A plated chocolate kouign amann at Brasserie Cicou. Photo by Jeeves de Veyra for ABS-CBNnews.com
MANILA -- Several restaurants around the metro serve it but Brasserie CiCou’s kouign amann still stands above the rest.
That's because Chef Cyrille Soenen gives diners more than just puff pastry, but layers upon layers of sugar and butter.
Glazed variants include the original caramel, chocolate, coffee and lemon, the last having a really nice sour kick that people who enjoy sweet, salty and sour will surely enjoy.
Premium varieties include the Ensaymada with cheese shavings on top; the Peanut Butter with Jelly; the Blueberry Cheesecake, and, as a nod to the Philippines, the Chocnut.
At a recent gathering for food writers, Soenen also brought out new variations of the dessert that he made popular here.
Seemingly with twice the butter of a regular croissant, one can imagine how savory kouign amanns like Bacon and Cheese, Chorizo, Leeks and Goat Cheese, and even with Sundried Tomato and Basil taste like.
Although you can now by these to-die-for treats at KA by CiCou at the second floor of the SM Megamall Fashion Hall, if you order the kouign amann in the airy Brasserie CiCou restaurant there are four plated dessert choices from Chocolate Kouign Amann to Cinammon to S’mores.
My personal favorite is the L’Original Kouign Amann de CiCou which I first tried at a truffle degustacion from Cicou long ago -- caramel kouign amann with homemade salted ice cream.
You can enjoy after-dinner kouign amanns with digestifs like the Vieux Calvados Coquerel (apple) or the Bas Armagnac (pear), as well with Lavazza coffee.
But there is definitely more to Brasserie CiCou than the kouign amann.
Best of 2014
Dining in this Greenhills restaurant has always been a treat and its five-course Best of 2014 menu truly showcased Soenen's immutable talent. Fusing French classic cuisine and flavors with some eastern and even Filipino flair, the meal priced at P2,300++ was a tapestry of flavors, textures and experiences.
Before we started the meal, our group first enjoyed a platter of hors d'oeuvres that featured savory cheese profiteroles, pork rillettes en croute (pork salted and stewed in fat, tender, tasty and perfect with bread), salmon mousse, and a slice of pork head in aspic, otherwise known as head cheese.
With our appetites whetted, we segued perfectly to the first course, Smoked Prawn Raviolis, served in a covered dish. Lifting the cover freed smoke and inside were raviolis bathing in green pea foam.
As you cut into the raviolis, a double prawn consommé gushed forth and mixed with the foam. A bite revealed a perfectly cooked shrimp, highlighted with the barest hint of smoke and the richness of the sea from the consommé.
Other dish elements not only added to the dish’s aesthetic appeal but also to its overall balance and taste – such as pan-fried duck liver, as a counterpoint to texture and different type of creamy mouthfeel; goat cheese globes, for that punch of white and that acidic tang; and a sprinkling of black olive powder for that hint of bitterness.
Playful and brilliant describe the next course Fresh Pasta Stuffed with Bouef Bourguignon, which in itself was already ridiculously good. But Chef Cyrill pushed it up a notch by balancing it on top of a roasted bone marrow and beef broth was poured around the mushroom-looking dish tableside.
Miraculously, this dish didn’t feel too rich with the broth mixing with the parsley garlic butter cream sauce that helped temper it a bit, having salt table side with your teaspoon or more of velvety bone marrow was a treat as well.
The main course and many a person’s favorite dish of the year was the Lamb Shoulder Confit, melt-in-your-mouth lamb enjoyed with sauce grand veneur that had deep flavors of berry. The dish also had slices of pears cooked in syrup to add sweetness and texture, a creamy chestnut puree, red onion marmalade that added a hint of spice, and sautéed cabbage in lardons (bacon) for crunch.
For dessert, we were presented by Brasserie CiCou’s version of the Galette de Rois.
“A traditional dessert from France, it literally means King Cake. It is only available in France during the whole month of January, it is a dish that is shared with family and friends, and usually enjoyed with Champagne,” explained Anna Soenen.
Puff pastry is filled with almond cream. Placed inside is a ceramic figure usually from the nativity, and anyone that gets the slice with the ceramic figure will be king for the night, and he chooses a queen.
“In France, when you get the thingy (ceramic figure), you have to invite everyone again and feed them the galette,” quipped Chef Cyrill.
Brasserie CiCou offers the Galette du Rois for groups of six, 10 or 12.
Brasserie CiCou
57 Annapolis Street
Greenhills, San Juan
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
