Events

Again this year our former President and Secretary, Jeremy Diamond has organized a trip to the Club House on Lima Blas Estate for a traditional Planters’ curry tiffin.

The estate, which is situated some one and a half hours drive from Kuala Lumpur, was opened from virgin jungle in 1928. The club is located in over 120 acres of pristine jungle reserve. There are many species of monkeys and a big population of wild boar but you are unlikely to see the latter as they are rather shy. Occasionally, hornbills fly overhead – they nest in the high jungles trees.

We had hired a coach to take us on the visit so that everyone could relax and not worry about driving. As we got to the estate, the road leading up the hill to the Club was too narrow and steep for the coach so most walked up while the less mobile got into a four-wheel drive vehicle from the estate. This gave us ample appetite for the lunch.

Before lunch members were given a presentation about how Malaysia’s “Golden Crop” - palm oil is produced by the Manager, Mr Tan Tay Guan. As per tradition, beer was served before and with lunch and for the adventurous ‘pink gins’ and ‘stengahs’ were on offer (usually before the meal). The former was originally a drink enjoyed by officers in the British Royal Navy but subsequently became a firm favourite with the planters. The latter is whisky with water or soda water, also drunk in abundance by the planting fraternity.

The curry tiffin (a word that originated with the British Raj in India) was buffet style full of curry flavours: Chicken curry, rendang, prawn sambal, sweet & sour fish and many other Indian delicacies.

Just as well that we had a coach to get us back to KL!

Because of the modest size of the club, numbers were limited to 35 pax who all enjoyed this exceptional outing. We thank Jeremy and the Management of Lima Blas Estate for organising this most successful event and hope it will continue as a yearly feature.

This month, we moved to the Middle East to get exposure to Lebanese cuisine at the Al-Amar restaurant. Al-Amar, which means ‘the moon’ in Arabic, prides itself on serving some of the finest, most intriguing Lebanese cuisine in town in relaxed atmosphere with a warm and earthy interior with exotic paintings and Lebanese ornaments adorning the restaurant.

Chef  Pierre Chahda had created exotic gastronomic delights and the menu almost required use of a dictionary as most of us were unfamiliar with Lebanese food. The food was combined with a selection of wines including the famous Lebanese wine from Chateau Musar.

After pre-dinner drinks, the Pinot Grigio – Longo & Sincine Collection from Sicily, the menu started with cold Mezze, (a Vegetable Platter, Hommos, Moutabal, Labneh Btoum, Vine Leaves, Samkeh  Harra, Mouhamara, Pickles) which was accompanied by a Chateau Kefraya Rose, 2008,

Next was the hot Mezze (Mix Pastry, Chicken Liver, Soujok, Chicken Wings, Batata Harra, Falafel, Tyr Prawns) paired with Les Breteches du Chateau Kefraya, 2009.

Chateau Kefraya is situated in the Beka Valley and produces some of the best wines in Lebanon.

The main course of Mixed Grill, Half Grilled Chicken, and Your choice of Chicken Kafta or Hafta Antabli served together with Salad and Tabbouleh / Fattouch was highlighted by a vertical tasting of Chateau Musar 2002 and 2001.

Established by Gaston Hochar in 1930, it is probably Lebanon’s top wine estate. It achieved international recognition at the Bristol Wine Fair of 1979. The 2002 is made from equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Carignan, while the 2001 is made from mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan.  – less Cinsault in this vintage. The nose is aromatic, fragrant, warm and mellow and it prepares the palate for fruits of cherries, strawberries and redcurrants. The palate is indeed full of these softer summer red berry fruits and combined with soft tannins. The 2002 is one of the best vintages in recent years and a very interesting experience as most members had not tasted this wine before.

During the dinner the restaurant entertained the guests with a genuine belly dancing performance, which got a few of the participants on their feet to try out this form of exercise!

The evening finished with dessert - a spread of Fruit Platter, Mohalabieh and Baklava - and coffe/tea.