Cavalock and The (Only?) Unbiased Savour Files

It's that time of the year again when the Savour food fest sets up their tents and fancy food stalls for the masses. This is the third year in a row that I have been to the fest, actually it's a new venue this year at the Marina Bay District. So I looked at a bunch of local food blogs that covered the event and every single one of them loved it! After reading them, I realised they all got in with their complimentary tickets. Now that may have or may not have influenced their write-ups but I assure you that I paid my own hard-earned S$170 worth of Savour dollars and am unbiased in this here post! Yessiree! I'm no sell-out! I'm like the CM Punk of food blogs! I say what's on my mind!

If you have been to their last two events, you'll definitely notice how the chef stalls or booths are now all packed side-by-side to each other in a smaller, almost claustrophobic area. Well, the good part of this is you get to eat through all of them in half the time but I miss the spacious layout and relaxed atmosphere. And what's up with the dimly lit supermarket? I came in to escape the haze and "gloomy" ain't the exactly the most appetising vibe to get out of a gourmet supermarket.

As expected there were some hits and misses with the menu. What really worked for me was Mikuni's Chef Moon's entire repertoire below, Kanpachi Truffle Soya, 72-hour Miso Braised Short Rib and Hokkaido Botan Ebi in Tenshin Sauce. My favs for the night.

More than a few other dishes didn't work for me but what really stood out in the worst way was this Banana Cake with Coconut Jelly of Dark Sugar and Salt dish below. Now I don't really expect a dish to look exactly like its publicity styled photo but come on, this is really a stretch for the imagination! Just how difficult is it to get your hands on one of those little melon scopes anyway?

Yummy picture

WTF?!?

Although I didn't get a chance to attend the HBOAsia event, I heard that they were promoting the next Game of Thrones season (again!). As much as I luv the series (read the first novel over a decade ago) I think they really dropped the ball with this one and they should have promoted the HBO mini-series that everyone is talking about and that is of cos, True Detective. And I call BS if they say that no one has heard of the show yet. When you perform the same trick twice you are just telling folks that's the only good show in your line-up.

Trust me when I say your target audience has heard or even downloaded episodes already. The hype before the first screening was already almost deafening. I have been in the media industry long enough to know a missed opportunity when I see one. It would had been so easy and cool to come up with a Yellow King menu but if they thought that was too much of a spoiler, then a good ol' Southern recipe menu would have been perfect.

Since the show is set in Louisiana, there's already so much exciting food to choose from like cajun or modern creole cuisine. Anyway I thought maybe something else like this might work. Naturally the chef working on the menu would give his unique spin to the dishes.

You start with some venison fillets or a venison carpaccio cos in the first episode that's how the serial killer's victim was found, naked and wearing a pair of antlers.

Then for the main course, you could have some smoked pulled pork. If you have watched the show, you'll remember that Matthew McConaughey's character is a chronic chain smoker so what better entree than some smoked meat? I have never had a pulled pork sandwich here that I liked so it's a personal dream that'll I'll finally have one here.

For dessert, I thought maybe a classic Southern banana pudding for that little 'yellow' nod to the Yellow King.

If you know me, you'll know that I'm extremely passionate about pop culture. I'm a huge fan of movies, TV shows, books, comics, games, toys, all things sci-fi, fantasy, well, I think you get the idea. It just pains me to see something like this when I know it could have been done sooooo much better.