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
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SESEL SA! | JAN - MAR 2015 ISSUE NO. 6