Archive for the ‘German’ Category
Sarotti Die Kakaoschokolade
Sarotti's No. 1 Mini Collection
Sarotti's 42 minis
Sarotti’s No. 1 mini collection from Germany consists of:
JAVA, 33% Caco Vollmilch (Whole Milk)
ECUADOR, 72% Cacao Edelbitter (Dark Chocolate)
SAO THOME, 75% Cacao Edelbitter mit Kakaokernsplittern (Dark chocolate with chocolate chip core)
The taste of Sarotti’s mini collection are seemingly similar to single-origin chocolates, but we are still unsure if they really are made from cocoa beans from the same plantation. At a price of $9.50 for a box of 42 minis, it is a very good substitute for pricier premium brands like Valrhona’s. It is ideal for consumers who wish to give “premium chocolates” a first try, before deciding if they really appreciate it and go on spending more on the higher end brands.
Sarotti's Magische Momente
Sarotti's Magische Momente
Sarotti’s Magische Momente contains 21 alcoholic pralines, of 9 different flavours. The moment we opened the box, there was a strong chocolate and alcohol aroma. The 9 flavours are:
Alima (Kirschlikör-Trüffle): Cherry liqueur truffle
Ghada (Kirsche in Likörfüllung): Cherry in liqueur filling
Arella: Marc de Champagne Truffle
Deuxette (Mandellikör-Trüffle): Almond liqueur
Magia (Arrak Marzipan): Arrack
Carma (Jamaica-Praline): Rum
Zabajon (Eierlikör-Praline): Eggnog liqueur
Amandus (Cointreau-Trüffle): Orange liqueur
Sopresa (Williams-Christ): Williams pear liqueur
In general, most of the flavours tasted strongly of liqueur. There were a few particular ones, like the Ghada, which contains the alcohol in liquid form, while others had their fillings soaked in alcohol. However, we didn’t like Marzipan. Firstly, the liqueur taste was too mild. Secondly, the marzipan filling was more like soggy coconut bits soaked in sugar syrup. Something to be improved could be in the outer chocolate layer. It would be better if the chocolate shell was smoother and had a “melt in the mouth” texture, like typical over the counter pralines and truffles. Perhaps they could replace the outer chocolate with the ones in the No. 1 mini collection – that would make a perfect box of alcoholic chocolate pralines!
Magma – German Wine Bistro + Shop
Magma - German Wine Bistro + Shop
One of us was craving for German food and off to Magma we went for dinner! We had first known about Magma through the 2010 Restaurant Week and had also walked past Magma once during one of our food hunts. It’s a relatively easy place to find, a few shop houses from Oso Ristorante and just across the road from Pinnacle @ Duxton.
The place adopted an open kitchen concept, so we could hear and see the chef preparing the food. We took quite a while to decide what to order but with recommendations from the waitress, we ordered the following:
Wildschweinbraten
The first dish to arrive – Pan fried female wild boar. This turned out to be one of the more outstanding dishes of the night. The piece of wild boar was hidden below a heap of mushrooms. The meat was tender and flavourful, but was a rather small piece. The potato croquettes weren’t exactly like what we normally have at other restaurants; the center of the croquette was jelly-like. But the main highlight was the sauce! The sauce, in my opinion, tasted a little too salty on its own. But when eaten together with the croquettes, mushroom and meat, the sauce tasted superb! Too bad we didn’t have bread to dip in the sauce, it would have been nice.
Pork Knuckles
And how can we miss out on Germany’s signature food – Pork Knuckles. There were 5 choices for us to choose from: roasted Bavarian, boiled Berlin, roasted honey, garlic or chili. We chose the conventional Bavarian roasted. A rather small knuckle, as compared to the one we had at Brotzeit. Nothing too fantastic or bad about the knuckle. But the skin was sure tough to cut through, let alone chew and swallow. The meat was tender, but only at certain areas. Flavour wise, they could have done a better job in masking the pork taste.
(clockwise from top left) “Salad Frederick II” with potato, fine beans, bacon; capers; Flammkuchen, thin + crispy German pizza with sour cream, spinach and cheese; “Berliner Currywurst” – fried sausage “Berlin style” (pork) with spicy curry gravy & bread
Main dishes aside, we had the following starters to share. We had the “Salad Frederick II” with potato, fine beans, bacon & capers. It was a huge portion, but reasonable for the price you pay. We don’t normally order salads when we’re out. The only other time we did was when we ate at PS Cafe @ Dempsey. Well, I guess the salad at Magma is nicer. As a potato lover, I give the potatoes in the salad 2 thumbs up! And guess out of the party of 6, I was the one who silently stole all the potatoes *oops*. The potatoes were not too hard, nor soft, it was slightly salty, with a very nice smell. I couldn’t really put my finger down to why the potatoes tasted great, but the bottomline is they were great! I could eat an entire plate of such potatoes without getting sick *yummy*!
The biggest disappointment of the night was the Flammkuchen. The description on the menu read “crispy”. But there was nothing crispy about it. The crust was not crispy, but kind of soggy, which didn’t go too well with me. The cheese didn’t taste strong and salty enough, there was barely any taste, not flavourful enough for our liking. They could also do a better job in beautifying the pizza. This is our first try at German pizza, and let’s just say that I still prefer the good old Italian versions.
Sausages were another German specialty. We tried the Berliner Currywurst. Firstly, I didn’t quite like the bread. It wasn’t the fluffy kind of bread that I like. Rather, it felt like it was soaked in water. The currywurst was nothing fantastic, typical curry sausages which one could get from Swiss Butchery. There wasn’t any hint of curry flavour in the gravy, rather it tasted more like a tomato-based sauce. So far, we have had sausages at Brotzeit, Al Borgo and now, Magma. And honestly, there isn’t any that impressed us. The search for authentic German sausages continues…
Total damage of the evening: $144 for a party of 5 ladies and 1 gentleman.
Ph.Ds of FOOD 