Looks like dinner might get a little stuffy.
As the day draws near, the owners of restaurants are slapping on exorbitant prices, the waiters are attempting to fold their napkins into something that remotely resembles a heart, and the chefs are busy trying to incorporate red and chocolate into every course of their Valentine’s set men. The thing that perked my curiousity though, is why did the kitchens start importing copious amounts of oysters and foie gras every Valentine’s? What Valentine food trends struck the restaurants and stayed for good?
French Food
First off, it’s not “foh-ye grass”, it’s “fwa-gra”. The waiters probably have a good time hearing people pronounce “jus” and “en papillote” off the menu, simply because French food just storms through restaurants during the Valentine’s period, and quite a number of Singaporeans aren’t too fluent in their French.
Either some bizarre chef made a connection between how Paris is the city of love, and hence, the food is romantic as well, or Cupid shot all the chefs in their behind as well. Lo and behold, restaurants all started serving snails as appetizers for Valentine’s.
P.S: ‘Jus’, which is pronounce “ju”, refers to a light sauce based from the natural juices/drippings of a protein in a dish, while “ahn-poppy-yote” is the French technique of cooking in parchment paper.
En Papillote. Usually done with fish, aromatics such as lemongrass and garlic are cooked along in it, so when you open the 'parcel' you get a whiff of heaven.
Aphrodisiacs
On the other hand, some restaurants prefer the friskier theme as compared to the romance theme. Aphrodisiacs, which enlists a whole myriad of funky dishes always prove to be something intriguing both while consuming it, and after. Personally, I always wondered if it actually had a distinct effect on you, or whether guys just use their dinner as an excuse for later on in the night.
A squeeze of lemon and a dash of tabasco sauce, and this creates a mouthful of zingy heaven.
Often spread with some garlic and herb butter, these tasty morsels might scare many away, but taste it once and you'll never run from it again.
If you’re still confused and have been searching up ‘Aphrodisiac’ on Google, don’t bother because the scientists are probably going to confound you with elaborate terms about libido, testosterone and dopamine. To put it simply, it gets you all hot-blooded and your hormones are supposed to start raging about like an 18 year old again.
Logically so, many ‘manly’ foods have been linked and tagged as aphrodisiacs. This has caused queer street vendors all across the globe to hawk their aesthetically off-putting food whilst giving you a thumbs-up and attempting to mimic a stallion in it’s prime. By ‘manly’, it’s more often than not just food that would sound disgusting to most people such as Balut(duck embryo), Casu Marzu(rotting cheese), and about 50 different kinds of animal penises. Essentially, any disturbing foods or edible phallic items.
Of course, I deviate; restaurants don’t go round serving up penises on Valentine’s Day, but watch this space if you’re intrigued about more grotesque foods as I’ve been feeling a little impish of sorts recently.
Duck
One of the fattiest meats around, what other day to indulge then Valentine's?
With a lovely succulent of fat right under the skin, this is the ultimate indulgence. Pan seared duck breast and duck confit are on half the Valentine sets in restaurants, with it being both a favourite of both the ladies and the gentlemen. The duck fat is possibly the most flavourful fat there is, and underneath the down of every duck lies plenty of that.
Pan seared duck breast with cherry sauce.
Not even requiring any oil to cook most of the time, the duck fat is rendered from the heat, causing the duck to cook in it’s own fat (confit). Doubt the flavour? Try cooking some duck next time, and reserving the rendered fat for some french fries or roasted potatoes next time.
For those heading out for a Valentine’s dinner tonight, watch out for the menu and you’ll see what I mean! For the others… your turn will come soon.
Credits to Joff Lee, Andersen Ross, Jean-Blaise Hall, Tilna & Geir, Steve Smith and Gettyimages for the pictures!
