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Jebsen Fine Wines hosts own MasterChef
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Jebsen Fine Wines recently held a special team-building event in the style of the famous TV programme, MasterChef, writes Fay Xiao.
Three well-known Hong Kong chefs, Rolf Von Weissenfluh (executive assistant F&B manager of The Sheraton Hotel); Alvin Leung (known as ‘The Demon Chef’ and owner of the three-Michelin-Starred Bo Innovation) and Lai Yau Tim (owner of the 2-Michelin-Starred Tim’s Kitchen) were invited to be the judges for this event.
One of the judges, Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation
Each team was given a set of identical ingredients in the morning from which two appetiser dishes had to be produced in 60 minutes.
For the afternoon session, each team was given an allowance of HK$300 to purchase their own ingredients in 60 minutes to prepare for their main course and dessert.
A mystery ingredient, the infamously pungent durian fruit, was added only minutes before the teams were dispatched to shop.
The requirement was then it had to be used in either the main course or dessert or both, to spice up the challenge.
The results were rated according to creativity (35%), execution (35%), presentation (20%) and wine pairing (10%) while improvisation and teamwork were given extra credit.
The teams were rewarded with dinner at Regal Hong Kong Alto 88 after an intensive day of cooking. During dinner, prizes were awarded for “The Most Creative Dish,” (Mackerel Trio: Mackerel with curry/ durian, Mackerel with lemongrass/galangal and Mackerel with salt/pepper), “The Best Dish,” (Tarte Tatin with Durian cream) and The Best Team.
The strong flavours of durian posed a degree of challenge to the wine pairing part of the exercise but Donny Ho, general manager of Jebsen Fine Wines, complimented the team who created the Mackerel Trio dish on their pairing choice.
The team decided to pair the diverse flavours of the dish with Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2014, to highlight the full-bodied expression and minerality of the wine.
The winning dish, ‘Mackerel Trio’