The starting point has to be Valletta. It is the capital city of Malta, the country where I was born and lived for over 30 years. It is known by locals as il-Belt (the City in English). It is a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen and for many years, especially after World War II, it stood in neglect abandoned by a nation which is once again discovering its glory at all times of day. Unlike other capital cities around the world, Valletta is a small peninsula with a population of just under 7,000 though more and more people are returning to live in what is considered as a World Heritage City. While Valletta has always been busy during the day with tourists and locals alike who go there for various administrative reasons, the city would fall silent after sunset as offices, museums and shops closed. But the city has been transformed over recent years and is becoming a hub of activity in the evening, away from the hustle and bustle of other busier areas on the island such as Sliema/St … [Read more...]
A few pinches of salt and the loss of a third Michelin star
Michelin has a lot of power despite the fact that reviews of restaurants are a few sentences long. Amid the many announcements of new classifications in France on 2 February 2015, came a decision which surprised many on Twitter. It was Michelin's decision to downgrade the Côte Saint Jacques from its 3 Stars in the next edition of the Michelin 2015. Many were asking why the restaurant had lost its third Michelin star. It seems a few pinches of salt (some flaws in seasoning) may have been the reason. Chef Jean-Michel Lorain left a statement on the hotel's Facebook page which we feel should be highlighted because it illustrates the pressure that chefs face on a daily basis. By the time of writing this post, his comment had received over 800 likes and shared more than 200 times. There were also many comments all encouraging the French chef to continue his great work. Lorain noted that during the last meeting with the director of the Michelin guide in November, he was told that … [Read more...]
A postcard from Malta: Food and Wine Gazette is back
It is incredible that we are already in 2015. Food and Wine Gazette started off in September of 2014 and we are back after taking a two and a half week break from writing about the things we like most - food and wine. During our break, partially forced by the fact that we were staying in a house without internet access, we have been able to reflect a lot about the coming months of Food and Wine Gazette which we hope will be as exciting as the first few months have been for us. At first we were slightly worried because this was our first break from writing. We had been systematically posting content nearly on a daily basis since our launch. But as time went by, we started to relax more and more and are now back with lots of energy and ideas. Instead of writing, we have been extremely busy doing another thing we are passionate about, that is cooking and trying new wines. Inspired by some of the chefs we met on our journey so far, the books we have read about food and wine over the … [Read more...]
Mauro Colagreco (Mirazur) showcases three great dishes using collagen
Mauro Colagreco, chef of Mirazur, the highest ranked restaurant in France, according to the World's 50 Best restaurants, likes to showcase the ingredients that come from his location in Menton just on the border with Italy. At Chef Sache in Cologne, he presented three fish based dishes to showcase the quality of the ingredients of the area. He opted to use collagen in different ways to show how this natural 'gelatine or glue' from fish can be used to bring out not only flavour but also creativity. He therefore uses fish or some pieces of fish, such as the offal, which might otherwise be thrown away. Colagreco said collagen could be used either as a glue or as an emulsion. The first dish he presented was a classic fish soup which was turned into a gelatine and served with a langoustine from San Remo which is very typical of the region. The Argentinian chef made a classic fish soup using onions, fennel and garlic. He aromatised it with saffron and, like in bouillabaisse, … [Read more...]
Interview with Mauro Colagreco (Mirazur): Finding good produce will become a luxury
Try as I might, it is difficult to remember the last person I had interviewed before Mauro Colagreco, the Argentinian two Michelin starred chef of Mirazur ranked 11th in the World's 50 Best restaurants and the first restaurant in France. It could easily have been a Prime Minister some 13 years ago on my last assignment as a journalist. It was a completely different world without social media, without blogs or smartphones, Twitter or Facebook, though already back then, my passion for food and wine was already becoming visible. It was therefore with a sense of trepidation that I asked Mauro to be interviewed. After all, who was I to ask one of the World's best chefs to sit down and be interviewed for www.foodandwinegazette.com. He gladly accepted without much fanfare. "Let's do it now," he said without giving me any time to prepare myself. True, I had done my homework earlier with the intention of interviewing him, but still, I was offering to carry out the interview in French … [Read more...]
Saveurs Toscanes: A feast for fans of Tuscany
Saveurs Toscanes which took place last weekend at the Arsenal in Brussels was a feast for lovers of Tuscan food and wine. It was great to visit the many stands with producers that made the trip from Tuscany and meet some cheese, wine and meat producers who we had been meeting over the years since the event started taking place. Tuscany, for lovers of food and wine, is one of Italy's richest regions. For wine, you will find appellations such as Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montepulciano. All were well represented at this event and I must say that most of the wines that I tried were good, even those from very small producers who are not known in the wine guides. Tuscany is also home to wines called "Super Tuscans" which are exceptional table wines that do not follow the norms, i.e. do not necessarily use the indigenous Sangiovese grape. These wines have become cult wines and among them is a small producer Chiappini who has vineyards in Bolgheri neighbouring … [Read more...]
Richard Ekkebus (Amber, Hong Kong): Obsessed with quality ingredients
Anyone who has been to Hong Kong knows that this is a city that never sleeps. At a crossroads between East and West, its food markets can be breathtaking for visitors who are normally surprised by the quality of the produce that one can find. What I recall and which might seem odd for Europeans is that when you go to markets there, you can actually buy live fish to take home to cook alive. It is therefore no surprise that Richard Ekkebus, award-winning chef of Amber, the 24th best restaurant in the world in the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants, fourth restaurant in Asia, best restaurant in China with two Michelin stars has stayed in the Chinese city since his arrival there in 2005. And he says he has no intention of leaving the city. "I have found my niche there and I am very happy." Ekkebus is a chef that takes the quality of produce extremely seriously. You could actually feel the passion with which he spoke about the quality of ingredients he finds in Hong Kong … [Read more...]
Massimo Bottura: a humble genius, philosopher, artist and chef
Massimo Bottura, chef patron of Osteria Francescana can be described in many ways. Firstly a chef and owner of the most talked about restaurant in Italy, Bottura is more a philosopher, creative artist and genius than a cook. But. when he gets down to cooking, his creative genius takes over and that is why he is so talked about. Like many geniuses, he can often be misunderstood. Nowhere more than Italy is it so easy to be misunderstood. When he took the stage at Chefs Revolution in Zwolle, on 14 September 2014, many were expecting him to demonstrate his creativity by cooking some of the dishes that have made him world famous. Instead, he gave a 45 minute presentation which left those present spellbound and applauding many times as he spoke about his philosophy and passion. What no one knew, and he only recounted this to a few people who went to speak to him after his inspirational speech, was that his box in which he was transporting the ingredients and food preparations from … [Read more...]
Malta: 10 things to see in Valletta
Valletta, Malta's capital city is known by locals as il-Belt (the City in English). Walking around over the past few days with the eyes of part-insider part-tourist, I noticed that Valletta, which is undergoing heavy restoration, has never looked better. There are a few things which I do on every visit to the island of Malta. A visit to Valletta is one of them no matter how short the visit is. Whether its to get a perfect espresso, to meet up friends or bump into people that you have not met in a while, Valletta is the perfect melting pot. It is a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen and for many years, especially after World War II, it stood in neglect abandoned by a nation which is once again discovering its glory at all times of day. Unlike other capital cities around the world, Valletta is a small peninsula with a population of just under 7,000 though more and more people are returning to live in what is considered as a World Heritage City. While Valletta has always … [Read more...]
Lord Chambray – Malta’s first artisanal beer
Craft or artisanal beer has taken the beer scene by storm worldwide. Craft breweries are opening and beer lovers are slowly starting to move from the commercial beers to microbreweries. Even in countries where beer does not have such a tradition, the rise of artisan beers has been astonishing. The concept of an artisanal beer is different and once you get accustomed to the taste it is not easy to return to a commercially brewed beer. Living in Belgium means that I get to taste many great craft beers all with different flavours and styles. But it is also exciting to discover that this new trend has reached the country where I was born and lived for most of my life. Malta is therefore following in this trend thanks to an Italian family, with a love for Gozo, who have invested money to launch the country's first artisanal beers. When I read about Lord Chambray a few weeks ago I knew that this was a very important development for Malta and Gozo particularly since Malta already … [Read more...]