A twist in taste and location

First of all, my most sincerest apologies to my blog readers that you have to wait so long for my first blog of this year. A lot happened in the last couple of months.

For one, I am currently in Aruba doing my 6 months internship in an international well-known brand and for private reasons I wish not to mention the name. So in all those months, it was first the preparations to leave, then the adaptation. Besides that, I didn't feel the inspiration to write until finally now, a reason for me to really blog about.

However I do have a lot to write about like my experiences of being in Aruba, but I believe I will do that in a different blog or even on a totally different page.

The reason for my blog is the 'Culinary Evening'.
There is this little establishment called 'Twister', owned and run by Anne and Linda. When I first saw the restaurant, I was under the impression that it was just some local cafe, where I eventually might get a snack or two. But the contrary is true. The interior is decorated real cozy, at which you can choose to sit at the bar or the tables. Normally my friends and I would go there for a couple of beers or even dinner, but tonight we went for the' Culinary Evening'.

My friends and I really made all the arrangements and preparations to be on time, but we were unpleasantly surprised that we were not only on time, but a bit too early. And I do  understand that they want to try to wait for everyone to be there before they start, but I was so looking forward to this dinner that I haven't really had lunch in the afternoon.

In the meantime I checked their culinary menu for the night. It is a 5-course dinner consisted of:

Salmon Tartar

Bouillabaisse

Duck Breast Japanese style

Marinated Beef Tenderloin

Trio of Mango

We were all so happy to see the first course being served.  The salmon tartar is served with arugula lettuce, wasabi sour cream and potato chips.

The presentation is simple, but yet elegant. There are no comments about the salmon tartar. It was very well seasoned. The potato chips is just a regular original pringle, but looks kinda cute on it. The arugula lettuce was foreign for me. It tasted a bit bitter, but it's hardly noticeable and it go really well with the salmon. For the wasabi sour cream I can't say that I really tasted the wasabi in it.

The second course was the bouillabaisse. This is a fish stew originated from the port city of Marseille. A traditional bouillabaisse is made from at least 3 different kinds of fish, boiled and simmered.

I am not sure there are 3 different kinds of fish in this soup, but that it was simmered down was for sure. I was not really fond of this dish. First of all, I don't like fish. Second, for me it was all a bit too strong- the spices, the flavor.

The 3rd course is my favorite!! And I gotta admit, I was not looking forward to eating duck breast. I'm more a bony-pieces-meat kinda person than breast-meat kinda person. The presentation of this one was really simple and actually even a bit plain, but the taste....ooh....Heavenly!!

The meat was tender, the skin that was still attached to it was crispy and the hoi sin sauce made it taste sweet. Didn't care much for the bokboy that came with it, but what can I say.....I''m a meatatarian!!

Actually at this point, my belly was already nearly full, so the 4rd course was a bit too heavy for me. The beef tenderloin was cooked medium rare, which is not my favorite temperature, but which I do have to admit make the meat totally tender.

Didn't care much about the asparagus and the veggies in it and was not really fond of the roasted potatoes. The veal sauce tasted great though.

Probably we shouldn't have waited, but one of our friends came in late, so we decided to wait for him to get our dessert. Well,......this dish had the best presentation, but unfortunately I was at a point, where my belly was so full and I could only think of eating it and go home to give my belly a rest, so I forgot to make a picture of it. The Trio of Mango consisted of the sorbet, which was put in an amuse spoon and the cream and coulis in a whisky glass. The sorbet was sweet in the contrary to the more sour versions I've had in the past. The cream and coulis were really good and the fried mango pieces in it gave it a different texture. Mine had less coulis than my fellow diners though, but oh well, like I said, I only wanted to finish it and go home to rest.

And for such an evening, I sure can't have dinner without a good wine. We had the Luigi Bosca, an Argentinian Pinot Noir.

It has a lovely bouquet and however there is some tannin in it, but still enjoyable and fruity.

This is what wine(dot)com had to say about this wine:

Winemaker's notes:

Shining ruby red color. A fresh, fruity and velvety wine with great body. With red berries, strawberries, violet and chocolate aromas, it is a vigorous and attractive wine which combines strength and elegance.

Alcohol by volume: 14.1%