TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Matt Basile was still wearing his apron when he supervised dozen of cooks in the main kitchen of Bacco restaurant, Lotte Shopping Avenue, Jalan Professor Dr Satrio, South Jakarta. The Toronto’s ‘king’ of street food skillfully cooked his signature distinctive dish of his North American folk for journalists and Bacco’s special guests.
Among the cooks that helped Matt, there was 11-year-old Latrevo, a participant of Junior Masterchef Indonesia. Revo voluntarily helped Matt in the kitchen.
“For me, food is more than merely a joy. Food is a challenge to create a concept of cooking new dishes,” said Matt who then invited the guests to try on five served menu plus wishkey made by The Balvenie.
In his country of origin, Toronto, Canada, Matt is well-known for opening a food truck called Fidel Gastro. Matt said that he loves his family, especially grand dad and grandma. For Matt, the family menu is the best dish that can be served in the fine dining restaurant.
Matt served Salad Octopus with Fennel and Blood Orange as the appetizer. Before serving the salad, waitress helped put on the napkin on the guests laps and helped correcting the position of the eating utensils.
The broth having white liquid texture poured in was very sour. There was a small octopus pot on the center of the salad as the main dish. The octopus was cooked using sweet seasoning, and then roasted that resulted in a satay-like texture when it was chewed. Parsley leaves and sesame seeds were sprinkled on top of the octopus.
The dish also had blood orange that similar to Bali orange but with more tender and red pulps.
“For the sauce, we use yoghurt instead of mayonnaise,” Matt revealed his secret while demonstrating his cooking mastery to the guests.
The companion, a wishkey from the Balvenie, was 21 years old with strong wooden odor. Once touched the tongue, the whiskey left a hot and sweet taste on our taste bud. The wishkey was served with ice cubes in a small glass so that the guests can feel the warming effect of the drink.
After the salad, Matt serves the second mouthwatering appetizer called Salsa Verde Grilled Chicken Hearts. This dish is made from the roasted chicken heart that served with peanut sauce, just like satay. They also added roasted lemons. The dish has attractive appearance but the texture tasted like it was not perfectly grilled. The lemon juice did not bring anything out of the dish.
The peanut sauce scored a hit when the 21-year old Bavenie Doublewood was served. It has stronger hot-and-sweet taste than the firstly served Balvenie but it less hot on the tongue.
The time came for three signature dishes. The first was Lamb Zoupa and Bread, a lamb soup served with bread.
“The soup is served to our big family when we are gathering. My family, especially my grandma and my mother, make this soup in a huge portion, then share it to all family members,” Matt recalled.
In the soup, the lamb is mashed with potatoe and cheese. It tasted like chewing mashed potato with broth. It was not too salty or salty, but the aroma of potato was very strong.
There are three optional menu. The first was Salt and Vinegar Prawns with Pickled Cipolini Onions and Trinity sauce. The prawn was the champ with Indonesian-friendly tomato sauce. Matt had mixed some prawn broth into the sauce to make it liquid.
The second optional menu was Morrocon Beef Tenderloin with Marian Sauce and Pistachios with Edamame Mash. This is a different style of steak. The meat was formed into cylinder instead of regular square shape. It was served with sweet Italian mushroom sauce called marinara. It tasted a bit sour.
The third menu was vegetarian menu called Roasted Spicy Cauliflower with Yoghurt and Fennel Pollen. As the name implied, it was made of cauliflower roasted with yoghurt and sunflower pollens. It was not too salty and the roasted cauliflower preserved its freshness.
As sweet dessert, Matt presented ‘Elvis in the Jar’ which was a rum French Toast poured with mapleplus peanut cream, margarine, and banana. The texture was so soft like mousse. It melted in the mouth and flowed into the throat. One jar just not enough.
CHETA NILAWATY
