The Singapore Food Festival is back, and it kicks off with STREAT 2018, the two-day culinary carnival taking place this Friday and Saturday (13 and 14 July). Come feast, take part in workshops and drink to your heart’s content at this giant party held at Empress Lawn. Bookings close on Thursday (12 July), but besides securing a place, you also get $15 worth of credits to spend when you do so. Still overwhelmed? We shortlist what you need to check out.
1. A Singapore-themed cocktail from the best bar in Asia
For the first time, Streat has a dedicated bar — and Asia’s best at that. What’s more, the Manhattan pop-up will appeal to every deal-hunting Singaporean with special prices of $15 nett. And to round it off, you’ll get to try the Singapura Nacional, which won the SG50 Toast to the Nation cocktail contest several years ago. Combining ingredients from two iconic cocktails, the Hotel Nacional Special and the Singapore Sling, this refreshing concoction of gin pineapple and lemon juices, apricot brandy, and grapefruit bitters is said to complement our tropical climate.
Want more? Level up your wine appreciation here! Or, take things one step further and learn how to make your own cocktails here!
2. Locally inspired cuisine by two chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants
Cr: ticketing.igo.events
Indulge in a ‘four-hand, five-course’ dining experience put together by the chefs of two Michelin-starred restaurants. Haikal Johari of Alma by Juan Amador and Emmanuel Stroobant of Saint Pierre give their take on a Singapore-inspired menu. It features beef short rib with everyone’s favourite poisonous fruit, buah keluak, and a flourless chocolate cake comprising hazelnut and dehydrated longan. Tickets are $60 and some seatings have sold out, so book them here soon.
3. The ‘It’ ingredient of the year in a delicious cake
Cr: ticketing.igo.events
Mandarin Hotel’s executive pastry chef Winnie Goh — the World Gourmet Summit’s Pastry Chef of the Year — demonstrates how to make a cake with a traditionally Peranakan ingredient now in vogue with the millennial crowd. Attendees will learn to work with the butterfly pea flower and make a 15-layer mille crepe cake the perfect shade of robin egg blue. Spread a light mousse made with coconut jelly and Inaya™ Chocolate and you have a dessert that will be the talk of the town.
Sign up for the class here.
4. Lessons on gut-friendly foods
Cr: chowhound.com
Make your own kimchi in this workshop by Mahato Commune, a multi-concept wellness store and organic grocer in Jalan Besar. Learn how to pick and pickle the right ingredients, and why these fermented foods are good for you.
Come and be proactive about probiotics in this class.
5. Tips on how to make a popular Singaporean snack
Cr: epochtimes.today
Cooking school Rainbow Lapis shares how to make this beloved Fujian snack in its ang ku kueh workshop. With pro tips, a special recipe and a crash course on its origin and evolution, you’ll learn everything there is to know about the ang ku kueh. The fun continues at home too! Participants can take home a pre-mixed flour set (mould included!) so they can apply what they learnt at home.
Join the fun here.
6. A culinary ‘trip’ to Japan
Cr: ticketing.igo.events
No time or money to go to Japan? Sign up for a workshop by Angus Chow, head chef of Boruto and World Gourmet Summit Chef of the Year, to make sakura hiyashi somen! The dish comprises sweet noodles made from cherry blossoms and accompanied by a perfectly cooked onsen egg and crunchy sakura ebi.
Learn from the master here.
7. Limited edition beers and great music
Cr: thepeakmagazine.com.sg
Grab a couple of limited edition beers (and waters, for the teetotalers among us), crafted by local brewery Trouble Brewing for the Singapore Food Festival’s 25th anniversary. Pop open a bottle as you listen to local acts serenade you!
8. Food galore
What food festival is complete without, well, food stalls? Some of your Chope favourites like Lolla, Morsels, and Gayatri Restaurant will be there, offering both traditional and modern takes on local classics.