If you knew you could only have one last meal, what would you have?
We ask some of our city’s finest chefs what they would make for their last supper?
Marisa Agrasut
Thai/Chinese/British – part-owner of Café Compassion
Last Meal:
Veggie Burger for main course and banana bread ice-cream sandwich with butterscotch sauce for dessert.
How to make it?
For the veggie burger get some mushrooms, some TVP soi protein, egg, breadcrumbs, herbs and seasoning, then process that in a food processor. Then sauté and make the patty. After you toast the bun, dress it with mustard and mayo, tomato, onion and a bit of cheese and egg.
For the banana bread you need banana, flour and egg to make the bread. Then some butter, sugar and cream for the butterscotch. Put some ice cream in the sandwich and you’re done.
What Marissa thinks about life:
‘Life is short. Take the opportunities to eat a good variety of food and to eat well, but also have fun and indulge a little’.
Sun Suebsaeng
Thai, chef and owner of Tengoku de Cuisine Japanese restaurant
Last Meal:
Khun Sun’s oyster canapé
How to make it?
First make the sauce marinade, by dissolving palm sugar in warm water, adding chopped chilli, garlic and lime juice. Then add the oysters to marinate in the sauce. Next finely slice the shallots, and fry them on a low heat to make them crispy. We then slice wholemeal bread into quarters, and fry it. Garnish the bread with chopped ‘earpod wattle Acacia auriculiformus’ or gra-thin, put an oyster on top, add a little more sauce and garnish with the fried shallots.
Why did you choose this?
If the world was to end I would like to throw a party for all my friends, I would make this dish because my friends are Thai and foreign so I want something which will suit both of them and is something none of them have ever tried before.
What Sun thinks about life:
I believe in being self sufficient. If the world was going to end, the supermarkets closed and we ran out of petrol you can survive by growing and producing your own food. In my own farm I don’t let anything go to waste and recycle all waste produce. I think it’s important to live in a sustainable way due to global warming and deterioration of the environment. We have to improve our consumption methods and ways of living to adapt to new changes in the world.
Wicha Cavaliero
Thai, chef and owner at Chiang Dao Nest
Last meal:
Three dishes, lamb tagine served with mashed potatoes, smoked duck with mixed sprout salad, and raspberry and balsamic dressing, and roasted rock lobster with green sprouts salad.
How to make it?
The tagine must be cooked slowly to allow the meat to tenderise and the flavours to come out, I add fresh ginger, cinnamon, apricots and saffron. The rock lobsters are roasted using a simple garlic butter and served with fresh greens. The duck is smoked then I puree the raspberries and mix in a little balsamic vinegar, rock salt, brown sugar and of course a bit of love.
Why did you choose this?
I want to make this dish (the tagine) because it takes a century to make (slow cooking) and then I would have a bit more time left on earth!
What Whica thinks about life:
I believe you should live today like you are going to die tomorrow.
Brian Pern
British, chef and owner at Pern’s Mediterranean Restaurant
Last Meal:
Salmon quenelles, char-grilled tuna steak, fresh vanilla pod créme brulee with raspberry coulis.
How to make it:
First I poach the salmon quenelles in a white wine vinegar stock which are as light as a feather complimented with a sea of fennel puree – a simple dish which reminds me of my early days in France. Next is seared then char-grilled fresh tuna steak. Cooked medium rare and torn across smashed new potatoes with olive oil and lemon juice with a combination of basil leaf, sea salt capers and black peppercorns. These are flavours which marry together so perfectly. For sweet it has to be the fresh vanilla pod créme brulee with raspberry coulis…. Followed by some blue cheese and Port!
Why did you choose this?
Now we live in a world where lemonade is made from chemicals, but washing up liquid contains fresh lemons! Something went wrong along the way when we got too busy to prepare foods fresh. Instead, we often take the easy lazy route and settle for junk food which in turn increases a junk way of living. I still love fresh simple foods and in Chiang Mai we are blessed with great selections of fresh vegetables and amazing pork, chicken and fish. None of it needs to travel so it doesn’t have the jet lagged effect of many imported foods! I chose this menu because of the resources in Chiang Mai and the simplicity of the dishes which have stood the test of time with discerning customers. The complimentary flavours evoke great memories of working with Paul Bocuse and Sylvano Trompetto, two great chefs of a bygone era.
What Brian thinks about life:
There is surely little to beat sitting down and enjoying a dinner, with good company and comfortable surroundings and a glass of wine. This is one of life’s greatest pleasures and there are few other things make me happier. After all, we think of a last supper, not a last anything else!