Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Tetsuya

I jumped at the chance to watch Tetsuya at a cooking demo in David Jones on reading about his appearance in smh good living. I mean who could resist the thought of sampling food that you would have to book at least 3 months in advance and pay $175per head for Tetsuya magical degustation menu? I wouldnt.

Diary out.
Penciled (or maybe stenciled!) in.
Ditto!

♥ foodies date: 05 August 2004
♥ where: david jones foodhall, sydney city

Tetsuya's cooking demo was to start at 5.30pm on the thursday night. In a mere 1.5hour time, Tetsuya played magic and transformed simple food into luxurious dishes!

I got to DJ at a little past 5, and the place was already filled! I couldnt even see the cooking stage. Aiks. Should have got there earlier after all this is tetsuya i am talking about here. *shucks* After much walking and patrolling the demo area, I decided to slot into one of the tiny space on the far right corner. Still couldnt see tetsuya cooking but near enough for me to hold my camera up high to capture him. *grin*


♥ crowding around tetsuya
And lucky lucky pinkcocoa.
The couple in front decided to leave half way and pinkcocoa instantly snapped a spot on the frontline! *yipee*

What's more, pinkcocoa happened to stand right in front of where Tetsuya's assistant, the gentleman in black suit who kindly and patiently placed tiny wooden tasting forks or toothpicks onto the dish and went around the crowd, offering the dish for taste. He was the one to answer a few of our queries too (for the group of us who stood near him) and ever so nicely stopped with Tetsuya's dishes for us to snap photos!

Now, let pinkcocoa presents you with 9 magical dishes* from tetsuya:
*didnt manage to snap up some of the dishes. The food were gone in a jiffy even before i snapped out my camera. *shucks*

1. oyster with rice wine vinegar dressing

♥ oyster tasting plate - before dressing
Right there you could see tetsuya's assisting chef's hand assmebling the oyster tasting plate. There were many rounds of these oysters going around but the spot where i stood weren't able to grab any. The lady next to me and I were crying out in pain every time we saw these plates being carried around.


♥ oyster with rice wine vinegar dressing and a sprinkle of finely chopped chives
Alas, the gentleman behind me said to me:
"Lady, you got to be tough and push your way round in this situation"
After which he extended his arm and grabbed me this oyster!
Thank you so very much!

The taste of fresh oyster and tangy dressing is just divine!
*crunch* The oyster is very crunchy! Blimey. My second encounter with oyster deemed at least 500% better than my first. If only this had been the first oyster I tried in my life........

2. Tuna carpaccio

♥ tuna carpaccio with rice wine vinegar + soy sauce dressing
This is blue fin tuna. If you are looking after oilier tuna, blue fin is the one to go for. The tuna is thinly sliced and carefully arranged on the plate. A dressing similar to that of the oyster with an extra splash of soy sauce added. Wasabi can also be added if desired. The greens are actually baby salad leaves. How cute!

3. Smoked trout and salmon roe sushi
My attempt to snap pic for this dish failed. The sushi was snatched out within seconds. A small amount of marinated salmon roe is placed on bite-size sushi rice and topped with a thin ribbon of smoked ocean trout. We were told smoked salmon would be fine too. In fact any type of thinly sliced stuff would do. So my guess is thinly sliced beef would be good too. *yummo*

4. Tuna nori-roll

♥ yuzu-kosho tuna nori-roll
I am not sure of the exact name of this dish but I would call it something like tuna nori-roll or maybe yuzu-kosho nori tuna . Yuzu-kosho is a type of japanese citrus fruit pepper (green in colour). It is salty and a little peppery with a citrus tang attached.

My guess: yuzu in japanese is pomelo (of the grapefruit family) in chinese? I know we can buy yuzu-flavoured japanese dressing at Asian groceries. who cares? Must snatch and eat before gone!

5. seasonal green salad

♥ seasona green salad with tetsuya's salad dressing
A very simple dish. Put large bunch of mixed salad leaves into bowl. Drizzle over salad dressing and a little olice oil. Serve.

5. fennel and blood orange salad

♥ fennel and blood orange salad
Stack of thinly sliced wedge of lightly seasoned fennel alternate with blood orange segments in pool of blood orange juice and salad dressing & olive oil. Decorate with finely sliced/chopped parsley. In absence of blood orange season, beet or orange can be used instead.

6. veal tataki

♥ veal tataki with warm mushroom dressing
Very thinly sliced veal with warm chestnut mushroom dressing. This is so more-ish!

7. black truffle salsa butter

♥ black truffle salsa butter on bread
Butter made using tetsuya's black truffle salsa + parmesan cheese as you like. I managed to snatch an extra one for ShinChan (who couldnt get into the crowd at all or maybe didnt even try?)

8. Tetsuya's breakfast
9. Japanese style black truffle salsa pasta

♥ left: the pasta
♥ right: the breakfast
We managed to grab the last strip of fettucine off the plate! A very different pasta made using eggs as a thickening agent for a creamy effect.


♥ Tetsuya's breakfast
This is Tetsuya's style black truffle salsa scrambled eggs. 3 eggs for 1 serve. Heaps of cream and milk. What indulgence! (warning! warning! Those watching your waistline, please stir clear!)


♥ Luxurious breakfast
Bread slice with smoked ocean trout, rocket and black salsa truffle scrambled egg. I didnt get to sample the breakfast. I was far too busy describing tetsuya's magic to ShinChan. This pic was taken thanks to the girl who stood near me during the cooking demo. We oohhh and ahhhh together. She also told us that if you are an American Express card holder, you might have priority in the long queue. Her friend managed to grab a table in less than 1 week booking using the card and it was a saturday night too! Woah.

♥ Tetsuya
529 kent street, sydney
ph. (02) 9267 2900
fax (02) 9262 7099
dinner: tues-sat from 6.30pm