Thursday, November 30, 2006

molecular gastronomy



My mother has been a cooking teacher for the past decade. Her philosophy is: fresh ingredients, simple techniques. She hates when chefs mask the taste with complicated sauces and seasoning. She would probably frown at the dishes of El Bulli's Ferran Adria: mango cavier and carrot foam. I, on the other hand, am facinated. Ferran worked his way up from a dishwasher in the 80s to one of the world's most famous chef. He is sort of a mad food scientist, specializing in molecular gastronomy. In his lab, he experiments with altering the texture and shape of foods we're all familiar with. The result? Pea essence with the consistency of an egg yolk, freeze dried bananas, and fried fish wrapped in cotten candy. What marvelous adventure it sounds.

--Ray

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Watercress Bistro - Redmond, WA

So this is officially our first posting and I'm starting it off with this new restaurant my husband and I went to here in Redmond, WA. Our friends have been raving about it but I was a little skeptical. It's a Chinese restaurant but like many American-Chinese restaurants, I'm often disappointed with the selections -- never really quite authentic enough for me.

Our first impression of Watercress Bistro is that it wasn't like a typical Chinese restaurant. It was very modern and chic. I thought the menu would be pricy based on the atmosphere but was please to see that they are really reasonably priced. It was a late night so eventhough it was Friday, we were seated right away. I ordered a Lychee martini which was divine!



I was excited to see that they had this Spicy Wonton appetizer as I've been wanting to try this dish since I read about it on another foodblog. It is a typical dish in Southern China. I was not disappointed. The dish was flavorful but not too spicy.



My husband wanted to try their duck dish as he's been craving for Peking duck. We were a little disappointed with the duck. It was too dry and where's the crispy skin?? That's suppose to be the best part.



The third dish we ordered was another typical dish from South of China -- spicy green beans. It was cooked exactly right. Yum!



All in all, we enjoyed our dinner at Watercress. I would totally recommend it to anyone who ever ventures over to the eastside.

--Mina