The Brotherhood of the Golden Sabre invites you to join them

The Confrerie du Sabre d’Or (Brotherhood of the Golden Sabre), a prestigious society that promotes the noble art of sabrage and the enjoyment of champagne around the world, will meet for the Second Bangkok chapter on the

8^thApril, 2010 at the Rembrandt Hotel and Towers, Bangkok. 

         A tradition that dates back 200 years, sabrage is the technique of opening a properly chilled Champagne bottle by using a sabre to hit the glass ring at the top of the bottle just below the cork and at the weakest point along the glass seam in the bottle. The technique does not specifically involve extracting the cork, but actually removing the whole top of the bottle: glass collar and cork. To see how it is done, watch this video How to Sabre a Champagne Bottle .

The Confrerie du Sabre d’Or started in France over 25 years ago and currently boasts 30,000 members in 12 different countries. Initiates move up the ranks first becoming a sabreur, then a Chevalier, Officeur, and eventually a Commandeur.

         Come join the brotherhood for a fantastic evening of food prepared by our Executive Chef Eric Lecras accompanied by Champagne and wines specially selected by Quentin Fougeroux. Guests can learn and test their skills in the noble art of sabrage and be knighted as a sabreur.

         The Bangkok Chapter will also welcome members of the brotherhood from France, Germany, and other neighbouring countries at the event. The evening will begin with a ceremony where guests will be introduced to the noble art and can enjoy a few glasses of Champagne. This will be followed by dinner.

The prices for the event is:

 Ceremony and dinner – Bt5,600++

Ceremony, dinner and investiture as a Sabreur – Bt6,600++

Ceremony, dinner and investiture as a Chevalier Sabreur – Bt12,100++

For those attending from out of town, the hotel is offering a special room rate of Bt1,600 net.

Hurry limited seats remain.

Waiter, there’s a pig’s ear on my plate

Few people in Asia, if any, may have heard of Fergus Henderson, let alone know that he is a chef. But he does have legions of fans elsewhere who subscribe to his philosophy of “nose to tail eating” and flock to worship at his chopping board in the Michelin-starred St John Bar and Restaurant in Smithfields, London.

            Opposed to wasting any part of plant, fish, bird or animal, he advocates using offal and everything from nose to tail, transforming the blood-curdling bits and pieces into gastronomic delights. He once declared, “It’s only polite really if you knock an animal on the head to eat it all: tripe, heart, feet, ears, head, tail. It’s all good stuff.”

This philosophy resulted in two culinary tomes, the foodies’ classic, The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating, in which the bygone rural tradition of using the whole beast is enshrined in recipes that are not for the weak of heart, like the ‘Blood Cake and Fried Eggs’, ‘Crispy Pig Tails’, and ‘Fried Squirrel’. Nor are ‘Warm Pig’s Head’ or Soft Roes on Toast that requires delicate white sacs of herring semen, particularly suited for the weak palate. But he is not all shock and awe; forgotten and tamer recipes also make the cut: ‘Mussels Grilled on a Barbecue’, ‘Deviled Crab’, and ‘Green Beans, Shallots, Garlic, and Anchovies’.

            Maverick chef Anthony Bourdain in his introduction to the book said Henderson’s cooking was an “outrageously timed head butt to the growing hordes of the politically correct, the PETA people, practitioners of arch, ironic Fusion Cuisine, and all those chefs who were fussing about with tall, overly sculpted entrées of little substance and less soul.” Calling him the “most influential chef in the world”, Bourdain also named St John his favourite restaurant in the world, saying he wanted Henderson’s signature roast bone marrow and parsley salad as his “death-row meal”.

         A sequel, Beyond Nose to Tail: More Omnivorous Recipes for the Adventurous Cook, Part 2, was co-written with Henderson’s pastry chef, Justin Piers Gellatly, and helped rustle up more delectable offal classics like ‘Fennel and Ox Tongue Soup’, ‘Pressed Pig’s Ear’, ‘Burnt Sheep’s Milk Yogurt’ and ‘Goat’s Curd Cheesecake, among others.

         On March 26^th, Fergus will showcase his “nose to tail” recipes including ‘Pot Roast 1/2 Pig’s Head’ and ‘Roasted Bone Marrow’ in Singapore at a one-off Masterclass and tasting menu at 25 Degrees Celsius, a bookstore dedicated to all things culinary.

Details: 26 Mar (Fri) | 7.30 pm | S$95 nett per pax, which includes a copy of Beyond Nose to Tail (worth S$51.3), the workshop and tasting portion of food. Limited seats available and bookings can only be made through 25 Degrees Celsius at +65 6327 8389 or ask@25degreec.com

Golfasian to Debut Series of Golf Tournaments in Phuket

Golfasian, the leading Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia golf tour operator, is pleased to announce an annual schedule of four tournaments per year to be held around Thailand. The tour will take in an event in Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Bangkok and Phuket.

The tournaments will debut in Phuket in July 2010. This event is open to all players either travelling on their own, small groups as well as larger groups.

The tournaments, running for 7 days and 6 nights each, will be played over 4 rounds, at different courses, with a stableford competition accumulating over the week to result in the overall winner.

The organizer - Golfasian - emphasizes the enjoyable aspects of the tournaments, taking the best courses in each destination and offering players the chance to experience the thrill of competing in a real tournament and to meet other golfers in a sociable and competitive environment. Golfasian aims to create a loyal player base that will return to Thailand for future golf tournaments.

"I had played golf for years before playing in my first real tournament" said Graham Haslam, Director of Golf Tournaments at Golfasian, "It is a totally different feeling, I nearly missed the ball completely on the first tee because I was so nervous".

These Thailand golf tournaments will have daily winners and the usual nearest pin and longest drive each day, but the big prizes will be for the overall winners. Mark Siegel, Managing Director of Golfasian, mentioned that "The good thing about having this type of format using Stableford is one or two bad holes don’t really hurt in a 72 hole tournament, but you do need to be fairly consistent during the week to win!"

New Zealand PGA professional David Wickens, now living in Thailand said "It looks like great fun and I'd love to be a part of it!" Wickens is now onboard promoting the tournaments in his native NZ.

The tournaments will be very competitively priced for singles to join as they will receive the benefits (savings) of a group booking.

So pack your sunscreen, sun glasses, (lots of extra golf balls) and make your way to the next Golfasian Amateur Golf week for an unforgettable weeks golfing.


For more information contact Golfasian
Graham Haslam - Director of Golf Tournaments
Email: graham@golfasian.com | Web: http://tournaments.golfasian.com | 
Tel: +66 2 714 8470