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A TASTE OF VIETNAMESE
Erika Brincat talks to Tom Kime, the ‘dishy’
(excuse the pun ;) British TV personality,
Consultant Chef at TASTE Restaurant, and author
of the recently published recipe book by the
same name, whose culinary style has inspired the
restaurant’s fresh concept based on the art of
combining hot, sour, salty and sweet tastes in
diverse cuisines and recipes. TASTE shall
officially open its doors this December 2005.
The journey to the exotic East begins at The
Hotel Fortina Spa Resort’s serene pool area.
Surrounded by well-nourished and luscious plants
it immediately welcomes and transports you to an
Asian garden, before even sitting down to sample
the wide selection of exquisite food with a
strong Asian influence.
Tom Kime is a charming man - an interesting and
well-travelled person, with ample knowledge in
the culinary field for his young 31 years, and a
love of food, which he has an enthusiastic and
genuine desire to share. He has his own ‘cooking
philosophy’, no doubt picked up during his
travels through Asia, based on a particular
principle, that is, “to create food that is
delicious and to ensure the four main tastes of
hot, sour, sweet and salty are present and
balanced in every individual dish and throughout
a meal. Combined with vibrant colours and
contrasting textures, the food has vitality and
is stimulating to all the senses. Vietnamese and
South East Asian food provides some of the most
exciting taste sensations, achieved by the
deliberate arrangement of ingredients in
relation to each other. This balance is called
‘correct taste’ and is a guiding principle,
which can be applied to all types and styles of
cuisine.”
Clifton Grech, the Head Chef tells me that at
TASTE they do not wish to create a fusion of
Mediterreanean and Vietnamese cooking, but
rather they intend to keep both concepts
separate. According to Tom “fusion creates
confusion”. Instead they wish to create
Mediterranean and Vietnamese dishes, using the
Asian technique of balance between the
opposites: sweet and salty, hot and sour, and
the Asian Theory of TASTE runs through all the
diverse dishes which take direct inspiration
from Tom’s own cookery book called TASTE.
How long have you been involved in the catering
business and can you mention at least three
chefs who have inspired you? “I started off when
I was 19, and I am now 31, (that adds up to 12
years) but like most chefs, considering we work
sometimes even up to 16 hour shifts a day, you
could say I have an extra couple of years thrown
in! Having learnt the art of cooking at the
River Café in London where Jamie Oliver also
received his training, I embarked on a
travelling and cooking journey throughout South
East Asia and Australia.”
The River Café, holder of one Michelin Star, has
been an instrumental part of his culinary
journey, and “most of those who trained there
have now become well known and highly respected
head chefs hosting their own TV shows and
publishing popular recipe books. The
establishment was looking for staff with a real
love of food, and it was an encouraging, relaxed
and family oriented atmosphere.” Tom emphasizes
that it was an excellent experience because “for
the first time in my career I was truly inspired
and encouraged, and the teachers were very
generous with their information and the sharing
of their knowledge. This created a communal
atmosphere, where the different chefs, cooks and
waiters felt at home and at ease, and we were
able to absorb the knowledge being imparted more
easily. We learnt how to create a connection
with the food and with the customers, and this
was encouraged by allowing the staff to try out
all the dishes, as well as taking us on
wine-tasting tours to Italy where we visited the
Medici Cellars and tasted about 35 different
wines three times a day!”
In many restaurants often food is expensive and
boring, and he emphasizes, “it is of essence
that the food is actually really tasty.” He
points out that generally “the two main cuisines
Vietnamese and Mediterranean are kept separate,
and yet what they have in common is that they
are both very healthy and clean” such as the
rare grilled Blue Fin Tuna Carapaccio crusted
with fennel and coriander seeds with a choice of
preserved lemon and caper dressing with basil,
roasted fennel and asparagus. Indeed at TASTE
“one will not find any dishes drowned in crème
or butter, and flour is not used.” The
restaurant has a vast selection of fragrant,
aromatic and colourful dishes to choose from
such as the Jewelled Cous Cous, containing
apricots, figs, pistachios, nuts, and herbs.
“Both Mediterranean and Vietnamese cooking share
this common trait, that is, a very colourful way
of combining healthy ingredients.”
Interestingly, the hotel’s gardener is growing
their own herbs, and they are using Thai basil,
having a liquorish, aniseed flavour and adding a
lemony taste to the dishes. TASTE’s owner,
Mr. Michael Zammit Tabone says that they are
also importing “a wide-ranging supply of the
world’s best produce on a weekly basis including
sautéed vegetables, sweet potatoes, spices,
papaya, baby pineapples, Indian vegetables, as
well as pomegranates and watermelons from hotter
climates, when they are out of season over here,
and that whenever possible they buy organically
grown vegetables. It is important for the
vegetables to be sourced from very good quality
producers, and we only use sustainable sources
with an excellent reputation.” Tom agrees and
says: “one must build a relationship with a
reputable source.” They both insist it is
essential to make sure everything is of top
quality.
A specific TASTE menu including a special dish
and matching wine is also offered, and
especially recommended for staff parties, and
the wines are quite reasonable because they
import their own selection. Their intention was
to create a different experience in line with
the Spa, and they have placed an emphasis on
lighter and healthy yet very tasty food, without
it being boring health food. “Everything
is to order, and served from an Open Kitchen,
which means you can also enjoy watching the
cooking process while it takes place.”
Tom has also been inspired by the Vietnamese
method of hot aromatic smoking, as a way of
imparting a subtle flavour to meat and fish.
“One can find prawns and cray fish smoked with a
mixture containing lemon grass and lime leaves,
as well as hot smoked sea bass and lampuki,
whereas the chicken takes on the flavour of
cinnamon, star anise and jasmine tea. Another
Smoking Mix is a combination of Thai rice, with
brown sugar, jasmine tealeaves, lemon grass and
ginger, and our prawns cooked in a mild curry
and guaranteed to be nice and juicy are also
highly recommended!”
Not surprisingly he has had his own TV series on
Vietnamese cooking and has done a lot of
research in South Vietnam, all the way from
Hanoi to Ho Chi Mihn City, once known as Saigon,
where he got to sample the food in a variety of
Vietnamese restaurants, as well as to cook his
own food on the Vietnamese beaches. His
passion for cooking is apparent as he drifts
away describing several delicious dishes in
detail. In Tom’s own words about their
prospective customers: “Some of the descriptions
may not be understood, but once they taste the
dishes, they can definitely relate to the food”.
His dream has always been “to be an inspiration
to people about food” and one favourite dish he
recalls is the “Cha Ca” (pronounced ‘xa-ka’),
found in Hanoi Vietnam. The Cha Ca La Vong
restaurant became so famous for its original
dish, that several other restaurants followed
suite and soon a Cha Ca Street was created. “Cha
Ca” is a white grilled fish from Northern
Vietnam marinated in a paste of fresh tumeric
and ginger, and finished off with lots of French
chopped dill. “The Vietnamese are the only Asian
country to use dill in their cooking and this is
because of their French colonial influences.”
Tom adds that: “The staff at TASTE have sampled
this dish and felt it was one of the most
delicious things they have tried on the menu.”
He also gained worthwhile experiences working
for TV personality Rick Stein’s Sea Food
Restaurant in Cornwall, West England. “Due to
Cornwall being rather desolate in the winter,
the restaurant would close from mid December to
February and all the chefs were into surfing,
and fishing, and would go off to Thailand, Goa
or Australia. Rick himself would head off to
South India or Peru, and return to combine local
fish with the influence of his travels. I would
go fishing during my free shifts, and we were
able to serve line caught sea bass. Being both a
passionate fisherman and a Pisces, I really
enjoyed myself while visiting your fish-farms in
Saint Paul’s Bay, where I was invited to dive in
and swim with the 800 kilo tunas!”
“Other great experiences were at the “Cicada”,
which has won an award as the best restaurant in
New South Wales Australia, and working for David
Thomson at the Darley Street Thai, nominated as
one of the Top 10 Thai Restaurants in the World
including Thailand.” Mr. Thomson, whose teachers
worked at the Royal Palace for the Thai Royal
Family, was in fact Tom’s main teacher in the
principle technique provided by TASTE. For Tom
these were very formative years, and it is here
that he learnt how to balance the opposites of
hot and sweet, salty and sour. “Food has got to
be fun. If it is not, it’s like a lime without
juice!” he adds.
Does being a chef involve strong leadership
skills? “Yes! Leading a team one must lead by
example. But one need not be dictatorial! You
want to create an atmosphere of trust amongst
the staff and yet you have to make sure that
discipline is observed. You have to embrace your
strengths and work on your weaknesses. For
example my weakness is that although I make
deserts very well, I am not really interested in
them and I am much happier filleting fish for
months on end!”
Do you intend changing the menu frequently? “My
plan is for it to change at least every two
months. Eventually it will change every month,
although there are lots of things we would
recommend daily such as shellfish, lobster,
fresh pasta, ravioli and prawn linguini. In
London the menu would change 5 times during a
period of 4 months, and in time I would like it
to be like that. In such a way regular customers
can enjoy a very different experience each time,
with the same high quality standard.”
Is restaurant cooking a male dominated job?
“Yes I’m afraid so! However the River Café was
run by two women - Rose Grey and Ruth
Rogers, and thanks to them there was much less
ego, and less arrogance. They would also
encourage more girls to work in the kitchen.”
According to Tom any restaurant kitchen job is
masochistic, and very arduous. He points out
that there is one female chef in the Can Thai
Restaurant, and one female pastry chef, so on an
average of 2 out of 45 cooking staff in all, it
is very low, and this is frequently the case.
Osho, an Asian philosopher has said that: “God
is also in the food, and you are therefore
eating God”. Do you agree? “Well I would
say that love is in the food, and if there is no
love then it is tasteless. As a chef you are
giving an enormous amount of your self,
therefore it is important for the chef to be in
harmony, and to put love and vitality into the
food he is preparing. I love food and enjoy
giving the best that I can!”
Being originally trained as an artist, his
passion for life, art, society and food is
assuredly genuine. He calls it “the Anthropology
of Food, especially since in the East food is
inherent in greetings, in society and etiquette”
and concludes by sharing a Buddhist saying he
learnt in South East Asia: “Whatever you focus
on expands”. For this reason he feels that the
Spa and Restaurant’s philosophies are
interrelated, “as what blocks people is usually
a mental block which takes on a physical way of
being. The type of food you eat also plays a big
part in general well-being.” He defines
TASTE as “about 2/3 Asian and 1/3 Mediterranean.
The two cuisines work well together and yet they
keep their own integrity. I am here to teach, to
create, and to inspire and I will be coming back
frequently over the next 12 months, for we are
opening similar restaurants in London and
Australia.”
I have to add that writing or reading about food
is also masochistic unless you get to taste it!
Desserts may not be on the top of his list yet
when one is offered a tempting selection such as
Cinnamon Crème Brulee, and Hot Chocolate pudding
with orange and ginger, who can resist? My
simple tip is that if you want to be kind to
your self and your loved ones or employees,
TASTE is definitely worth a visit!
Tom is about to start working on a new book:
“World Street Food” and Maltese ‘Pastizzi and
Mqaret’ shall also be featured. To be looked out
for!
Erika Brincat was talking to Tom Kime,
Consultant Chef at TASTE, the new Mediterranean
and Vietnamese Restaurant found at the Hotel
Fortina Spa Resort, in Sliema.
Malta Now © 2005
Back to Top
MODERN ANTIQUES
All about Selecting Antiques which give
Your Home a Modern and Unique Style
This may appear to be a contradiction, and yet it is not. Antiques,
if selected carefully, wisely and lovingly, can
add a very modern, personal, innovative,
beautifully crafted, and elegant touch to your
interiors. So, how can you go about choosing
Antiques which do not make your home feel old,
unfashionable and outdated but on the contrary,
exotic, in synch with the 21st Century,
priceless and unique all at the same time? This
is what we shall explore hereon.
When selecting an antique one should be
attentive as to how the piece ‘feels’,
literally. Antiques have belonged to many people,
their families and ancestors down the line, and
these old pieces of furniture and specially
crafted household items carry a particular
energy from their creators as well as their
previous owners. So it is important not to
choose an antique which feels too ‘tired’,
overbearing, weary, dark or heavy but one that
with a little extra care and restoration is
still vibrant, with a long life ahead of it, and
in good condition.
Another important thing to keep in mind is not
to choose a style that is too ornate, otherwise the cumbersome design will clutter
and suffocate the atmosphere in your favorite
room, rather than enhance it and bring in that
extra elegant and individual touch you so wanted
to create. No matter how expensive an antique
may be, if it is too ‘fancy’, intricately
patterned or overpowering in a room, it will
only upset the balance and harmony of your
surroundings, and make a room look too busy,
over the top and perhaps even tacky.
The beauty of an antique is its mystery.
Each piece has a story to tell. The antique
dealer may be able to enlighten you on its
history, or he may not. It is important to
choose a piece which has some meaning to you,
and which you appreciate for its particular
style, the era it was made in, as well as the
skill of the craftsman who made it. Knowing that
you have established a good relationship with
the dealer, and bought the piece of furniture at
a reasonable price, maybe much lower than its
true worth as an exclusive work of art, will
give you extra satisfaction and peace of mind
that you have purchased for yourself and your
loved ones a special gift which can last you a
lifetime, while you have also made a very good
investment.
Age, style, quality as well as the historical
factor are all important elements when selecting
an antique.
You might not be able to ascertain whom the
piece has belonged to before you for all these
years, but you may be more likely to learn where
it was made, its place and date of origin and
its source. Perhaps you can do some personal
research to find out when and where, and in
which historical context exactly your antique of
choice was made, and how many similar pieces if
any, were created. Knowing this, of course,
would give the antique an even higher value.
If you are a lover of Eastern and exotic
countries,
and perhaps have visited quite a few of them
yourself, it is with greater joy and
satisfaction that you will purchase a piece of
furniture known to have been made in the East,
at a much earlier date than the present. In your
eyes, this piece may indeed become priceless.
It is also useful to do some research in advance
about the specific type of antique you are
searching for.
Which country would you like it to come from,
and which particular period? This might seem
like extra work, but if you make collecting
highly unusual and valuable antiques your hobby,
the rewards will be many and it can turn out to
be a most enjoyable and pleasurable pastime.
Another suggestion. Pay great attention to the
colour and texture of the wood. Normally when we buy new furniture it is more or
less all one-tone, while with antiques sold as
separate pieces they all have their own
individual shades, and personalities! So what
kind of colours do you have in mind?
If your new and modern living room is a lighter shade of brown it
is fine to go for contrast and choose one
particular antique piece of furniture of a much
lighter or darker shade, as well as another
perhaps of an altogether different colour, for
example a black piece in the case of a Teak
brown room. Try not to overdo this, however,
otherwise the diverse collection of furniture
will begin to look like a terrible mishmash of
different shades. One or two special items of a
strikingly different shade are definitely
acceptable, but it is suggested not to use more
than a maximum of three such pieces in a
somewhat large space.
Remember that antiques look great with big
healthy plants around them too. How many times have we walked into a room
cluttered with antiques, and memorabilia from
the past and felt a dark, heavy, dusty kind of
feeling? Well, if your most precious antiques
are nicely interspersed instead, in a well-lit
spacious area, with some equally exotic and
expensive, and long-lasting plants, the room
will feel much younger and airier, even though
most of the furniture contained within it is
hundreds or thousands years old. You will be
surprised at how carefully positioned plants
will also bring to the forefront the latest and
most precious antique you may have bought.
It is important to decide in an advance what
type of look and ambience you would like to
create
with the antique furniture you are about to
purchase. Would you like to put together a
special kind of theme? For example, you could
focus on nautical equipment, and antique objects
related to seafaring, including lanterns, old
ropes, and chests used to cross the seas by ship
in full steam! Or you could focus on creating a
Chinese, Vietnamese, Balinese, Tibetan or Indian
theme with antique furniture pieces reminiscent
of these particular countries and their
traditions. Along with these, you can add some
decorative antiquarian wall hangings.
For example, the Tibetans have created beautiful wall hangings
known as Tankas with very delicate hand-painted
designs, originally meant for the walls of their
temples, and made by talented and well-trained
monks. Although a bit more difficult to
purchase directly in Malta, these can be found
for sale easily nowadays in the international
market over the internet, and fit in very nicely
with any antiques from the East. The Chinese
also have some amazing traditional wall
paintings and calligraphy art. A Persian rug
properly hung on the appropriate wall, also adds
a wonderfully warm, wintry and lavish effect.
On the other hand a delicate, Asian or Renaissance looking screen
would add an elegant effect in a room full of
carefully selected antiques of your preference.
It may also be a good idea to use this screen to
highlight a very special piece of furniture,
which you especially treasure and which you
would like to place in one of the most prominent
areas of your home.
Finally, it is especially essential to keep in
mind, that each individual piece of antique
furniture should be considered extremely
precious, not merely because of its high price, but because you have
selected it to reflect your own unique style and
taste, adding a modern, unconventional, and
personal element to your living space, and
because of the great joy it shall bring to you
and your household members as its fortunate
owners, for many, many years to come.
Erika Brincat © 20 September 2004
Written for Exclusive Magazine
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A Company Going Green
(Construction Supplement with the Malta Today
January 2005)
TipTopCommercial, a group of companies, including
several Tip Top Sports shops, Tip Top
Electronics, Aw! Tribu Bamboo Arts and Crafts
and Index Furniture have a strong environmental
policy, which they hope will help to set an
example and mobilize other companies to follow
suit in their eco-friendly ways.
Solar Powered
One of TipTopCommercial’s main business
headquarters and home to their sports shop in
Fgura has had 32 photovoltaic cells (solar
panels) at 2.5 kw, installed almost 3 years ago.
They have received the required permit from MEPA
about six months ago, and are now fully
functioning despite the early winter months.
The solar photovoltaic grid connected system
was done in collaboration with the Department of
Electrical Power and Control Engineering, within
the Faculty of Engineering, at the University of
Malta. It forms part of the research that has
been carried out on such systems within the last
10 years at the department. A part from reducing
electricity consumption, it also aims to promote
solar energy, which is free from emissions. The
system generates enough electricity to meet the
consumption of the shopping area beneath. When
the electricity generated by the solar system is
greater than the current consumption during the
summer months, the extra energy is automatically
diverted to supply other parts of the building.
Since it is a grid connected PV system it has
the possibility to feedback energy into the
electricity grid in case of excess. The cells
are regulated at different angles depending on
whether it is the summer or winter season, and
they have been placed prominently yet
aesthetically in a Southern direction, since it
is common knowledge that the sun rises in the
East and sets in the West, and therefore the
South is the direction that receives the longest
exposure.
Biodiesel-fuelled Transportation Vans
Four of TipTop’s delivery and transportation vans
have been running on Biodiesel for over a year
now. Biodiesel is the name of clean burning
alternative fuel produced from domestic,
renewable resources. It contains no petroleum
and can be used in compression-ignition (diesel)
engines with little or no modifications.
Biodiesel is better for the environment because
it is made from renewable resources and has
lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It
is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as
fast as sugar. More importantly is also relieves
the environment from the used cooking oils,
which are collected from the waste stream and
remanufactured to biodiesel, thus relieving the
environment from this waste material.
It helps to:
Improve the quality of our air,
Expand our domestic economy
And reduce our contribution to global warming
And is therefore the cleaner choice for clean air
and very useful and practical if you would like
to avoid further ‘Black Smoke’ charges, Malta’s
latest trend in D.I.Y. pollution regulations!
Other Alternatives
Ten years ago Aw Tribu introduced a series of
colourful ‘cotton bags’ with a water-soluble
colour, which were given to their customers as a
more eco-friendly alternative to plastic bags.
About four to five years ago they also started a
policy were they promised to give 5 mils to
anybody who brought in plastic bags of any brand
name in order to be re-used. 5 mils may sound
like a small amount, but all together they were
able to reuse a large number of bags that may
have otherwise been thrown away.
Nowadays these ‘cotton bags’ are being produced
in Thailand, and are adorned with beautiful and
colourful images straight from Mother Nature’s
infinite resources. These are given to customers
as an alternative to plastic bags, when people
purchase their products from Aw Tribu Arts &
Crafts.
As far back as twelve years ago, when perhaps
businesses were even less environmentally aware,
TipTop had introduced an advertising magazine
using recycled paper, and nowadays they continue
to be consistent advocates of the benefits and
various practical uses of recycled paper, and
are working on an educational cartoon for
students, to be printed using recycled paper,
and distributed around schools free of charge.
TipTopCommercial is now mainly run by its
co-owner Mr. David Xuereb, while his brother,
and co-owner Joseph Xuereb, is working on a
project in Thailand where he has acquired two
large plots of land, and is preparing to grow
bamboo on site which is to be sold both in
Thailand, as well as in Malta at very low
prices, directly to carpenters and furniture
manufacturers. This will enable Maltese
carpenters to source a very eco-friendly and
affordable raw material for the manufacture of
cost-effective furniture and the interior design
of Maltese homes, garden spaces and offices.
Bamboo is renowned as a long-living substitute
of wood, which is just as hardy, resilient,
malleable, and suitable for interior and
out-door decorating.
Mr. Joseph Xuereb also wishes to see Maltese
people using the bamboo to create slanting
diagonal roofing on their otherwise flat and
horizontal roof tops, in order to collect
rainwater for their own personal use and the
nourishment of their plants and roof-gardens; as
well as introduce more solar panels both for
personal use and the running of their
businesses. Now that the price of water &
electricity has almost doubled, such practices
are both practical and wise, and would enable us
to save on our water and electricity bills in
the long run.
More information on The Eco-Bamboo Project being
created in Thailand will follow shortly.
Erika Brincat for Malta Today 5/1/2006
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