Sesel Sa! January - March 2015 Jan - March 2015 | Page 48

From the appetiser to dessert, each serving had its own combination of flavours and all fused together in a truly unique way. We started the night with an appetiser of grilled and salted fish pieces in a lentil soup. This is not a marriage of flavours that I thought would work, but I honestly loved it. The starters we chose were the tuna carpaccio with exotic fruits and the lobster with mango; both dishes exploded with flavour. The lobster with mango was a combination that made me nostalgic for days gone by. The real stars of the night were the main courses. The presentation was equisite and the food was out of this world. We got to sample the seafood and coco and the poultry and almonds. My partner stated emphatically that the seafood and coco is the best thing that he has ever eaten in his entire life and we should go back there frequently so that he can have it again and again and again. The seafood and coco is a bouillon of shrimp, clams, scallops, and fish flavoured with coconut, and from the one spoonful I tried (that took some real negotiating to get), I have to agree, it was a wonderfully flavourful soup. The poultry and almonds had a completely different set of aromas; it had an Moroccan influence. I enjoyed that the meat was shredded and the spiciness that came through. Then came the desserts, like manna from heaven! The chocolate and vanilla ice-cream had coconut shavings that added an extra zest but the chocolate cake with hibiscus syrup was sublime. THE ESSENCE OF BOTANICA Christelle has always been enamoured by food, which lead her to become a food designer, caterer and sommelier. For 10 years she worked mainly in Belgium, but has also experienced working in the Netherlands, France and Portugal, among other places. The islands have been home to Christelle for five years, giving her time to refine working with Creole flavours and combining them with global tastes. Before finding 44 SESEL SA! | JAN - MAR 2015 ISSUE NO. 6