Unique Food Trails: Loh Lik Peng recommends rustic adventures in Italy
Recollect "ski holiday" and the nutrient images usually conjured upward are those of carb-laden plates and hearty stews.
Only for hotelier and restaurateur Loh Lik Peng, the gastronomic highlight of a recent ski holiday with his family in the Dolomites of northern Italy was, rather surprisingly, seafood.
The dishes served at the humble family-run Rifugio Emilio Comici ("rifugio" ways "refuge" or "shelter" in Italian) in Val Gardena were and so delicious that Loh and his family – wife Min Lee and kids Conor, seven, and Cassidy, 3 – returned for another two meals during their stay.
"Alive lobsters, scallops, oysters, everything was really good!," gushed Loh. "They had some of the all-time monkfish I've ever had. I was amazed to find information technology in the mountains. They told me that produce was all local and from the nearby Venice coastline."
FEASTING (AND COOKING) IN VAL GARDENA
The Lohs tried seafood salads with generous portions of octopus, prawns and lobsters, and tasty pastas cooked with lobster and roasted porcini mushrooms. The fresh and lightly-seasoned monkfish fillets were, in Loh'due south opinion, cooked to perfection, while the lemon sole, pan-fried in butter and served bone-in, was also first-class.
"It was elementary grooming just clearly washed by a very skilled kitchen team," Loh told CNA Luxury.
Reservations are recommended or be prepared to expect very patiently for a table.
Val Gardena is a valley located in the Dolomites, a stunning UNESCO World Heritage mountain range in the northern Italian Alps. Information technology has iii villages – Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva Val Gardena – and besides Italian and German, the inhabitants also speak Ladin, a language older than Italian.
Culinary gems like Emilio Comici were gleaned from locals, namely the ski instructors. "It is manifestly quite a legend among them," said Loh. "Other nutrient recommendations were from Irish gaelic friends who regularly ski here. The rest is a mixture of research and taking a chance on a place that looks decent."
Some other recommendation: Rifugio Fodom, where, later on a morning of skiing, Loh ejoyed a mammoth slab of medium sirloin – "It must have been about 400 grams!" – and a regional speciality of sausage patty, mixed mushroom, polenta, and a slice of grilled local hard cheese.
Every bit the Lohs commonly travel with their young children, they prefer apartments with kitchen facilities and nearby supermarkets. On this trip, the produce at their local supermarket became the inspiration for home-cooked meals every bit dad discovered very reasonably priced rabbit meat, cheeses and Parma ham.
"It was but €15 to €xx (Southward$23 to S$30) per meal to feed a family of four heartily!" said Loh, who whipped up a boring-cooked rabbit casserole with white sauce made from €x wine. Leftovers were turned into a delicious fettucine dish the next 24-hour interval.
He also made a irksome-cooked beef ragu, sneaking in plenty of vegetables such every bit carrots, celery and courgette for the kids, besides as a huge pot of ossobuco cooked in a red wine and tomato stew with heaps of garlic, onion, celery and carrots.
'SERIOUSLY TASTY' VERONA
Verona was another delightful identify for Loh, where there were so many good restaurants to try that he did not attempt to melt at all. One was Osteria Casa Vino, teeming with locals, and home to the best pasta Loh ate on the trip: Fresh tagliolini tossed with cuttlefish, prawn and aromatic herbed crispy breadcrumbs.
At Michelin Plate Trattoria I Masenini, a cosy traditional trattoria near the Castelvecchio castle, he had a local speciality, a "very succulent" bigoli pasta with sardines and crispy breadcrumbs followed by crispy suckling squealer. Lee had her favourite tartare and a lamb shank, which Loh described equally "seriously tasty".
When it comes to repast choices, Loh says that his wife usually leaves the conclusion to him. "For her, eating is more of a office, only for me it is a unlike matter," said Loh. "She is quite happy to indulge me although in some ways, she'southward the more adventurous i as she eats nearly everything. She fifty-fifty ate ocean worms in Korea, which I don't even desire to try!"
The couple had a appointment night in Verona at 1-Michelin star Ristorante Il Desco, a 30-yr-old fable on the Verona dining scene, said Loh, who loved the 14th-century dining room and the excellent repast service. "The tasting menu was creative with great produce and clever touches. Scampi tempura and creamy sweet staff of life were amongst my favourite dishes."
As papa and mama had their food thrills, travel troopers Conor and Cassidy were happy to tuck into their favourite pizzas and carbonara pasta at every meal.
For Loh, exploring the unknown is role of the fun when unearthing smashing eats.
"It does non have to be fine dining considering I often travel with the kiddos, but it needs to be tasty and nutritious," he said. "I retrieve it's just making the effort to notice good eating places wherever you get."
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/loh-lik-peng-and-his-epicurean-discoveries-in-italy-239001
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