Molecul... Avant Garde Cuisine

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Vanilla Ice Cream with Raspberry Petals and Green Tea and Olive Oil Dust

El Bulli and The Fat Duck are 2 of the many restaurants on my 'Go-Before-You-Die' list. However, I can understand why some people might be averse to the food served there. I don't think the motivating factor of the chefs in such restaurants is to satiate the appetites of their guests, but rather to bring a whole new gastronomical experience to revive worn out palates.

My first personal experience with anything similar to that cuisine (Avant Garde Cuisine, so I learnt) was with my Gourmet Whip. I followed a few recipes from The Cook's Book and made 21st Century Tortilla, as well as a Basil Foam to accompany some rich tomato soup that I took from Justin Quek's Passion and Inspiration. It was pretty fun to play with and I'm only starting to understand how it works as well as appreciate that a little goes a long way.

Edward Voon of Aurum

So when I heard about Aurum a few months ago, I was thoroughly excited. While I was waiting for the restaurant to work out the intial kinks (as any new restaurant would have to do), I was also on the lookout for dining companions willing to shell out SGD$165 for a single meal, and who would not balk at such unique food (for lack of a better word).


But when I was at Palate Sensations a while ago for a corporate bonding session (which was fun by the way), Lynette told me of the upcoming cooking class by Aurum, at Aurum, when I was gushing over one of Aurum's brochures. I immediately jumped onto the opportunity even though it was not a hands-on class. My curiosity about the restaurant needed to be addressed before it killed the cat.

So on Saturday morning, I let my dragonboat teammates down by skipping the practice session, and instead headed to The Cannery for the class.

Though the highchairs were really uncomfortable, though the arrangement of the demonstation meant that some had to stand the entire 2 over hours, and despite the lack of hands-on, I would have spent that $100 again if they had a part 2. At the end of the session, I had tasted 4 items on their menu, as well as 3 small 'snacks' - Parmesan Cheese (foam) on toast, Green Olive 'Ravioli', and Carrot Cotton Candy. Understanding that we would not be able to lay our hands on some of the 'ingredients' required in the preparation of the snacks (Algin, Xantham gum, Calcium), they did not provide these recipes.

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However, other recipes (although slightly sketchy) were handed out at the beginning of the class. Unfortunately, the dish that I enjoyed the most - Confit of Salmon on Broccoli Cous Cous Salad with Cured Salmon Tartare and Mango Relish - was the one that I neglected to snap. Understandable since I simply could not wait to tear apart the slow poached salmon confit flake by flake.

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That was, among the others, the most accessible recipe. Other than the vacuum packed bag, I can get everything required on the dish. Arguably, I can attempt the Crackling Suckling Pig (pictured above) and French Fry as well, but I'm not going to allow my oven to run for 14 hours straight. As for the dessert (top picture) that requires nitrogen, unless I can snitch some nitrogen from a science lab (anyone?), I doubt I'll be able to attempt it anyday soon.

It was an amusing class, with some technique and science (and hell of a lot of big, expensive machines) involved. Perhaps most amusing was the mix of characters attracted to the class - culinary students, tai-tais, men in tight t-shirts, and curious individuals like me.