Hong Kong Journal: October 2011

If you have not yet spent some time in Hong Kong, you'd be surprised to know how many Europeans actually live in this city. Hong Kong has a surprisingly large French population. There are probably more French peeps in Hong Kong than American peeps. I like this. I love France. I grew up studying the language and acquiring an appreciation for French culture by traveling and studying in France throughout my youth. While French no longer rolls off my tongue like it did once upon a time, I still love most French things. Hong Kong offers a great way to experience French culture while also being in the thick of Chino-British culture. That said, when my birthday rolled around, everything was French. Champagne, foie gras, a home-made Nicoise style dinner and...wait for it...French Cooking Lessons!

Today I awoke at 8 am to prepare for my lesson (which wasn't till 10) before happily hiking up to the restaurant La Terrace on Old Bailey Street in the Central district of Hong Kong. The menu: Sea Bass and Scallops Provencal; Dessert - Flambe Rum Banane et la glace a la vanille avec Chef Rene Etienne. Chef Rene Etienne is from Avignon, France. Here are a few of the photos.

just before class starts

Chef Rene Etienne, beginning with a tomato demo.

Moving on to the Sea Bass and Scallops. The main seasoning came from the Provencal sauce we put together using fresh herbs, oil, vinegar, sun dried tomatoes, olives and a few other secret ingredients

trying not to overcook the fish

young Robert, stirring the sauce

My creation. Sea bass and scallops Provencal.
interesting fact: chef Rene sourced today's fish from the Hong Kong wet market!

ingredients for bananas flambe. Rum, Bananas, Almonds...also clarified butter, brown sugar, chocolate, mint...and ice cream.

the flames were MUCH larger than this

Chef with his Flambe. I caught him eating his back in the kitchen while the rest of us were making ours.

les bananes

the finished flambe

post-cooking, post-meal with the coolest chef in Hong Kong.

I'm proud to say that my family recently came and visited Hong Kong. The pressure was on to show them some fun. From personal experience, I knew they'd be fighting jet lag and figured the best approach was to keep them busy and entertained. They were fantastic, and didnt complain about their schedule one bit. Here are a few pictures from their adventure!