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2010-04-05
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Just came back from Epoch after haven’t been for the past eight month.Beef Bolognese Linguine was OK but the Bolognese eerily reminded me of a Ragù alla Bolognese I made a long while back following the Biba Caggiano’s recipe from Finecooking magazine. It was good but, blame it on my upbringing, I prefer a localized/asianized version of this sauce that is sweeter and tomato dominant than a more robust meaty taste in this Italian classic sauce. I don’t like it personally but I have no doubt the
Beef Bolognese Linguine was OK but the Bolognese eerily reminded me of a Ragù alla Bolognese I made a long while back following the Biba Caggiano’s recipe from Finecooking magazine. It was good but, blame it on my upbringing, I prefer a localized/asianized version of this sauce that is sweeter and tomato dominant than a more robust meaty taste in this Italian classic sauce. I don’t like it personally but I have no doubt the person who likes the ‘real’ thing will love this simple dish. BTW, linguine is a bit too soft to my liking but not to the level of pasta served in Chinese fast food chain.
Tracy Kwok, the 1st HK Grand Barista Champion, wasn’t there so I had Cappuccino from Regine, another barista from Epoch which also competed in HK GBC last year but, unfortunately, didn’t make it to the 2nd round due to some problem with the grinder.
The temp of the cappuccino (no cocoa powder) I had was at high end of the acceptable range, maybe a tiny bit higher than the range. The temp definitely exceeded the range that I like. Nevertheless, the thick velvety texture was kinda there and the milk sweetness was there too though very faintly. I wonder how much better it would be if it were served colder.
Impressed with the drink, I asked for ristretto… Yes, ristretto from staled Illy bean. I was surprised that it wasn’t that bad even the color of the crema seemed to be rather weak, ie light brown (the color temp in the picture was 'warmified" by the lighting source in the shop) and the thin cream associated with a staled bean. Layer of taste that ended with syrupy consistency that wowed me, following with a nice aftertaste that linger for a long while even after I left the café thought the nut aftertaste wasn’t too my liking. Nevertheless, the cup character was toward ‘murky’ and round liquid than clean and bright, the latter which I prefer. Can’t help much as this is staled bean, probably this is at its best as it can be. If you like a big and round espresso, this may be your thing.
Credit the good thing in ristretto to Regine though she said she won’t be participating in this year HK GBC which, I believe, is a loss to all of us to have a barista who care about the coffee drop off from the competition during the time the general public begins to aware more about coffee. I can only hope she changes her mind.
On a sad note, after my ristretto was served, it seemed there was a shift change and the new team of a more ‘macho’ guy came in while Regine seemed to start to pack up. The first thing this guy did was, god forbid, to crank up the grinder and start building a ‘mountain’ of ground Illy. See the ground left in the doser in the picture. To this barista, you are not supposed to build a sand castle at the beach out of the coffee ground but you are supposed to use your skill in making coffee 'drinkable' even the bean choice was not up to you. Sure, your latte art looked good but what's matter is the coffee in the cup. How awful this is to further ‘bastardize’ the staled Illy bean to the ridiculous state which should be ‘worse’ than the pre-ground coffee in the brick form that was just opened. Somehow, this reminded me of what barista at Caffe Habitu Taikoo did as a 'routine' first thing in the morning.
So, take a good look at the doser whether there is any ground coffee left before you attempt to order black coffee. Even better, listen the grinder before you order. If you hear a grinder hum anytime a drink is pulled, that’s a really really good sign. If you hear a long continuous hum of grinder all the way, save your hard earn $ to order black coffee somewhere for the safety of your taste bud…
張貼
