You can't think long about anything before you start thinking of food. So what is more convivial than an invitation  to lunch with  a small gathering of hacks and hackettes ?

Chef Stefan Hogan who has a strong team and has been producing excellent food from the Corinthia kitchens for as long as I can remember,  explained that the multi-award winning Rickshaw restaurant within the Corinthia Palace in Attard has updated its menu but has not discarded well loved oriental favourites.  Presenting new dishes regularly is a must for as much as one might enjoy pancakes and aromatic duck again and again, if you are a regular (and the Rickshaw has always had a strong fan base), you need  an occasional change.

Stefan emphasized that each new dish was developed in collaboration with Andy Kwok who had joined us for lunch. He is the renowned owner and director of The Good Earth group, a business started by his father, Holland, in the 1950s in London. The first Good Earth restaurant was in the Kings Road in Chelsea  and opened in 1979. There are now more Good Earth restaurants in Esher, Surrey, Mill Hill and Wandsworth Common in London. The group also owns four Takeaways and Home Delivery services in London.  We were obviously in good hands. "Our family business prides itself on building a reputation for exceptional food and service," says Andy. Since the '50s , he says people's tastes and palates have changed as they are travelling more so are more familiar with ethic food.  "Even in China people are adapting because there are more foreigners in China now."

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I had not had breakfast beyond a cappuccino that morning but nothing had prepared me for the feast ahead.

After cocktails we were presented with 'Singapore style frog porridge'. It was glutinous and I don't do glutinous. As to frog's legs, I have never been a fan. The very thought... I took two spoonfuls but simply could not get myself to having more. Kristina, Iggy and Fiona were saying how delicious it was. I apologized to Stefan for not liking it.

Stalled but not thwarted I went on to the next dish. Silken tofu with creamed century egg.  I had seen jars upon jars of century eggs in Mauritius where we ate them regularly especially with our Chinese friends. I enjoyed that dish though I find tofu (like polenta) rather uninteresting.  Later, we were served Golden Tofu which was wok fried with leek, garlic and coriander and I began to see tofu in a different light.

Like the wine in Cana the dishes got better and better.

Each dish was beautifully presented with tiny edible flowers and leaves. Someone said you can buy these from a farmer in Zejtun who cultivates them.  So very pretty.

 

What I liked best? The white miso, prawn and spring onion soup. Delicious and not salty as the one I sometimes make from a packet. The difference!

When it comes to main courses aromatic beef stew simmered with papaya, coriander, chilli and ginger and topped with crisp fried onions won the day.  And Ah! a close second was the slow cooked mutton marinated in a garam masala mix served with ginger, coriander, chilli and lemon. I could not resist a second helping of the beef and mutton and I made Stefan promise to give me the recipe. My grandchildren would love these dishes.

There are vegetarian dishes on the menu too. I loved the dumpling served under a small dome standing on a bamboo dish. Stefan had choreographed the lifting of the dome so that the dining room staff lifted them at the same time.  A little bit of theatre.

 

I of course loved the lobster. I just love it and long for the ones you can get in the States where they are reasonably priced. I enjoyed the scallops as well. I hadn't eaten them for years. And we did get sweet and sour pork for those who were nostalgic for old fashioned Chinese food. And I must not forget to mention the tender octopus in a salad served with asparagus, celery and hot and sour sauce. Delicate and delicious.

The desserts? They are beyond a dream. We were presented with three, yes three small dishes, each one a work of art. I explored each one and tasted every single dessert although they were so elegant I really did not want to disturb them. There was the award winning Brownie. It really is delumptious. Loved the mango ice-cream which brought back memories of Mauriitus where such a wide variety of this fruit was easily available.  I noticed that my fellow travellers on that table were trying hard to finish the array of desserts but were finding it impossible. I drank the last sip of Thai beer which I had selected to accompany my lunch and decided to give up as I had had more than enough.

I leaned back on the new cushions which added even more glamour to an already glamorous restaurant and nearly curled up and went to sleep.

I am not going to say much about the service. The mostly oriental staff lend a certain magic to the Rickshaw. Whenever I have had dinner there I was won over by their respect and service. Obliging without being servile.

We had enjoyed something of a feast and at 4pm (yes lunch had lasted three hours) I walked out into the February sunshine in an excellent mood fully in agreement with Oscar Wilde that 'After a good dinner one can forgive anybody.'  Well almost.

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JG Vassallo is now in a better place

I must have met JG just a couple of times. I don't even remember when we first met or where. It must have been after 1989 when I returned to Malta. However, I had been following his various columns so when we met I felt I was meeting an old and learned friend. From then on we took to calling each other on the phone at least once a week, usually on a Sunday morning. I was like a homing pigeon on Sundays and called him if he hadn't called me, generally before lunch, so that by then we would have had a look at the headlines.  I would talk to his wife Maud who usually picked up the phone.  She is far more up to date with the news than I ever am. She had told me that she would mark interesting bits in the papers for him. I am fond of her even if I only met her once. She is far ahead of her generation and her comments on the state of the country were always interesting, often witty. She would then pass me on to JG, a gentleman of the old school. You could rely on him for a sensible and genial opinion. Sometimes he emailed me a column which was due to be published in one or another of the newspapers writing in the email 'for your eyes only'.

 He had had a long experience of life, of journalism, of administration, of trade unionism and could assess situations, especially political ones, with great clarity. Most of the time I listened and sometimes asked what he thought of a particular event. He was never quick to draw conclusions. His columns were dispassionate, logical and his train of thought easy to follow. Even if his political leanings were, like mine, to the left he did not hesitate to criticize the Labour Party when they deserved it. He was not one to compromise.

About a year ago the dynamics at home changed and by the time I was in a position to call him it never seemed to be the right time.  However, like the trooper that he was, he was on Facebook and we kept in touch in that way until a few months ago.  How I regret not having called him when he disappeared from Facebook to find out why.

How lucky that Maud and himself had such a long marriage. One couldn't ask for more. I hope we shall all meet in heaven and then we shall have an eternity of conversations while watching this 'ship of fools' we are constrained to live in.

I salute him and am proud that I have known him if only through his writings and emails.

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