It's for the 3rd year that SCA (Suriname Chef's Association) has organized Moksi Alesi Strey. And once again I had the honor to be part of the tasting committee. When I arrived at the scene around 11:30, I immediately see and feel the difference. It looks a bit busier(however mostly set-up crew), but there lies a certain excitement in the air. Most tents were already pretty busy preparing and setting up or decorating their stand.
Some of the nice additions are the stand of TOK and Soeng Ngie. TOK came with their own farm-themed promo girls and I heard their group had the best team spirit. And Soeng Ngie,....they always seem to stand out. With their SRD 5,- meals or maybe it's the yellow color and it surely is because Mr. Micle Fung himself is a great promoter, they attract many people to their stand.
What makes this year more fun are the extra's. There was a Harley Davidson showcase, a Zundapp showcase and Classic Cars showcase (which had only 3 cars though) with other entertainment to keep the visitors entertained.
As part of the tasting team, we were not allowed to be outside where the participants were busy preparing their creation. But it's unavoidable while walking to the location, I have caught some sneak peeks. So, I actually have some idea who participated, but I don't have the whole list. I actually only know the top 3 and I've seen the best decorated stand. They really stood out with their green-decorated stand with nice centerpieces. However I'm not responsible for that part, but I was kinda rooting for them to win the 'best decorated stand' part.
This year, the table for the tasting judges was prepared professionally. A nice decorated table with glasses and jugs of water. The only thing that was still missing was the plates.
This year the participants were fairly on time. One after one the creations came in and we were trying our best effort to distinguish the best out of 8.
The first one that came in was number 1.
The portion size looked like one for a kid. Not many effort on garnishing the plate or making it more appealing. It really looked like a plate at home that I scooped out of the pan myself. Not all beans were cooked thoroughly. When it comes to flavor, it has one that you'd expect. Nothing impressive.
The second was number 5.
They send in two creations: one with bulgur and one with mackerel.
The presentation of this one is superb. The plating, the colors used, it makes it appealing to watch. But they should probably think it through for the next time. However people believe Chinese eat rice with chopsticks, but that's mostly out of a bowl. Out of a plate, it's not that efficient. Still, the colorful wrapped chopsticks gave color to the creations.
We had to choose between the best out of the two creations. Since the rice tasted burned and undercooked, we chose to judge the bulgur version. However that one is also just between undercooked and done. Or maybe that's how bulgur should taste like? The taste was ok, but we were actually discussing that if you had to sell a portion of the mackerel moksi alesi, how much should you charge? Such a big piece will be quite expensive.
The third that came in was number 4.
The presentation was a bit funny. It looked as if they took half the portion and that was how they wanted to present it. At the first bite it gives you a feeling that they burned the rice heavily. After analyzing it all, it appears to be charcoal cooking. It has a smoky flavor. The pieces of chicken in it were too big. If they're gonna mix it in the rice, the pieces should be smaller and if they wanted to put big pieces of meat, they should've just put it on the side. They used eggplant as their ingredient, which was a bit hard to find in the rice.
The fourth came in was number 3.
This gave it some thought about presenting their plate.
Unfortunately this was a moksi alesi competition, because if it was fish competition, they'd have won. As I've mentioned so often, I'm not so fond of fish. But this was really wonderful!! The fish was still crispy, a bit sweet and sour flavor, not too greasy as normally fried fish would be. Their rice was too soft, but flavor was ok.
The fifth came in was number 6.
They presented their moksi alesi in a hollowed small pineapple, which looks presentable.
And if I see a creation in a hollowed pineapple, I'd expect the pineapple to be one of the used ingredients. But we couldn't detect it anywhere. It tasted ok, but nothing impressive.
The sixth came in was number 8.
The presentation gave me a feeling I was at someone's house party. Maybe it's the plate or the plastic wrapped utensils or the plastic wrapped creation, that was what I first thought about when I saw that. And there was even a mint for after the meal.
This one came with 3 types of sambal (def: hot relish made with fruit or veggie): smoked fish, liver and shrimp. That tasted sooo good!! Unfortunately for their undercooked, burned rice and lack of flavor. Maybe the idea was that you eat the tasteless rice with the sambal, so that every bite has a different flavor? But nobody likes undercooked AND burned rice.
The seventh was number 7.
The presentation of the dish was full of lettuce. It made it look like a moksi alesi salad. The fish fritter tasted good, but here the rice was also undercooked and burned.
The final dish coming in was number 2.
\The presentation was simple, but presentable. What surprised me the most is how good the beansprout (tjapar) was in the moksi alesi. It gave the dish a certain crisp to the overall texture. It tasted quite good, however it looked so blend.
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| my fellow tasting judges |
1. number 5 creation-> Thuksa
2. number 2 creation-> Kirpalani
3. number 6 creation -> The Next Gen
The best decorated stand was also The Next Gen, as I hoped it would.
Overall, the creations were ok, but none of them really impressed me. However two of those participants did show some creativity of adding eggplant and beansprout, but why not make one with bitter tomato mixed in it? or all the veggies instead of on the side mixed in the rice. Maybe I'm getting more demanding, but I think I really want to be impressed!! A dish that makes me only close my eyes and already can taste the flavor and can't wait to harass the participant to make it again...
