SCA fundraising dinner @ Krasnapolsky

As a token of appreciation, all participants and judges were invited to this fundraising dinner. I love this kind of appreciations and it seems fit to let the participants see the current national team in action.

First of all, the setting was different. After renovation, Krasnapolsky chose a more modern approach for their interior. It's all black and white. However it has its charms, but personally I prefer a more cozy and warm tint to a dining place. To some extent, I had hoped that it would be held at the pool side. However it might mean that the pool need to be fenced to prevent any breakage in the pool, but the view would've been magnificent.


kersten.sr

When I first came in with my friend, we were invited to get our drinks at the bar. Like earlier experiences, I received a welcoming cocktail. This one was green again and it made me wonder if the bartender's favorite color is green. After the dinner, I spoke to him and his answer was that he loves to use the colors of Suriname: green, red and yellow, but that his favorite color is actually 'red'.

Despite the fact that I can hold my liquor, I believe the cocktail is a bit on the strong side. Maybe it was supposed to act as an ice breaker, since most participants and judges were placed on two long tables. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that there must be Pisang Ambon and Black Cat in this cocktail.




This is the menu:

The appetizer:
grilled skirt steak with bang bang salsa. Accompanied by roasted pumpkin dice and curry perfume and pumpkin crème, served with a bitter tomato pickle all drizzled with a suri-churri sauce.


The skirt steak was seasoned very well and grilled at the perfect temperature. The bang bang salsa tasted good too, but I couldn't smell any curry perfume on the plate. Using bitter tomato was a really nice add-on.


The main course:
Poached coconut kandra partnered with pan seared pork roast. with cherry sauce, garlic water spinach, red beet pickle and turmeric potato cubes.

The fish had a nice kick with the spices used and just perfectly cooked, but the pork was not evenly seared. Mine was partly pink and partly overcooked. And I thought uniformity was also part of the dish, but probably not or they used a different piece for mine, since mine was a tad smaller than my neighbors'. And lucky me....I found a fishbone in my Kandra fillet.

The dessert:
Cheesecake mousse topped with passion fruit sauce. garnished with chocolate tuille, mango compote, cookie crumble streusel, mint leaves and papaya foam.

The passion fruit was a bit too sour. The mango compote was blend, but it could also be that it got overpowered by the sourness of the passion fruit. The cookie crumble added a nice texture to it all. Since it is cheesecake mousse, it is not fluffy enough for me.



My overall experience gave me a weird feeling. Apparently the mystery basket of this dinner consisted of most Surinamese ingredients, the competition contestants had chosen for their creation. I see some of the ingredients back like: bitter tomato, pumpkin, passion fruit. However the team did a better job in technique, but I was missing the WOW-factor. I would even dare to say that the chefs in the national culinary competition had more creativity and enthusiasm. However not all creations gave the results the competing chefs wanted, but I get the underlying idea and vision in it.

After dinner, there was another thing planned. The organization took this opportunity to introduce the team of this year and also thank all the participants and judges for their input in the national culinary competition. We, lady judges, received a bouquet, a certificate of appreciation and the latest Victuals magazine!!