If you want to learn about wine tasting but don’t know where to start, watch our beginner’s guide with Jorald Julie, sommelier at Constance Hotels Experience.
Tag Archives: fine dining
Hublot watches inspire culinary creativity at Blue Penny Café
- Hublot and Constance – elegance comes naturally
In November, exclusive Swiss watchmaker Hublot and celebrity restaurant Blue Penny Café at Constance Belle Mare Plage combined their talents to create a prestigious event.
Invited guests had the pleasure to discover the latest creations of the prestigious Swiss group and try on the fantastic watches made by the Hublot craftsmen.
Blue Penny Café chef Frederic Goisset, executive chef Dominique Grel and food and beverage Frederic Gille created an incredible menu with wine pairing, linking the worlds of ‘haute cuisine’ and ‘haute horlogerie’.
Creative appetisers
Big bang Tutti Frutti and canapes
During the opening cocktail, exclusively created appetisers were presented in jewelry showcases, along with a Hublot watch:
- Caviar (an oyster in green apple jelly, with a cream of wasabi, caviar and shiso)
- Big bang Tutti frutti (Foie gras and agar of organic vegetable, spiced crumble)
- Vendôme (bread crouton, shrimp tartar, coconut jelly, red capsicum tapenade)
- Yacht club Monaco (Scallop mousse, heart of palmtree, scallop carpaccio)
The menu
The dinner was splendid… with names evoking Hublot watches.
Great team work between kitchen, service and sommellerie
- GMT A canneloni of tomato and local crab, spiced syrup.
Served with Domaine des Dieux, Sauvignon Blanc 2009, South Africa
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- Vibration: Duck foie gras preserved with Port jelly, ginger-flavoured pineapple chutney, young sprouts.
Served with Alsace, Pinot Gris ‘Cuvée Albert’, Albert Mann 2009, France
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- Submarine: Back of pan-seared codfish lemon and shellfish condiment with smoked herring row.
Served with Châteauneuf du Pape “La Crau” – Domaine du vieux télégraphe 2005, France
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Haute cuisine meets haute horlogerie
- Amplitude: Lamb fillet in a crust of mild chili, the chop in a spicy kofta, pimientodel piquillo stuffed with potato chutney, a jus flavoured with Pata Negra ham.
Served with Vriesenhof Pinot Noir 2003, South Africa
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- Carat: Creamy poppy and raspberry dessert, raspberry sherbet.
Served with Rhum Nation Demerarra 31 years old
Before dessert, guests were served the most exclusive cheeses in Switzerland including an incredible Gruyère made by Hublot CEO Mr Biver, that he wished to share with guests at this remarkable evening.
The event was a wonderful occasion for invited guests to discover or re-discover Blue Penny Café, the temple of food and wine in Mauritius.
Recipe: Sliced fillet of fish served raw with passionfruit marinade
Looking for a tasty appetiser to add a bit of pazazz to a festive dinner? Try this delicious and easy to make fish dish to bring a taste of the Maldives to your home this Christmas.
- Fresh fish
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 500g clean fillet of fresh white fish (firm flesh)
- 1 soup spoon of fresh passionfruit per person (scoop out the pulp and seeds from the shell)
- 20cl good extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 1 small lime
- chopped herbs to taste (mint, basil, flat parsley, coriander, chives)
- small onion or shallot, thinly chopped
- salt flakes and freshly ground pepper
- chopped chilli to taste
1. Brush four flat plates with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.
2. Cut the fish fillet into slices of approximately 3mm thick (don’t slice it too thinly so you can enjoy texture of fish). Lay the slices evenly on the 4 plates as you go.
3. Leave the plates in the fridge, and then prepare the dressing.
4. In a bowl, place the passionfruit pulp and seeds. Add lemon juice and onion to taste.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Mix together with a whisk, and add the olive oil slowly to the mix.
7. Check seasoning.
8. Add the fresh herbs to the marinade.
9. Spread the marinade evenly on the fish and leave it to marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.
10. You can finish the dish with your choice of toppings such as small croutons, pomegranate, fresh tomato, toasted pine nuts, rocket, lambs lettuce… Enjoy!
Recipe: Tamarind compote
This delicious Mauritian tamarind sauce is the perfect accompaniment to pork and fish dishes. You can buy tamarind paste from specialist food shops and larger supermarkets.
Star anise
Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 600g tamarind paste
- 300g sugar
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 star anise
- 2 dried chillies
- 1 small stick cinnamon
1. Put the tamarind in a bowl. Add 80cl lukewarm water and crush the tamarind with your hand to remove the seeds. Sieve the tamarind with the water to extract the juice.
2. In a saucepan, mix the tamarind juice with sugar. Add fennel seeds, star anise, dried chilli and cinnamon stick. Simmer for 45 minutes on low heat, stirring often and checking that the compote doesn’t burn.
3. Remove all spices and refrigerate for up to a week.
You can purchase the Prince Maurice recipe book that contains this recipe and over 50 more from our online store.
The most decadent dessert in the Indian Ocean
Constance Halaveli is a thoroughly luxurious offering floating amidst the turquoise beauty of the North Ari Atoll in the Maldives.
Luxurious water villa
Designed in the shape of a dhoni, the traditional Maldivian boat, Halaveli is a place so restful you’ll feel the stress of daily life seeping away as you enjoy the knockout food, exquisite surroundings and exemplary personal service.
All of this combines to make it the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion or anniversary.
Our Pastry Team has been busy concocting a dessert to match such an event, and they’ve come up with this melt in your mouth creation – the most decadent dessert in the Indian Ocean.
It includes some truly indulgent ingredients:
Dessert decadence
- Crystal champagne
- blend of different Remi Martin cognacs, some vintages up to 100 year old
- Valrhona chocolates
- black winter truffles
- 24 carat gold leaf
- handmade sugar roses
The dessert can be ordered in advance for weddings, engagements, anniversaries or any other celebration you can think of. Visit our Constance Facebook photo album to see more photos of this delicious creation.
Sound tempting? Find out more about Constance Halaveli:
Top 5 most popular recipes on the Constance blog
Every Friday we publish a deliciously tempting recipe from the Constance kitchens, so you can serve up some 5-star style at home.
Chicken and prawn curry in coconut milk
Here’s a round-up of the 5 most popular recipes we’ve published over the last few months. Hunker down this weekend and try your hand at one of these tasty treats.
1. Chicken and prawn curry in coconut milk
This Mauritian chicken and prawn curry is served in a spicy coconut sauce.
2. Lemon compote with star anise and vanilla
Very easy to make – this makes the perfect partner for seafood or duck.
3. Pan-roasted sea bass with mild spices
Served on a salad of warm spinach, asparagus and berries with an almond-green chilli vinaigrette. Scrumptious.
Ultimate spare ribs
4. Ultimate spare ribs
Stuart Blair, the executive chef at Moofushi, has brought back from his native Australia a very special recipe for spare ribs.
5. Spicy chicken legs – Mauritius style
Super-tasty finger food – just remember to make plenty.
Don’t forget – every Friday we publish more Constance recipes. And if you’ve missed others, you’ll find them all in the Culinary section.