if the food was really bad, we'd have something to talk/complain/bitch about. But the food being just 'so-so'/mediocre leaves you with nothing to say except, "BD? Meh..."

I had the beef medallions (pictured above), which were basically little round steaks served with brown meat sauce, a baked potato topped with sour cream and steamed carrots, brocolli and cauliflower with a drizzle of mayonnaise (I think) on the side. I ordered my meat 'medium' but it came a tad overdone for 'medium'. I find this annoying. I don't like my steaks overdone. The meat becomes tough and dry. But I've had this happen more than once, at different places, and I've come to the conclusion that either; 1) every restaurant has a different standard of what is 'well done', 'medium', and 'rare' OR, 2) this place sucks.

I tried a piece of the prawn entrée (pictured above) that R ordered and found it a bit odd. The prawns were fried and the coating was sugary sweet. Quite odd. Not a pleasant tangy sweetness that usually complements savoury foods quite well. But a candy, icing sugar type of sweetness. Odd.

I also tried a bit of S's seafood marinara pasta (pictured above). It was fettuccine with a creamy tomato based sauce (or should I say 'tomato-y cream based sauce - there was more cream than tomato), scallops and prawns. Not good. Seafood will be seafood, but good, fresh seafood should never leave you with the dreaded 'fishy' taste or smell and this dish did. The best seafood marinara pasta I have ever had is still at Pizza Uno in KL which comes with a nice, tangy, pure tomato based sauce.

To be fair, I did not get to try any of the desserts at TBD. R and some of the others ordered some but I left before the desserts arrived. I doubt that I'll go back there, but if I do, I'll try the desserts and we'll see if they live up to the hype.

My meal cost about $32 and S's pasta was $20 and the prices of all the other main courses were within that range. Pretty pricey in my opinion, for food that was only 'so-so'. I don't mind paying high prices for excellent food. But if the prices are high and the food is just mediocre, forget it.