Pass Me The Tapas
I, and people like me, then gasp with genuine horror when we read articles that tell us the ideal meat portion should be no bigger than the palm of your hands. “My palms must be unnaturally small”, I would reason, as I chomp down another chicken meatball that was created with no intention of being able to be fit into the palm of one’s hand. The Spanish dining concept of tapas is quite contrary to the growing trend of super-sizing and overeating. Tapas is basically a meal consisting of various small, bite-sized dishes, like an array of entrees that Spaniards normally enjoy at a tapas bar on a night out. It allows diners to excite their senses by treating themselves to dishes of different textures and tastes. The small sizes of the dishes totally eliminate the prospect of big portions and the nature of being in a social group prevents overeating (or does it?) Bakerzin, of Singapore, which specialises in cakes and French pastries, created a nifty menu of tapas desserts where we choose from quite a wide choice of desserts that come in threes, fives or sevens (or nines, I’m not too sure). We ordered the fives: banana pizza, vanilla creme brulee, raspberry panna cotta, chocolate fondue with strawberries and hazelnut ice cream with rice crispies. The hazelnut ice cream and chocolate fondue came in two beautiful glasses that has a protruding conical bottom that allows it to tilt and rotate. Food is not just about taste; presentation elevates a meal from just being something to be eaten to something to be enjoyed, and the glasses provided that lift. The banana pizza was for me, the most interesting dish; the crisp wafer-like base provided a contrast to the comforting velvet texture of the banana, while the sweet banana itself complements the slightly salty cheese topping. The dish was a classic example of a marriage between two opposing characters (salt vs sweet, crisp vs velvety) that complement each other when done the right way.
