Stomach's Eleven: A French feast

Savoy cabbage

Let me set the scene.

Only forty minutes before, I'd been eating six different desserts at the conclusion of chocolatesuze's flavour tripping party. Before that we'd been sucking on lemons, eating citric acid and drinking vinegar. Because we could. And prior to that, we'd gorged on a late lunch of roti canai, sticky glazed ribs, fried seafood dumplings, mushrooms, pumpkin salad, lentil salad and sushi.

Can you say "belly ache"?

And here I am. Walking through the door of Chez Pig Flyin for dinner. Oh yes, my beloved digestive tract, I'm not quite done with you yet.


K folding the crepes

It was Mrs Pig Flyin's birthday and as Stomach's Eleven to'd and fro'd phone calls about suitable venues, Pig Flyin had a great idea. Dinner at his place. How could we refuse?

We could smell the deliciousness from the driveway. A kitchen radiating with the joy of homecooking, the ever-calm and always laughing Pig Flyin casually tending to the stove and the chopping board.


Scallop pancakes on a prawn glace

We started with scallop pancakes. Oh my god. I believe I reached another level of enlightenment. There was a moment when I sat there, spoon halfway to my mouth, a small smile on my lips, trying to compute that yes, I really was eating this, and yes, I was sitting in somebody's home.

A star on the plate, this gossamer thin crepe, flecked with chives and broken apart with a spoon to reveal a creamy luscious mound of scallops lolling about quietly in mascarpone.

And then the sauce. The. Sauce. A deep vermilion hue of prawn glace, a seafood stock so rich and pure and flavoursome you wanted to pick up your bowl and lick it clean.



We did.


Top: Maine lobster pancakes with pea-shoot salad
in the French Laundry cookbook by Thomas Keller

Bottom: Scallop pancakes on a prawn glace
made by Pigflyin, and plated by K

Its inspiration, I discovered, was a recipe for Maine lobster pancakes in the French Laundry cookbook by Thomas Keller. Pig Flyin adapted the recipe and whilst sous chef K wasn't copying the pictured dish exactly, it did turn out impressively similar.



And then the soup.

French onion soup

Homemade French onion soup. I haven't always been a fan of French onion soups finding them too thick and too salty.

But this one. Four kilos of beef bones simmered for six hours for a killer beef stock.

Onions. Silky. Translucent. Sweet.

And the crunch of a toasted baguette topped with grilled Gruyere cheese.

That was the appetiser and the entree. Now onto the mains.


Dutch carrots


Potatoes dauphinoise


Sauteed savoy cabbage with Croatian speck and roasted chestnuts

The sweet simplicity of Dutch carrots, so sweet I was convinced he'd added honey or sugar (no). Two small dishes of potatoes dauphinoise, delicate mandolined slices of potato slow-baked with cream until tender and soft with a crunchy top.

And a celebration of chestnuts. Sauteed savoy cabbage with pieces of pan-fried Croatian speck and the buttery crumble of roasted and peeled fresh chestnuts.


Veal rack

Oh yes. A gluttony of meat.


Carving the veal


Veal cutlets

Juicy. Pink. Perfect.

My only regret was I couldn't eat more.


Digging in

Suffice to say, it's amazing how much "compacting" one can do given the mention of "dessert" and twenty minutes respite.


Preparing the crepes by cooking oin butter and orange juice


Crepes Suzette

They say that crepes suzette are making a comeback, but I think I'd rather comeback to Pig Flyin for more. Again, beautifully thin satin-soft crepes, drenched in a sauce of freshly squeezed orange juice and butter that wasn't overly rich or sweet. The crepes were doused with Grand Marnier and then flambeed for a spectacular finish.



Oh so full. Of happiness. Of bliss. Of crepes.

I was silent for a moment.

And then I quietly helped myself to seconds.


Hope you had a wonderful birthday Mrs Pig Flyin and thank you Pig Flyin--and sous chef K-- for the incredible meal as always. Masterchef Australia? I know who my pick is!


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Stomachs Eleven: Christmas 2010 (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Teochew feast (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Mole poblano and pulled pork tacos (Me)
Stomachs Eleven: Pizza and friends (Miss Rice)
Stomachs Eleven: Ten kilograms of mussels (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Shanghainese banquet (M&L)
Stomachs Eleven: Wagyu shabu shabu and dessert sushi (Silverlily)
Stomachs Eleven: Stuffed deboned pig's head + nose-to-tail eating (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: French feast (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Whole suckling pig and Chinese banquet (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Hotpot night (M&L)
Stomachs Eleven: Crackling roast pork and black sesame cupcakes (me)
Stomachs Eleven: No ordinary steak dinner (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Polish feast (Miss Rice)
Stomachs Eleven: Christmas 2009 (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Char siu and Hainan chicken (me)
Stomachs Eleven: Amazing impromptu dinner party (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Dumplings and Shanghai soy duck (M&L)