Chili, Chocolate, China 5-Spice
Andrea Peresthu wears many hats: architect, urban and regional planner, coffee expert, and gourmand-turned-chef.
Nowadays, he dons the chef's white toque more often than anything else, as he is swamped with private fine-dining requests.
His culinary stage is in his impressive South Jakarta lifestyle cooking atelier, well equipped with state-of-the-art appliances and kitchenware.
Javanegra ("black coffee" in Spanish) is much more than a place to dine in style. It began as a boutique coffee roaster in July 2011. The name pays tribute to Java as one of the earliest coffee plantations and nowadays still a major coffee exporter.
"We collaborated with several local coffee growers and enthusiasts to promote sustainable coffee production and quality Indonesian coffee, for local consumption and export," said Reni Alhadad, Javanegra co-founder and partner.
"One of our important goals was reached as we opened the Javanegra Villa Boutique Coffee Bar in Taichung with our Taiwanese partners two years after. But along the way we have evolved, turning into a cooking atelier in July 2014.
"These days, our hands are full with the private gourmet dining demands from our ever-growing clientele."
On a Saturday in early February I joined one of Andrea's select cooking classes at the kitchen showroom of one premium French brand in Kemang. He was showing us how to prepare Five-spice Beef Shanks, his grandmother's recipe, but prepared in a more modern way.
"Sadly, I don't have the required Szechuan pepper so I will dry-roast pieces of cinnamon, whole cumin, cloves and star anise," Andrea said, setting the pan on the stove.
Soon enough, the melange of spices sizzled and smoked, releasing their tantalizing aromas.
Some water, crushed garlic, soya sauce and sweet soy kecap were added into the pan. "You can also use shiitake mushrooms for a more savory note," Andrea said.
As the mixture gently simmered, he seared the piece of beef shank with a chef's burner.
"If you don't have this useful gadget, you can just pan-fry the meat without oil to seal in the juices."
That done, he popped the prepared meat and the finished marinade into a special plastic bag and vacuum-sealed it. "Cook this for three hours at 100 degrees Celsius in a compact steam oven," he said.
The lady beside me told me she owned one of these beauties and was raring to try the recipe at home. Fine, but what if I didn't have such a fancy oven with an "intelligent cooking system?" Is there no other way but to braise the meat on a stovetop, or roast it in an oven?
To save time, Andrea showed us a pre-cooked beef shank. He reduced the accompanying marinade, then spooned it over the thinly-sliced morsels. I tried a piece. Delicious and slightly chewy, with more texture and flavor. Needless to say, it was difficult to stop taking another slice.
In between chopping, slicing and stirring, Andrea recounted his childhood experiences growing up in Jambi, Sumatra, where he was exposed very early to the delights of Padang food.
"I cooked my first Padang dish at the age of 7, but don't ask me exactly what it was as I don't remember," he chuckled.
His love of good, authentic Mediterranean food developed as he studied urbanism in Barcelona and Granada, Spain, in the late 1990s. The lovely tapas, with succulent sausages and meats, fresh seafood and fish of Spanish cuisine tickled and teased his palate all those years.
He tried to recreate the dishes in his home, to his and his friends' enjoyment.
Afterward Andrea moved to Holland for academia work at the Delft University of Technology. After visits to Venice, Barcelona and another 10 years of teaching, he returned to Indonesia.
His successful experiments in the kitchen amazed his friends so much they seriously pressured him to make more of his culinary passion. Thus was the Javanegra Gourmet Atelier born together with his energetic co-founders Reni Alhadad and Aphrodite Firia.
Andrea moved on to the next dish, a piquant relish. His family hailed from Palembang, famous for its Pempek Palembang, a savory fish cake made from fish and tapioca, normally served with noodles and kuah cuka , a dark, rich, sweet-sour sauce. With that in mind he whipped up a mighty spicy sambal using a handful of red chilies, garlic, ginger, salt, sugar, fresh coriander leaves and a dash of vinegar.
"You can also use some fresh lime instead of normal vinegar," Andrea explained, as he pureed the ingredients.
Each of us tasted the spicy, sweet, sour concoction.
"The Sriwijaya Kingdom based in Sumatra influenced much of Southeast Asian cuisine. So you will see that Palembang food is similar to Thai food. This sambal goes really well with fish," he added.
Someone asked him to demonstrate his famous Lava Chocolate Cake as she would try to serve the dish at a romantic candlelight dinner.
Andrea measured Belgian chocolate and French butter, melted both in a saucepan on the induction hob.
"A bain-marie [double boiler] will also do the trick, but it will be faster this way," Andrea said.
The chocolate was left to cool, and the fresh eggs, flour and icing sugar were all combined carefully, then poured into mini ramekins. "Put the ramekins in the oven for about 11 to 12 minutes. You'll have to watch them." The dessert should appear to be baked but when touched in the center, it should feel very soft.
The ramekins were taken out of the oven to rest for a minute.
We eagerly grabbed our teaspoons and dipped in, the molten chocolate "lava" gushing forth.
I drizzled some Palembang sambal onto my portion, just to see if its fiery chili-sweet-sour taste gave the chocolate a spicy kick, similar to the classic Mayan mole poblano sauce.
Not bad, actually, especially if you love both hot and sweet flavors.
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