Egypt trip, Dec 2008 - Colossi of Memnon and the Valley of the Kings

After spending a lovely evening in Luxor, we have booked ourselves on an early morning hot air balloon ride. Unfortunately, the wind was too strong that morning and after waiting for about an hour, we turned back and headed back to the hotel :-(

The hot air balloon company employs a large number of people. I wonder whether these people made any money that morning. (We received a refund)

Another balloon company tried to set the balloon up. After testing the wind speed with little balloons, they also decided to cancel the ride.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by the Colossi of Memnon, which are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (14th century BCE). The original function of the Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial temple (which is almost completely destroyed)

The statues are made from blocks of quartzite sandstone and it was quarried near modern day Cairo. The stone blocks weight about 700 tons each and they were too heavy to be transport upstream on the Nile. So it was transported 420 miles over land.

We then moved on to visit the Valley of the Kings. The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (modern Luxor).

For a period of nearly 500 years (from 16th to 11th Century BCE or the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt), the kings and powerful nobles of ancient Egypt built their tombs in the valley.

All of the tombs appears to have been opened and robbed over the many years, so there was nothing much left except the wall decorations and some mummies. In 1922, however, Howard Carter discovered an intact tomb and since then, our understanding of the ancient Egyptian funerary rituals have increased significantly.

The hills around the valley are dominated by the peak of al-Qurn. It looks like a pyramid when viewed from the entrance to the Valley of the Kings, and therefore some Egyptologists believe it may have been the reason for choosing the location as a Royal Necropolis.

The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues to the beliefs and funerary rituals of the period. Here is our guide explaining the story behind the scenes.

This is a very impressive model of the valley. It shows the entrances of each tombs....

...as well as how the tombs look underground.

Exploration, excavation and conservation continues in the valley today

It is very labour intensive though and it takes a lot of patience! I don't think I will make a good archaeologist :-p

We visited three tombs and the wall decorations are amazing. The colours have been preserved in certain tombs and these tombs show the amount of effort that the ancient Egyptians put into decorating their king's tombs.

Unfortunately, We were not supposed to take photos in the tombs so we don't have much to show.

UK trip, Dec 2008 - The Waterside Inn, Bray

There must be something in the water of Bray, as in this tiny village, you can find 2 three-Michelin starred restaurants. The Waterside Inn has also been in possession of three Michelin stars for an unbroken period of 19 years!


The Waterside Inn is actually a Relais & Châteaux hotel. It is run by the extremely famous Roux family. Upon arrival, we were met by the valet parking guy. There were only a few car spaces in front of the hotel entrance so I guess it is great that there is a person here to take care of the parking.

There are a summerhouse on the terrace which overlooks the river. It must be a nice spot to relax during summer.

We were then shown to the lounge area and were quickly offered an apéritif and some canapés. We did have some communication problems with the waiter though. I told him that I can't eat cucumber and he turned up with a couple of cucumber-based canapés. You probably can't see it in this pic but there was also a large strip of cucumber lining the plate. He was holding the tray in front of me, waiting for me to pick one, while I tried again and again to explain to him that I don't eat cucumbers! "Please try this other one", he said as he points to the pastry. I wish he would just take the plate OFF my face :-P

So long after, we were shown to our table and were served really nice butter with our bread. The butter was so smooth and creamy! Yummm!

The lunch and dinner menu at Waterside Inn is identical, so you can have quite a big meal for lunch. SP and I decided to go for Le Menu Exceptionnel and we ordered exactly the same dishes.

Escalope de foie gras poêlée sur sa tranche fine de pain d’épices,jus réduit aux prunes de Damas en pickles agrémenté d’airelles rouges (Pan-fried escalope of foie gras with a thin slice of home made ginger breadserved with the juice of pickled damsons and a few cranberries). The foie gras is very yummy but it is quite similar to Paul Bocuse's foie gras. Nothing too special for a Michelin-starrted restaurant but nevertheless a yummy dish!

Tronçonnette de homard poêlée minute au porto blanc (Pan-fried lobster medallion with a white port sauceand ginger flavoured vegetable julienne). I absolutely love the dish. The lobster was fresh. The ginger adds additional flavour to the already excellent sauce. I believed it is Chinese-inspired. I was licking the fork long after I have finished the lobster!

Sorbet rafraîchissant tutti-frutti d’agrumes (Refreshing tutti-frutti citrus sorbet). Nice and fruity.

Caneton challandais grillé et “glacé” d’un mélange d’épices, gnocchi relevés de raifort,petits kumquats mi-confits, sauce au Cabernet Sauvignon ( Roasted Challandais duck glazed with spices, confit kumquats,gnocchi seasoned with horseradish, Cabernet Sauvignon sauce). This dish can be only be ordered by multiples of 2 portions. It seems quite luxury to have a duck between two of us, but in the end, I feel that I can eat more of this.

The server, with his very sharp knife, quickly dissect the duck into two portions. I was dribbling as I watched!!

Ta-da!!!! The depth of the flavour is exceptional. This is some of the best duck I've ever had!

I've asked them to give me the duck leg but I found it less flavourful then the duck breast. It is also much less tender. It was a shame :-(

Soufflé chaud aux mirabelles (Warm golden plum soufflé) Minimum order is 2 portions so SP and I decided to try it. All the chefs from the Roux family began their culinary journey as patissiers and their desserts are supposed to be legendary. Michael Roux has even created a soufflé for Queen Elizabeth's birthday dinner. The 35-year-old signature recipe, also by Michel Roux, contains mirabelle plums, which is a delicacy from the Alsace region in France. The soufflé we had is what we expected a perfect soufflé to be. It rose perfectly. It is light, fluffy and moist all at the same time. However, I am not a fan of cooked fruit (don't ask me what I ordered!) and liquor. So, in the end, SP polished most of it by himself!

The waiter and waitress have been very attentive during the meal. The waiter was also a pretty good photographer! Only one take was required!

Just before we finished, I have asked for a signed copy of the menu. Usually, other restaurants will just give you a paper version of the menu, but they ended up giving me a proper copy of the menu! They even put them in a paper bag so that I can carry it around!

Summary
The menu is unashamedly classical French in style. The restaurant has not even attempt to incorporate any 'modern' flavours into the dishes. It may be boring for some. At these prices, some may expect a certain level of ingenuity and originality. I personally love the fact that it is traditional. SP and I have both enjoyed the food and service.

Just a note: there were lots of wealthy-looking old men (and ladies) eating there. For those who is looking for a sugar daddy (mummy), it would be a good spot to pick up! :-P

UK trip, Dec 2008 - The Fat Duck, Bray (Part 3)

Now the sweet courses begins.

Hot and Iced Tea (2005)

There are actually quite a number of sweet things on the menu and we started with this palate cleanser. The tea arrived in a modern thermal glass: one side of the tea (served in a very cute thermal glass) was cold, the other was hot. It is quite a strange sensation

Mrs Marshall's Margaret Cornet

The course comes in very tiny portion. It comes with a little booklet on Agnes Bertha Marshall, who wrote some of the best books on ice cream in the 19th Century. Her recipe for the ice cream cone predates the supposed first at the St. Louis World Fair of 1904 by a number of years. Mrs Marshall died at the age of 49 and her recipe books were soon forgotten by public. In homage to her, the Fat Duck ice cream cones are made according to her recipes.

Aren't the cones adorable?

Pine Sherbet Fountain (Pre-Hit)

The pine sherbet fountain brings the nostalgia of childhood

We used the dried vanilla bean to dip out the pine sherbet powder and then licked the stick. We felt like a kid again.

At this point, there are a number of wine glasses on the table

Mango and Douglas Fir Puree - Bavarois of Lychee and Mango, Blackcurrant Sorbet
2005 Breganze Torcolato, Maculan, Veneto (Italy)

This next dish looks more like a regular dessert

The bavarois of lychee and mango is the rectangular block, the blackcurrant sorbet is set on the side. The yellow dollop is the mango and Douglas fir puree

Parsnip Cereal

The waiter then came with two bowls and boxes of cereal. He then announced it is time for breakfast.

There were just a few tiny flakes and personally, I think it is a redundant dish

Nitro-scambled Egg and Bacon Ice Cream (2006) - Pain Perdu and Tea Jelly
2006 Jurancon, Uroulat, Charles Hours, South West (France)

I really looked forward to this dish. It sounds weird so I definitely want to try it.

Once we had our continental breakfast, we then started our English breakfast.

The waiter cracked two eggs into the pan, which was then cooked in liquid nitrogen. We don't know whether they were real eggs. What comes out look like a sort of custard.

The custard was then added to the pre-arranged pain perdu, which was topped with a dollop of ice cream and what looked like bacon. The ice cream itself was both sweet and savory. The bacon was sweet and crisp

A ceramic egg-shaped bowl held the tea jelly. It tasted like a mixture of green and lemon tea, which is very refreshing

Petits Fours - Carrot and Orange Lolly, Mandarin Aerated Chocolate, Violet Tartlet, Apple Pie Caramel "Edible Wrapper"

I ordered chamomile tea to go with my petits fours. The tea is of very good quality and I have really enjoyed it

We don't have a photo of the petits fours but you can roughly see them in the background of this photo. Mandarin Aerated Chocolate on the right, violet tartlet and apple pie caramel in the middle and the carrot and orange lolly on the right

Overall

This meal is great fun and the staff have made us felt comfortable. Most of the food is good. There are definitely plenty of innovation and originality. It is certainly very different.

However, if I ever come back to The Fat Duck (first, I need a much thicker wallet!), I would probably go for the À la carte menu, because we have lost the elements of surprise :-)

UK trip, Dec 2008 - The Fat Duck, Bray (Part 2)

Due to the number of photos, I have decided to write about my Fat Duck experience in 3 posts. I will talk about the "main courses" in this part.


Snail Porridge - Jabugo Ham, Shaved Fennel
2007 Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine de Beaurenard (France)

The snail porridge is one of The Fat Duck's signature dishes.

Pieces of snails were served on a bed oat porridge which is cooked with a parsley/ garlic/ butter sauce. Then little silvers of Joselite ham goes in the middle and the whole thing was topped off with ribbons of marinated fennel

The porridge was smooth and creamy. The snail was tender and the marinated fennel added some sourness and texture to an overall excellent dish

Roast Foie Gras "Bemzaldehyde" - Almond Fluid Gel, Cherry and Chamomile
2004 Pinot Gris, Rolly Gassmann, Alsace (France)

First of all, let's go through the science. According to Wiki:

Bemzaldehyde (C₆H₅CHO) is a chemical compound consisting of a benzene ring with an aldehyde substituent. At room temperature it is a colourless liquid with an almond-like odour.

So, the dish is not just about the taste of almond, but also the scent of almond.

The presentation of the dish was beautiful and the flavour combination was also very good. The foie gras was very creamy and it seems that this has something to do with the way the foie gras was cooked. We noticed that even though the foie gras is roasted, it was only warm. The reason? According to one website, "The foie gras is bought frozen and cooked frozen. First the foie is seared and then put in the oven and turned every 2 minutes, each time sprayed with liquid nitrogen so that the outside doesn’t get too hot but the heat continues to go through it." That seems like a lot of work just to get the foie gras warm! :-P

"Sound of the Sea"
Sake, Shibouritate, Tatsuuma-Honke, Hyogo (Japan)

This dish comes with a sake instead of normal wine.

Additionally, we also each got a conch shell with an iPod tucked inside, playing the "sounds from the sea": sound of the waves hitting the shores and the sound of the seagulls flying by (which makes me want to duck! hahaha)

Then the real food came on the glass surface of a long wooden. It looks like a huge mess in the photo but I supposed there is some order in the chaos. The waiter said the mess contains a few types of seaweed, tapioca (in a crunchy, powdered form), calms, cockles and oysters and shellfish foam. I think this is a very delicious dish, but I can see that it may be a bit fishy for others

Salmon porached in Liquorice Gel - Artichoke, Vanilla Mayonnaise and "Manni" Olive Oil
2001 Quinta da Leda, Casa Ferreirinha, Douro Valley (Portugal)

This is such a pretty dish. It is like an artwork. The specks of pink grapefruit, vanilla mayonnaise and olive oil.

After doing some research on the dish, I found that"Manni” olive oil is supposed to be the world’s best (of course also the most expensive!!) olive oil.

I also read that the liquid nitrogen was used to freeze the grapefruit and the endocarps can be separated with simple hammer blow. So they don't need to have a person sitting there all day, whose job is only to tease apart the grapefruit.

After the plate landed on my table, the waiter then grated licorice over the salmon at the table. The buttery salmon tasted almost like sashimi. It melted in my mouth and I absolutely love the taste and texture. I usually hate licorice but this ended up being OK. This dish reminds me of Tetsuya's signature salmon dish and although this dish is more visually pleasing than Tetsuya's, I prefer Tetsuya's version more.

Interval

Well, it wasn't a real interval as per the menu. I had a comfort break and since SP has took a few photos, I thought it makes sense to put them in the right order.

The waiter was very attentive and as soon as I stand up, he went to the kitchen and told them to hold our next course!

The wait staff rushing in and out of the tiny kitchen. The staff are so attentive and they are always so busy. We reckon there is around the same number of staff as the number of guests!

Then it was SP's turn, and I helped myself to some more of their yummy homemade bread and white, salted butter

Ballotine of Anjou Pigeon - Black Pudding "Made to Order", Pickling Brine and Spiced Juices
2005 Tokara, Merlot/ Cabernet Sauvignon/ Petit Verdot, Stellenbosch (South Africa)

The sous vide pigeon sat next to a blood pudding. The pigeon was tender but the form seems to been redundant. I think this guys like their science experiences too much :-P

That's the end of the main courses.