(Chengdu, 16th March 2017) The Temple Café has yet again set the trend in Chengdu – applying “Farm to Table” concept into its Spring new menu. Inspired by the French bistro style, Chef Jerome Merlo of The Temple Café is aiming to provide authentic French food in a relaxed atmosphere. This Spring, Chef Jerome presents French Bistro in an organic and healthy way – using the vegetables and herbs from The Temple House’s very own Herb Garden. Come and be pleasantly-surprised by these refreshing and creative bistro- style dishes.
Chef Jerome’s recommendations from the The Temple Café’s Spring new menu:
Parmesan Waffle, Marinated Mushroom, Pecan nuts, Cream cheese and greens
The waffle is made of parmesan cheese and beer that make a very unique taste and texture. We use high quality mushrooms to enrich this dish and give it a forest influence. Pecans bring some crunch to it, and the cream cheese comes to blend everything together. To finish we have herbs such as Parsley, carrot sprouts and fresh dill that transport us to our garden. This dish is an assemblage of different ideas, it is quite a modern bite that would please vegetarian and cheese lovers.
Mustard Iberico Pork chop served with Black Quinoa and Broccoli
We use the best Pork quality for this recipe, the famous Iberico black skin pork. It is much more juicy and tasty than any other pork. We serve this dish with black quinoa, being very rich in nutritive benefits, and adding a little crunchy feeling. Then seared broccoli and a gentle cauliflower puree bring delicacy to the dish. My father always use to cook mustard pork chops at home, and this charred mustard flavor left an everlasting sensation in my best food memories.
Long-cooked Red Wine Beef Roll, Orange Glazed Carrots, Bread Crumbs
When I learned the basics of cooking in Catering school of La Rochelle, we participated a contest where we had to present a long cook beef recipe. In that time I had in mind the Pot au Feu, but I wanted to give it an extra richness and flavor. So I opened a very old book of Escoffier, the “father” of French cuisine, and that’s where I discovered the beef Miroton. Many cuisines, including Chinese, recooked two to three times some meat to bring an extra flavor or texture. This time I used the classic Beef Bourguignon, marinated and cooked in red wine for hours. Joshua, our executive chef, gave me the inspiration of the orange glazed carrots and the breadcrumbs to bring a memorable touch to this dish.