Contresens

Happy birthday to my mom, who instilled in me the love of cooking and good food! I know she will be celebrating with her friends in Martha’s Vineyard tonight who are probably happy to have her as last year she was here in Geneva to celebrate her sixtieth birthday.

As for me, it is a productive week which comes to a close with our boxes out of the house and on their way to the Philippines … I am left with a bare kitchen which is a bit sad but only means I have to be a bit more resourceful and creative in the kitchen. A batch of fluffy pancakes was not hard to whip up (Martha Stewart’s is the best) and a fine way to start a week end day.

Yesterday Saturday was a wet and dreary day but we had to go over to Annecy in France to do some shopping. Whenever I go to France now I am very cautious of where I eat; so often when you don’t know where to go you end up in a place that calls itself a restaurant when in fact they are only heating up frozen stuff they buy from warehouses… and nothing pains me more than paying for a disappointing meal. So on to viamichelin.com, which gives you access to Michelin-recommended restaurants, which does not necessarily mean Michelin-starred. As a matter of fact they have three categories, "Best value restaurants", "Michelin-starred restaurants" and "Charming restaurants." My go-to category for a shopping lunch with the family is the first, which took us to Contresens, the modern café attached to the two-starred, more formal, Clos des Sens. I very much like the idea of a more casual venue attached to a gastronomic restaurant, as it gives some sort of indication as to the house’s outlook on food; though it doesn’t guarantee perfection, you know that there is an able chef behind the menu who oversees the quality of what is produced. Often time the savoir-faire and taste remains; what changes mostly is the cost of the ingredients (ie. less of what they call noble materials such as truffle, foie gras, lobster).

Though I was not swept away by my first course of goat cheese and tomato confit tart, my Asian-flavored cod was cooked to perfection and my pineapple dessert was simply delicious, popping with flavour, texture and temperature.

My daugter’s whimsical dessert delighted her as well, a strawberry-pistacho tart served in a glass like a sundae, and topped with strawberry cotton candy. My fiancé (haha!) too loved his, a more classic dessert of chocolate and Daim (butter almond candy bar) terrine.

Contresens

10, rue de la Poste 
Annecy, France

http://lacollection.chateauxhotels.com/ContreSens-1557

Pop up and packing

Our Filipino pop-up night turned out to be a success, thanks in part to the talent and hard work of an unlikely kitchen crew. First there my mother, who came for a two-week visit but spent most of her time cooking and did not let me near the stove on the night of the dinner, my partner, who spent the week before buying produce and supplies and assisted my mom with prep work in spite of having one arm in a sling, and my daughter, who displayed unmatched zeal checking the buffet table for what was missing and replenishing throughout the evening, indefatigably. Then there was our gracious host, who opened his bright, lovely apartment to our little project, and allowed the guests to enjoy a breathtaking view of Lake Geneva and the Alps beyond from the height of his sixth floor balcony. Finally, our wonderful guests, a colorful mix of International Civil servants and local Genevois, mingling and gorging on lumpia a rare feat in Geneva.

 I enjoyed very much introducing Filipino food to people who had never tasted it before. In the same way, I would like to bring new, shiny flavors and textures to the folks in Cebu. Geneva once had a Filipino restaurant but somehow it didn’t last, which is surprising givena the number of Filipinos in town. Also, given the positive feedback from the meal, I am pretty sure that a Filipino restaurant would have a clientele here. However that is not my concern any more, as I am leaving in only six weeks, off to a culinary adventure of a different sort. I do hope Filipinos respond to my pan-European fare the way this multicultural group responded to our Filipino cuisine. In the meantime, there are boxes to fill…

Birthday cakes part 2

There have been a lot of things going on since my last entry over a week ago: births, birthdays, new (temporary) job, an engagement (mine!)… but let’s take a look at my two latest birthday cakes, a heart-shaped chocolate Cookie Monster cake and a tiered Pink Lemonade cake.

When my friend C told me he wanted a chocolate cake for his birthday I knew exactly which one I wanted to make for him, one of my childhood favorites, still a classic in the Philippines to this day. I had never made this cake before, but how could you go wrong with chocolate cake filled with creamy coffee filling and covered in silky ganache? I could not find this recipe on the internet, so thank god my amazing mother was there (online) to guide me.

As it was heart-shaped I had to come up with a decoration idea that was not too sweet or frilly (though the birthday boy in question is both)! Fortunately I had brought back these pretty hand-made candies from the Philippines, they were fun and had party written all over them. I was happy with the result aesthetically, and got positive feedback from the guests on the taste.

Next I asked my daughter what kind of cake she wanted for her eleventh birthday… to my surprise she wanted a lemon cake (I was hoping for more chocolate). And not any lemon cake, but a two-tiered cake like the champagne cake I had made earlier… for this I went to my go-to online resource for baking (among other things), Martha Stewart. I combined her Tender Lemon Cake with her Lemon Curd and Crème Fraiche frosting (with lemon zest). As the whole thing looked too much like the champagne cake, I added a few drops of red food coloring and there was the Pink Lemonade Cake!