No Excuse at Scusa - Go to Scusa Restaurant, Jakarta

No Excuse at Scusa

I had always wondered what secrets lay behind those mouthwatering dishes tantalizingly served at swanky restaurants. And I was equally curious about what it’d be like being in a cooking demonstration show. Given the ubiquitousness of such program on the local telly, I might as well let myself give in.

The promise was a culinary experience: a step-by-step preparation of an authentic home-made Italian lunch menu and secrets of the Italian cuisine revealed by Luigi Gigio Girardin, chef of the Scusa restaurant at the Intercontinental Mid-Plaza Hotel.

The scarlet-walled Scusa was abuzz that Saturday morning. Excitement was ample as a good couple of years had passed since a similar event was last run at the five-star establishment. Next to the bar counter, raw ingredients and different cooking appliances sat on a chrome tabletop impatiently awaiting the chef’s debut in public cooking.

My fifteen participant compatriots seemed a little unsure of what laid in store as they took their seats and attempted to scribble the ingredients and chef Luigi’s indispensable tips (did you know air-tight containers would be best to keep your precious 24-month aged Parmesan fresh in the fridge?). Happily, as we were told, a recipe book would be handed out later along with an exclusive Scusa souvenir apron.

The Padua-trained gastronomic genius’s feat commenced as he tossed arborio rice into an olive-oiled pot. This was clearly for the Sicilian rice balls of arancini.

Then came the meaty hard-core for the Piedmontese classic bollito misto. Pieces of chicken drums, cotechino or Italian pork sausages (may be substituted with beef sausages), huge chunks of veal shanks and, yes, an entirely wholesome bovine tongue, went on a free fall into another pot full of boiling water.

The forty-year old chef kept beaming as he food-processed bunches of basil, parsley, mint, capers, anchovies fillets and Dijon mustard to concoct the gleaming salsa verde. With a pesto-like appearance, the flavorful salsa verde was to accompany our quasi all-meat bollito misto. And to wrap the three-course menu was the Italian dessert of zabaglione, served cool.

I felt the proposed menu was decidedly adventurous. Indonesia-loving Luigi wanted to take us on an ambitious tour of his country: rice-based appetizer from mild tempered Sicily, a main course from the franco-swiss border and a saccharine-packed dessert from the Veneto region (no wonder the Venetians need a carnival to burn their excess sugar).

Lunch time, or, more appropriately, crunch time. “Buon appetito!” said our chef. “Il mangiar troppo è un vizio,” I so often heard this when I was in Italy. Eating too much is a debauch. A positively Italian one, that is.

So, I had a go at the golden brown arancini. If I must be honest, I would have preferred to relish this Sicilian speciality without tomato sauce, just how they’d normally be nibbled at in their place of origin.

As predicted, I grappled with the main course. The calorie-feeder bollito misto would be an excellent companion for northern Italy’s severe winter, but it proved to be extremely rich or my tropical gut. The previously gory-looking tongue, to my surprise, was incredibly soft and palatable even after witnessing it boiled, peeled and cut to pieces.

With a jazzy tune playing in the background, we were asked if we felt like we’re in Italy. Well, I can honestly say that with a menu this elaborate, such you would witness only at an Italian family’s “pranzo di domenica” (the sacred Sunday banquet), the only one thing missing was a soprano-voiced Italian mamma telling you to finish everything off the plate.

As Barolo wine and the Sicilian Nero d’Avola poured into our chopes, we were offered to degust other delicacies: Scusa’s home-made bread stuffed with fetta cheese; grilled Italian onion to go with a spoonful of the bollito misto broth, I never thought onions could be so luscious; and syrupy apple slivers bathed in mercilessly sweet juice to scare a dietician.

Thanks to such a rigorous menu, I quickly acquired a full stomach. But only fools would miss out on Scusa’s offer of an authentic Marsala-infused zabaglione and a Milanese pastry gem, the panettone. I admit I was partly melancholic as I was swamped with fond memories of seeing hundreds of panettoni sold in Italian supermarkets, as tradition wants it during the month of December in Italy.

Let’s face it, this is as close as you can get for a feel of Italian christmast in the country. And not to mention a brilliant chance to intimately wine and dine with one of the capital’s few Italian chefs.

Rapturous chef Luigi announced the soft panettone was also available at the hotel’s patisserie, the Deli, and whispered to my ear in Italian that he was going to dish out a traditional meal every month, starting with the pasta alla carbonara in January 2008.

I concluded there’s no excuse to miss the next special occasion, even if we’re Scusa. Oh, did I mention that scusa means excuse in Italian?

Scusa restaurant is on the second floor of the Intercontinental Mid-Plaza Hotel, tel. 021-2510888.

Arancini

Ingredients:

• 150 gr risotto rice
• 600 ml chicken stock
• 100 gr minced beef
• 50 gr Parmesan cheese, grated
• 50 gr green peas
• 20 gr parsley, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, choped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 200 gr bread crumbs

Cooking:

1. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the rice
2. Stir occasionally so that it doesn’t sit on the bottom of the pan
3. Let it boil for 20 minutes then add the minced beef, green peas and chopped garlic
4. Let it cook for another 10 minutes or until the rice is soft
5. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper
6. Remove from heat and place on a tray to cool down
7. When cool, add the Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and the two beaten egg and mix well with the risotto
8. Take small batches and form balls, 3 cm in diameter and roll in the bread crumbs
9. Heat up oil to 170ºC for deep-frying. Add the Arancini and fry them until golden brown
10. Remove and drain from excess oil
11. Serve with a spicy tomato sauce or mayonnaise

Recipe: courtesy of Scusa and the Intercontinental Mid-Plaza Hotel.