Learn to cook like Alain Ducasse (above) at one of Intercontinental Hong Kong's monthly cooking and wine appreciation seminars. Whether or not you've learned to boil water, you can sign up for a "behind-the-scenes" experience in the Spoon by Alain Ducasse kitchen, where executive chef Philippe Duc will guide you through a food and wine lecture complete with cooking demonstrations and a wine appreciation luncheon.

Can't hurt that Philippe Duc is a total cutie:


There's one class per month, each under a different theme, but all including a three-course menu demonstration, including a starter, main and dessert, with wine pairings.

Themes for each month and menus included are:

HARVEST SEASON Saturday, October 23rd


- Home made duck foie gras terrine, apple raisin condiment (pictured)
Paired with Riesling from Alsace
- Pan fried Beef fillet, Porcini mushrooms, natural jus
Paired with Grenache/Syrah from the Rhone Valley
- Chocolate, hazelnut entremets
Paired with a Sherry from Spain

TRUFFLE SEASON Saturday, November 20th


- Steamed Organic egg, potato-truffle-spring onion, Perigueux sauce (pictured)
Paired with Chenin blanc from the Loire Valley
- Pan seared sea scallops, lettuce cream, Tartuffi di Alba
Paired with Grenache blanc/Clairette/Bourboulenc from the Rhone Valley
- Truffle macaroons
Paired with Dry white Port

FESTIVE SEASON Saturday, December 11th



- Marinated SEA SCALLOPS, lemon condiment, caviar (pictured)
Paired with Asyrtico from Greece
- SPRING CHICKEN from "Bresse" with white truffle, vegetables cooked in a broth
Paired with Chardonnay from Burgundy
- CHOCOLATE - passion fruit Christmas log
Paired with Sauternes from Bordeaux

Inclusive with each Seminar:
A SPOON kit with the cooking demonstration menus and recipes
Continental breakfast with fresh bakery items and coffee/tea
Soft drinks during the class
A 3-course lunch featuring the cooking demonstration menu with selected wine

Price: HK$1,280 per person +10% service charge per seminar
(with a maximum number of 10 persons per class)

To register for the SPOON cooking & wine appreciation seminars, contact
SPOON by Alain Ducasse Tel: 2313-2256
E-mail: spoonbyalainducasse.hk@interconti.com

Who doesn't love bacon and eggs? Some people love it so much that they make cushions as an homage, then sell them to other bacon-and-egg-loving freak shows... as documented here. If you too love bacon and eggs so very much that you can't believe the dish is confined to breakfast diners and Sunday morning at-home fry-ups, then this is a blog post for you.


Sample, courtesy of the California Caviar Company, caviar flavoured to taste like bacon and eggs. For US$15, you get one ounce of the good stuff, and I'd be somewhat disgusted by the thought of this, except that a) bacon-infused ANYTHING normally tastes pretty good; and b) I once scoffed at lychee-flavoured caviar at the Krug Room, and that turned out to be the shizzle indeed, so much so that I need to use ebonics to express how good it was. The company also produces saffron, wasabi, lemongrass, truffle and bourbon-flavoured whitefish roe, if those flavours are more up your alley.

Of course, most of our readers don't live in the States, and the California Caviar Company doesn't ship international. There is instead this other high-end interpretation of the classic breakfast staple: from the pages of Bachelor's Banquet come this bacon and egg risotto, with photo and recipe available at this blog or after the cut. It's making me hungry just to look at it, so I must leave you now with that in order to go scrounge up some calories.



BACON & EGG RISOTTO (serves 2)
Familiar themes make for some of the most satisfying meals. Bacon and eggs are breakfast standards, our risotto takes those themes and reintroduces them with a twist, using egg yolks in place of more conventional cheeses to bring out extra creaminess.

Ingredients
4 slices double smoked bacon
2 cups arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock (page 186), simmering
2 tablespoons celery, grated
2 tablespoons white onions, grated
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Garnish
Fleur de sel
Pepper to taste
Truffle oil

Procedure
1) In a large heavy saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat, add grated celery and onions and cook gently for 30 seconds stirring occasionally.
2) Add arborio rice and continue to stir until each grain of rice becomes translucent and coated with oil.
3) Slowly add 1 ladle of stock and stir until the stock evaporates. Repeat this step for about 15 minutes until the risotto is thick, then remove from the heat and allow to cool for 1 minute.
4) In a small bowl break the egg yolk and whisk gently, slowly pour the egg into the risotto while off the heat, stirring constantly until both the egg and risotto are integrated.
5) In a separate frying-pan, sear the pieces of double smoked bacon until dark brown and crispy.

To assemble
1) Divide the risotto into 2 long plates and insert the bacon strips directly into the center of the risotto.
2) To finish drizzle with truffle oil and garnish with a sprinkle of fleur de sel if desired.

Opening image courtesy of bacontoday.com

I'm going to play innocent and pretend that this header is not a play on a bad bad word, and that I am not secretly spewing the correct spelling of this phrase at my useless, useless work associate. In fact, this header relates very well to the topic about which I am going to write, which is the new Twilight cookbook, Love at First Bite. So you see, it's a reference to a) the fact that this is a cookbook, which will lead to to make recipes which you can then devour with a FORK, perhaps even in conjunction with a knife... and b) the Twilight novels are set in Forks, whose singular incarnation is -- you got it, genius -- FORK.

Actually Stephenie Meyer is probably also spewing this phrase at the author of this "Unofficial Twilight Cookbook," not only because it doesn't appear to be a licensed offshoot of the brand (I could be wrong, I mean, you can't exactly produce that cover without having to solve a few copyright issues) but also because this cookbook writer is totally capitalizing on Meyer's self-created brand, and the cookbook writer's name is Gina Meyers, which is only going to serve to confuse readers if this blog post goes on too long and we start becoming unable to differentiate from Meyer and Meyers. I mean, Stephenie didn't even like spelling her first name with an "a" like everyone else, for crying out loud. Then again, maybe the royalties will be enough to quell any distaste.

But speaking of distaste, onto the book itself. It's a guide for anyone who's Twilight-obsessed to making dishes for the perfect vampiric occasion. And the key to enjoying the tome, it appears, is to have low expectations. Read on for the best of the Amazon reviews...

"The book is sooo thin, not a single picture on it. Looks like somebody printed a Word document and aded a picture in the front. Don't waste your money..."

"Hello, I was very dissapointed ... very. I thought that this cookbook would teach me how to cook for my boyfriend, but instead it pretty much made him dump me. The reason, well, most of the reason, was because of the Team Edward Tacos. It says that they are supposed to be "glittery" and "dazzle" your guests, but it didn't tell me how it was supposed to be glittery with just ground beef and or lettuce.
First of all, Edward is a vegetarian! So, IDK why there is a beef rendition ... that would seem more like Team Jacob ... which is totally not cool with us Team Edwarders. Anyway, that is beside the point.
So, I did what it said, and put some glitter in it, and I also only put in lettuce because Edward doesn't eat beef. My boyfriend was all choking and stuff and thought I was stupid when I showed him the cook book."

"I checked this out of my local library, wondering if it was worth buying. It is not. I am a huge Twilight fan, but this book is so horrible, even I couldn't stand it. It is written so poorly, and contains so little of interest, it is hard to imagine anyone liking it. A few recipes claim to relate to the book (Mushroom Ravioli, Chicken Enchiladas, etc.), but the vast majority are completely irrelevant to the books. You could probably get better recipes by doing a google search. Plus, it is clear no one edited this book. There are tons of typos and even the quotes from the books are wrong. I would recommend that Amazon stop selling this book it is so bad."

" am embarrassed to have made such a stupid purchase. There are very few recipes, which is probably a good thing because they are just wrong--most people know that you don't boil the tortillas with the sauce for 30 minutes before making enchiladas. I'm assuming the book is not written for anyone who actually intends to use the recipes. A picture may be worth a 1000 words, but you won't find any pictures, illustrations or scribbles in this 60-odd page booklet (with usually one inacurrate or mundane receipe per page). If I had written the novels I would be furious at the blatant attempt to capitalize on my talent by selling such garbage by insinuating a relationship. This is not a book that most fans of the "Twilight" series would enjoy or even want in their home. Shame on me for not going to the library, too."

Whenever I think of cooking classes in Hong Kong, the first place I think of is Towngas Cooking which I’ve been informed is not bad. But if you in the mood to check out something a bit fancier, how about taking a class with a two Michelin starred chef? The Langham Place’s Ming Court is now offering one-hour master classes to learn Executive Chef Tsang Chiu King’s tips and tricks to creating the perfect dim sum treat.

Choose from one-on-one classes or a group class for up to 20 people (it’s HK$10,000 for the first 12 people and an additional $500 per head afterwards) where you can gather your friends for a little cooking party. After the class, you get to sample your food in Ming Court alongside other dim sum made by professional chefs so you can do a bit of comparing. For more information email lphkg.info@langhamhotels.com.