DELI DELIGHTS AT STAN'S

Tired of the local ‘kopi tiam’ for breakfast on weekends? Fancy tea and scones without paying a bomb? Head over Stan’s at One Bangsar.

You can have your Nasi Lemak Kukus (RM25) with the whole works – ‘sambal sotong’, ‘minang’ chicken and ‘tok’ beef for brunch. The huge portion of fragrant steamed Bario rice is richly flavoured with coconut milk and herbs and accompaniments of dry-fried peanuts, ‘ikan bilis’ (anchovies), cucumber slices and a hard-boiled egg. The ‘sambal’ is a little sweet, just the way how a good nasi lemak ‘sambal’ should be while the brown squid makes nice chewy mouthfuls. I did not quite take to the tender beef shin in an aromatic and mildly spicy gravy though and prefer the ‘minang’ chicken with its tongue-searing spiciness.

We can also vouch for the chicken broth noodles (RM19) – my kid quaffed the tasty chicken broth and ate most of the noodles laden with sliced shiitake and chicken without any fuss.

Breakfast at Stan’s Deli is served from 9.30 am to 11.30 am daily. For a late lunch or afternoon tea, you can expect wraps, salads, rice, light bites and scrumptious sweets – a concise menu of Stan’s best offerings that are both hearty and satisfying.

Stan’s Deli is really the ‘al fresco’ or outdoor section of the restaurant owned and managed by Stephanie Saw. Here the casual, idyllic ambience overlooks out onto a lush green garden setting and tinkling water features which is perfect to lounge over a leisurely breakfast or weekend brunch, enjoy afternoon tête-à-tête with bosom buddies and unwind after work over drinks with colleagues.

Saw explained that Stan’s main menu showcases her own interpretations of Malay and Asian recipes. “I tend to experiment with various ingredients, textures and flavours of traditional recipes and tweak them a little. I am targeting diners that are won’t mind sampling familiar dishes with a slight twist from the ubiquitous version. It is meant to intrigue them and give the dishes my own distinctive touch.”

The three salads we sampled bore testimony to her experimental touches – crabmeat with banana flower salad (RM18), tenderloin and mint salad (RM33), and prawn and mango (RM22).

Despite its unusual dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, the salad of crabmeat, chopped banana flower, ‘daikon’ (Japanese radish), carrots and Spanish onions seemed rather heavy and uninspiring on the tastebuds. The interplay of flavours and textures also lacked punch.

The tenderloin salad fared slightly better with large, thin slices of seared tenderloin dressed in a piquant concoction of chopped galangal, mint, red chillies, shallots and lime juice and served on a bed of fresh romaine lettuce.

Stan’s prawn and mango salad is yet another departure from the usual ‘kerabu’-style salad. This creation consists of large, fresh prawns and shredded young mango tossed in a tangy aioli (a sauce made from garlic, egg and lemon juice). Thankfully the aioli dressing is light and zesty enough to pull the whole ensemble together.

For vegetarians, the assam pedas tofu mushroom noodles (RM16) will leave you replete. The robust dish of meehoon in mouth-watering sour and spicy gravy comes with soft Japanese tofu slices, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, pineapple slices and tomato wedges.

Rice lovers will relish the bario rice sets (RM23-RM26). A complete one-dish, well-balanced meal in itself, you can tuck into steamed bario rice with your choice of fiery ‘minang ‘chicken, ‘tok’ beef /chicken, or beef stew accompanied by ‘lengkuas’ squid (simmered in light coconut gravy flavoured with shallots, chilli, ginger and galangal), cucumber and long beans ‘ulam’.

If you like ‘roti jala’, then don’t miss sampling these lace pancakes with a choice of ‘minang’ chicken or lamb ‘maktom’ (RM10-RM12). It’s pure comfort food at its best! For something light, try the savoury prawn ‘botok’ (minced shrimp steamed in a spiced coconut mousse, RM12).

What’s afternoon tea without scones, profiteroles and cakes? Try the chocolate durian cake (RM12), a sinfully rich pairing that you either love or loathe. Personally I am not too enamoured although these two happen to be my favourite indulgences. Still, Saw told us lots of her customers can’t get enough of this decadent confection.

The banana cream pie (RM9) holds more appeal to me with the mini custard-filled shortcrust pastry shell brimming with slightly caramelized banana slices on top. Equally scrumptious was the dense butter marmalade cake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream (RM9). I can't wait to return and have the scones, cream and durian profiteroles, pineapple upside down cake, carrot walnut and chocolate fudge cake.

Local sweets such as ‘seri muka pulut hitam’ (RM7) or ‘bingka labu’ (RM7) will go down well with ‘tong shui’ (sweet dessert broth) or sweet ‘bubur’– just ask the staff what is available for the day.

Stan’s Assam&Garam which is the actual restaurant premises has a more upmarket and contemporary ambience that incorporates dark wood paneling and raw, unfinished concrete flooring. The walls are adorned with framed ethnic ‘pelikat’ fabrics and intricate pieces of wood carvings while plush Afghan carpets, trendy wood veneer lampshades and a soothing water feature in one corner complete the entire setting.

Service can be a little erratic at times, with Saw having to keep an eagle eye on overall proceedings. The staff is generally friendly and helpful but occasionally, diners may have to be patient and bear with their inadequate grasp of English.

The restaurant itself seats about 70 persons but combine with the deli area, the capacity goes up to about 120. Group bookings for private events are accepted with prior notice.

You may have to splurge just a bit more when dining at Stan’s but be assured the quality of ingredients and food portions will more than make up for it.

STAN’S DELI&BAR
STAN’S ASSAM&GARAM (pork-free)
One Bangsar
Jalan Ara
Bangsar
Kuala Lumpur
Tel:22826286

Business hours- Daily Breakfast 9.30 am to 11.30 am (deli only)
Lunch 12.00 noon to 2.30 pm (late lunch available at deli)
Tea 3.30 pm to 6.00 pm (deli only)
Dinner 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm

MMM...MOONCAKES!

Nutty delight...you can't go anymore traditional than this!

Chocolate in your mooncake anyone?

Mooncakes today have come a long way from its earliest version of baked pastries filled with plain sweet lotus paste. In recent years, the local mooncake market has been so lucrative that commercial bakeries and confectioneries outdo each other annually to grab a bigger slice of the market. So much so that sometimes the newer mooncake creations seem like a culinary experiment that has gone totally awry. A case of too many chefs spoiling the cake?

Here's a peep of the good and unusual ones available.

DYNASTY OF NEW FLAVOURS

Renaissance KL boasts of mooncakes with new, unusual fillings alongside the more classical variants. The innovative fillings incorporate fruity flavours such as durian, mango or orange paste, pandan lotus paste and chopped dried persimmon encased by snow skin or the chilled, unbaked skin. These are very light on the palate, with refreshing fruity-citrusy nuances coming through clearly.

There is also snow skin mooncake with green tea and walnut paste which strikes a chord with us for its mildly bitter aftertaste. Special mention must be made of the assorted baked nuts with ham mooncakes – the nutty filling is imbued with the delicate fragrance and appetizing tanginess of ‘san kat’ (wild lime) and ‘kat peng’ (candied lime pieces) in addition to the sublime flavour of Yunnan ham.

Dynasty's classic baked mooncakes are filled with either white lotus seed or pandan lotus seed paste that comes with single or double salted egg yolks. Prices range between RM7.00 and RM14.00 per piece. Specially designed elongated wooden gift boxes bearing the outlet’s Chinese fairy motif are available.

DYNASTY CHINESE RESTAURANT (non-halal)
Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel
Corner of Jalan Sultan Ismail & Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel - 2771 6773

TEA AND FLORAL INFUSIONS

Dim sum chef Leong Kok Meng rises to the occasion with two distinctive flavours that unmistakably exude the mooncake’s Chinese origins.

Sweet osmanthus or ‘kwai fah’, a native Chinese flower that is favoured for its heady peachy-floral scent is used to imbue the lotus paste filling. However, the sweet osmanthus flavour is barely discernible. It would have come across better if the lotus seed paste has been used on its own instead of being added with the salted egg yolk. Still I discovered a nice peachy aftertaste lingering in my throat after eating two wedges of the said mooncake.

Much loved by Chinese tea connoisseurs, the Pu Er tea is Chef Leong’s choice in the making of his smoked ‘Pu Er’ Mixed Nuts mooncake. These robust, earthy tea leaves and hickory wood chips lent their lovely aromas to the smoked assorted nut mixture for the mooncake filling.

Other varieties available include plain red bean paste in either baked or snow skin, pandan lotus with single yolk and snow skin mooncakes with lotus paste and salted egg yolk. Spring Garden’s mooncakes are priced from RM11.00++ onwards per piece depending on the variety.

SPRING GARDEN RESTAURANT (pork-free)
Crown Princess Kuala Lumpur
City Square Centre
Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
Tel – 2162 5522 ext 5511

FOREST BERRIES AND MORE

Hong Kong chef Chan Kong Tung and dim sum chef, Chan Teck Woo put their heads together to conjure up fillings made from forest berries, white lotus seed with ginseng, golden custard with sweet corn and cheese with honey and walnut amongst others.

Made from strawberries, raspberries, cranberries and cherries, the mooncakes' sweetness is tempered by the berries’ tangy nuances.

Less extreme but equally interesting variants include mini snow skin with green tea, coffee or chocolate-whiskey fillings. Otherwise, you can’t really go wrong with traditional temptations like the Hong Kong white lotus seed paste with single yolk and pandan lotus seed paste with single yolk mooncakes.

Prices for Tai Zi Heen’s mooncakes range between RM8.00++ and RM14.00++ per piece.

TAI ZI HEEN (pork-free)
Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur
Jalan Conlay
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel - 2170 8888 x 8200

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Received a comment recently about one of the restaurants I reviewed. The person felt that I had misled readers of the said article and claimed that the food was not authentic enough.

This commentator also disagreed with my comment about the fish dish...with all due respect, it's ok by me to critique my writing. I just don't feel it is justified to judge restaurants or dishes too harshly - yes, we pay to eat and have every right to eat decently. But passing remarks or discussing it with close friends and family are acceptable - after all people's memories are short and verbal negative comments are somewhat easier to forget. Not when one is doing food writing or reveiws though.

I soon learn quickly that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword when I started my food writing and restaurant review stint. Like the famous saying from Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibilities...", those of us who are entrusted to write about food realise we have to walk a fine line between being honest and upfront for the sake of being credible, and being diplomatic and allow room for some of the outlets' misdemenours.

While it is all too easy to be 100 percent judgemental and call a spade, a spade - those of us who are life long learners in food, cooking, buying, experimenting and eating - will emphathise with the chefs and owners also on the need to live up to the public's expectations. Constantly and consistently. Being human beings, we are imperfect so there will be times when things go wrong and dishes, service, ambience, etc. do not turn out the way one has anticipated or expected.

"Nobody ever open a restaurant to serve bad food" is another motto that I kept very much at heart. Which is so true isn't it? Opening a restaurant takes guts, money, passion, time, labour & 101 things that we won't know about if we are not in the business. Like they say, you won't know how I feel until you have walk a mile in my shoes. So I don't think I have the right to pass a death sentence on any restaurant or chef for that matter - the food may be mediocre or not up to scratch or not to my liking...I prefer a live and let live attitude cos someone else may find the food is acceptable, just to their preference or taste - there's just no accounting for different tastebuds or palates. One man's meat is another man's poison remember?

Now back to my reviews...I will comment on the food but really that remains my personal opinion. I try as much as possible to relate the personal aims, dreams and ambitions of the restaurants' chefs/owners on why they choose to be in the business or what drives them to create a particular dish. But what I refuse to do is to run them down or be downright harsh on them - just because I don't like the taste of the spaghetti or reckon the fish is not cooked properly? When it comes to food there's no wrong way or right way - just like wine tasting, go for what you like. It's all personal in the end so what's the point of being too serious about it? I prefer to let readers form their own opinion and draw their own conclusions.

Even with food creators, outlet owners and operators, I always tell them it's not my review that will draw in business for them. It's their own efforts, hard work, food quality, taste and consistency that will win people over. Now isn't that great food for thought? You tell me.

Wan tan mee with 'to-die-for' fresh prawn wan tans 

Ipoh famous 'hor fun' or flat rice noodles - in KL 

Great Balls For Trial...Cuttlefish balls & Stuffed Beancurd Rolls 

A TASTE OF TRADITION

Ipoh has always been famous for its silky smooth ‘hor fun’ (thin, flat rice noodles), crunchy beansprouts and delicious chicken rice. But if you are residing in KL and Selangor, why not enjoy these traditional Ipoh delights at Restoran Chan Thoong Kee?

This unassuming outlet serves possibly one of the best tasting Ipoh ‘hor fun’ that I have ever eaten. The smooth rice noodles can be enjoyed in flavourful, clear chicken broth with shredded chicken, sliced prawns and aromatic Chinese chives or dry-tossed with superior grade oyster sauce. Priced at RM4.00 (small) and RM5.00 (big) per bowl, I can assure it is worth every ringgit you pay for it.

What made the ‘kon lo’ noodles so distinctive is the use of superior grade oyster sauce that is imported directly from Hong Kong. Redolent with the enticing aroma of dried oysters, its slightly sweeter formulation complements the thin strips of bland rice noodles very well.

Savour the fresh prawn ‘wan tan’ (RM6.00 small, RM12.00 large) here - the dumplings consist of whole prawns that are springy to the bite, a testament to their superb freshness.

My parents and hubby always go for the ‘wan tan’ mee or egg noodles (RM5.00 small, RM6.00 big) in soup or tossed with dark soya sauce and fragrant oil. Their nice, mildly chewy texture do not have the usual chalky smell or taste of ‘kan sui’ (lye water).

Additional side dishes to sample include beancurd rolls (deep-fried rolls of beancurd sheets filled with fish paste, RM1.00 per piece) and cuttlefish balls (a mixture of fish paste and finely chopped dried cuttlefish, RM1.00 each).

If you are a 'farn toong' (a die-hard rice eater), the Hainanese chicken rice (RM4.00) is highly recommended. The rice is tasty and fragrant without being overly greasy and will leave you wanting more with the smooth, succulent steamed chicken.

Diners can also order ‘tong sui’ or sweet dessert broth from the adjacent Foong Wong Café to end their meal. Freshly made on a daily basis, the sweet broths available include ‘foo chok yee mai’ (barley with gingko and bean curd sheet), red bean soup, ‘tow foo far’ (soft beancurd dessert), sweet potato in sugar syrup and sea coconut with longans.

All the ‘tong sui’ broths are priced at RM1.80 per bowl except for the sea coconut with longans which is served at RM3.00 per bowl.

I truly believe the outlet’s consistency in maintaining its food quality and great value-for-money will continue to draw us and legions of their customers back.

Other Chan Thoong Kee branches are located at Berjaya Times Square and Jalan Hang Lekir, Kuala Lumpur.

RESTORAN CHAN THOONG KEE (non-halal)
No 11 Jalan Barat
Off Jalan Imbi
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 2142 2779

STEAKING IT OUT

Small cake that's big on taste - guaranteed to make you break out in song!

Scrumptious Charcoal-Grilled Lamb Steak - no sauce required

Char-grilled NZ Steak at its best!

It's hard to imagine a good steak is best savoured without sauce. But here's what Somerset Grill is advocating. The owner, Augustine Kow, who has spent his tertiary education years in New Zealand, is keen to educate local palates on the fine art of appreciating steaks on its own. Using prime cuts of NZ beef and lamb of course.

Kow's personal interest and inherent talent for cooking and eating probably stems from his Hainanese background. His father was a cook and used to work for Federal Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. But it was not until recently that Kow has the chance to pursue his interest in food - bread and butter issues took precedence as he focused his energy on building his jewellery and watch business.

With Somerset Grill, Kow is aiming to recapture the fond memories of great steaks that he had in NZ.

“When you pay to eat steak, we believe that is exactly what you should be getting,” said Kow firmly. “I want our customers to be able to taste the meat’s natural flavour, its juiciness, its tender and succulent texture, instead of steaks with sauces that disguise or overwhelm the meat’s taste and texture.”

Here the beef and lamb are marinated or ‘aged’ for a day or two with specially concocted herbs and spices, based on recipes that he has kept with him for the past 20 years. The chefs are trained for 3-6 months on the finer rudiments of using the charcoal grill to produce varying degrees of doneness for the steaks.

Opened about one and a half years ago, Somerset Grill is located along the busy main road leading into the residential area of Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

The outlet has a relaxed and friendly ambience about it. Several beautiful Tiffany ceiling and standing lamps make for interesting conversation pieces whilst you wait for your food to arrive. For the prices that you pay here, do not expect fine-dining service but the young wait staff is alert enough to ensure diners are promptly attended to.

Light eaters can opt for the Augus goulash (RM9.90), a hearty lamb stew that is cooked for over three hours with lots of root vegetables and fragrant herbs, or their delicious pies – Marco Polo (filled with chunky chicken, melted cheese, diced vegetables and spices, RM9.90), Sinbad’s Diet (fish, tuna and crabmeat pie) and Nemo’s Choice (salmon pie, RM9.90).

The best-selling items are the Somerset Rib Eye (RM33.90) and the Augus Lamb (RM21.90). When the steaks were served, we were already salivating after inhaling whiffs of the dishes’ mouth-watering aroma.

The Somerset Rib Eye is quite substantial. We had asked for it to be medium rare and it turned out exactly to specifications. Extremely tender and moist with a delicate briny after taste, the meat has a splendid smokiness in it. Don’t turn your nose up on the side dishes as the simple salad of shredded lettuce and cabbage actually complemented the steaks very well.

For those with a penchant for lamb, the Augus Lamb is splendid with its elegant peppery and slightly nutty nuances similar to that of a refined, well-marinated lamb ‘satay’. Other equally salubrious choices include the Somerset t-bone steak (RM38.90), Somerset sirloin (RM32.90), Somerset Bay char-grilled salmon (RM23.90) and Somerset Valley spring chicken (RM18.90).

Dessert mostly consists of cakes in singular servings. The Opera cake (RM8.90) is irresistible with layers of coffee almond cream alternating with Japonais biscuit mix whilst the Chocolate Exotica (RM9.90) is an indulgent treat of French chocolate mousse and hazelnut paste with a soft-centred filling of chocolate praline.

If you prefer something slightly fruity, sample the Oona Apple Pie (RM6.90), a Swiss apple pie with cinnamon and raisins or the Apple Cheese Cake (RM9.90), a rich cream cheese cake with apple dices.

The remaining sweet treats include Cappuccino Corretto (RM8.90), Hungarian Walnut (RM7.90), Felchlin Caramel (RM9.90), Mocha Glory (RM6.90) and Mississippi Mud Brownie (RM6.50).

Somerset Grill definitely makes the cut if you want to enjoy a good steak and other Western-style dishes without having to spend a fortune.

SOMERSET GRILL (pork-free)
No 10 Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 7722 1678

Business hours – daily 11 am to 3 pm; 6 pm to 11 pm

THAI THAT BINDS

Unusual but nice...deep-fried chicken with herbs make superb mouthfuls

Som Tam - green papaya salad to whet the appetite

Tantalising Deep-fried Catfish with Mango Salad

Meet Ahmad Rasly Hj Osman and his wife, Sandy who are determined to offer genuine and affordable Thai food in Kuala Lumpur.

Having worked in Bangkok for the past six years, the couple were often told by the many Malaysian friends who visited them that it is virtually impossible to find delicious yet reasonably priced Thai dishes back home. So upon their return, Rasly decided to open Baan Khun Li (‘baan’ means house, ‘Khun’ is the Thai honorific for ‘Mr’ and ‘Li’ as in Rasly) which translate into 'House of Mr Li'.

The outlet itself is simply decorated with a Thai statuette at the main door, and some dark wood accents and Thai woven fabric hangings on its walls. Warm mood lighting that lends the place a cosy feel.

Most of the outlet's specialties are culled from Sandy's collection of recipes with the balance coming from their chef.

You must order the green papaya salad (RM8) as a starter to whet the appetite with its tantalizing tartness.

Then go for the tom yam seafood (RM14-small, RM22-large) which is guaranteed to bring a tear or two to your eyes and awaken your palate with its robust spicy and sour nuances. It also has a lovely creamy finishing from the addition of coconut milk whilst squid, prawns, sliced fish, oyster and button mushroom complete this mouth-watering concoction.

If you are looking for something different, deep-fried catfish with mango salad (RM12) is a good bet. The outlet uses fresh catfish bought from the Sunday Thai market in Petaling Jaya (outside the Siamese Buddhist Temple) specially to make this dish. A painstaking dish to produce, we were told the catfish needs to boiled, deboned and flaked before it is deep-fried over high heat with dried chilli. As a result, the fish flakes turn out nice and crispy and are served with roasted peanuts and a bowl of salty, spicy and tangy mango salad. Yummy!

Other enjoyable dishes include deep-fried seabass with Thai chilli sauce (RM25), fried chicken and herbs (RM10), Massaman bef curry (RM15) and steamed seabass with garlic and chilli (RM25).

The Massaman beef curry here is light and creamy with tender and chunky beef pieces, potatoes and ground peanuts. Although the fried chicken with herbs was a little nondescript at first, we eventually found that it tasted quite superb when both the chicken and the mixture of deep-fried garlic slices, strands of tiny green peppercorns, shredded ginger, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves are eaten together.

Desserts were sold out the evening we went to Baan Khun Li but I found they usually serve Thai cendol and ‘tab tim krob’ or chilled waterchesnuts dices in coconut milk at RM5 each.

So now what are you waiting for? Go on, head over to Mr Li’s house for a real Thai home-cooked meal.

The outlet can seat up to 60 persons inside and 40 persons outside at the patio area.

BAAN KHUN LI (pork-free)
Lot 13A Perdana The Place
No 1 Jalan PJU 8/5G
Bandar Damansara Perdana
47820 Petaling Jaya

Tel: 7727 1780 / 7726 2713

Business hours – Monday-Saturday 12 noon to 3 pm; 6 pm to 10 pm

Cherry Trifle

Ultimate treat of Cherry Black Forest Cake

Dainty tartlets with Bing & Rainier cherries

(photo below)

Cherry Chocolate Mousse Cake

CHERRY-O!

Many Malaysians balk at the mere mention of cherries because they mistook the flaming red maraschino or glaced cherries for the real thing.

I can assure you fresh cherries taste nothing like the ones preserved in the bitter-sweet liqueur. Instead, they are plump, juicy and delightfully sweet - one of the best summer fruits that we are now lucky enough to savour with the advent of modern-day logistics.

My girlfriend who reps for the Washington State Agricultural Marketing Board, often clues me in on when the cherry season arrives and this year, she even asked if I'd like to buy a box of fresh cherries for my own enjoyment. Despite the rather steep price, I was not to be deterred and agreed immediately to order a box.

These diamond of fruits are worth every single sen I paid for them. Of course, I was unable to gorge a 9kg box of cherries in a sitting so I played fairy godmother and distributed the lovely fruits around to family and friends.

My only regret was not taking a shot or two of these superb fruits whilst I had them - my girlfriend and I shared a box of Bing and a box of Rainier between us so we had the best of both cherries so to speak! Nevertheless, they were truly out of this world...even my other half who usually refuses to eat fruits, polished off more than his fair share of cherries! My kid loves them too...

The Bing cherries with their shiny, mahogany skin and lightly tart sweetness were just too good for words. They turned out to be more sturdy despite my not-so-careful handling so they lasted a wee bit longer than the delicate Rainier cherries. Of the two, the latter was sweeter with a delicate crunch. But they bruise easily and ripen incredibly quickly so we really had to raced against time to finish the whole lot!

Sweet cherries were first discovered in Asia Minor (present day Turkey). Dispersed throughout prehistoric Europe, cherries were brought to America by ship in 1629 and modern sweet cherry growing began in the Northwest of the United States of America when Henderson Lewelling transported nursery stock from Iowa to Western Oregon.

Did you know that the ‘Bing’ variety was named after one of Lewelling's Chinese workmen? It was on this farm that the cherry tree was first developed from seeds in 1875.

It takes a new tree nearly 10 years to reach maturity. The crop volume and quality are susceptible to many factors – fluctuating temperatures are a constant threat. New buds form on the tree following harvest and remain dormant for the next season. Frost is hazardous to these delicate buds and if the temperature drops to ‘bud-kill threshold’, cherry growers have to use wind machines, orchard heaters and overhead sprinklers to ‘warm’ bud temperatures.

Each spring, thousands of bees are specially brought in by the cherry growers to their orchards to ensure the cherry blossoms are pollinated or else the blooms will not turn into fruits. It generally takes about 65 days to grow the Northwest Cherries to full maturity.

At harvesting stage, rain can be a real nightmare as temperature, wind speed, amount and duration of rainfall can cause the cherries to absorb too much water and burst! To minimize damage, the cherry growers will rely on wind machines to dry the cherry trees. Some orchard owners even go to the extent of hiring helicopters to hover at specific heights to blow the rain water off the fruits!

The cherries are allowed to ripen completely on the trees before they are handpicked at the peak of their freshness and flavour. Harvesting usually occurs between mid-June and mid-August.

Since the fruits are highly perishable, the cherries are manually collected in shallow bins to minimize bruising and kept covered to prevent the stems from drying. The cherries are then ‘hydrocooled’ – a practice that douses the cherries with ice-cold water when they arrive at the packing house and as they move through packing lines. Industry-developed tools for measuring cherry firmness and sugar content help ensure quality before the cherries are packed in sturdy cardboard boxes with polyliners to maintain a high humidity level and a low level of oxygen surrounding the fruit.

The golden-skinned ‘Rainier’ cherries with pinkish-red blush which come from the crossing of two dark sweet varieties, the ‘Bing’ and the ‘Van’, are especially fragile, requiring ten times the labour per acre to harvest compared to dark cherries.

Unlike the dark sweet cherries that need only harvesting once, the ‘Rainier’ cherry tree may be harvested as many as eight times as the delicate cherries do not ripen uniformly. They also require specially designed, foam-lined picking containers to hold the fruits to reduce impact and handling, thus maintaining their fine texture, clear-coloured flesh and delicate, sweet flavour.

A good source of fibre, Vitamin C and essential minerals such as calcium and potassium, cherries are low in calories and fat. They are also sodium- and cholesterol-free and relatively high in anthocyanins, a family of antioxidants that have the ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Although nothing beats the wonderful taste of fresh cherries, these delightful fruits are remarkably versatile and can be used for a wide variety of desserts.

Some of the cherry desserts that we have sampled at the Sheraton Imperial KL included cherry blackforest cake, cherry trifle, cherry butter cake, cherry cheesecake, cherry crumble, cherry mousse, cherry rice pudding, cherry roulade, walnut cherry cake, cherry tartlets, cherry clafoutis, cherry crêpes and cherry cheese strudel amongst others.

The cherry blackforest cake is top notch – the dark, rich chocolate cake is the perfect foil for the Bing cherries. Quite similar to this is the cherry roulade, miniature chocolate Swiss rolls of cream and cherry halves.

We also liked the cherry strudel with its layers of light, airy puff pastry filled with creamy ricotta cheese, mildly sweet custard and cherry halves.

Don’t make the mistake of eating the cherry butter cake on its own. It can be rather dry and unimpressive of its own. Add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream to it and you'd be amazed how fabulous it can taste! Ever had a cherry brûlée before? If not, you must try this luscious dessert that has fresh, plump cherries and ricotta cheese in it. Another outstanding creation is the walnut cherry cake that combined the fabulous Rainier cherries with the distinctive flavour of chopped walnuts.

Besides these desserts, you can enjoy fresh cherries with ice-cream and yoghurt, or blend them with milk and cream to make cherry ice-cream, or use them in your favourite salads. There is really no limit to what you can do with these splendid fruits. If you like more information on cherries or tips and recipes, visit www.nwcherries.com. Cherry-o everyone!