Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: 2022

Saturday, December 3, 2022

YummY! - Spanish Tapas @ Bocado Kuala Lumpur

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YummY!

Jotaro's Food Review

Spanish Tapas @ Bocado Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - October 2022

During our 2019 cycling tour in Portugal & Spain we got to savour very good tapas, especially those from Restaurante Casa Pepe at Alcalá la Real. We even got to try tasty and artistic pinchos in Barcelona! After that pleasant experience, back home we were always on the look out for good tapas places! Now we got to try a nice spread at Mercat Barcelona and very good ones at Elli Rocks in TTDI!

This time round Lynne (the missus) had scouted out another tapas joint at Bocado, in Damansara Heights. It's entrance of a white-washed arched was a welcome that brought us back to our cycling tour of Zuheros with its white Pueblos Blanco of Andalusia region!

The moment we sat down a couple of glasses of White Sangria were there to welcome us; complimentary from the restaurant. It's light flavours tickled our palate and hinted of stronger things to come!

Kicking off with buttered toasts served with a dipping sauce of balsamic vinegar & olive oil.

Love this dip, and also love the bright and cheery Talavera tableware sauce plate it was served in!

Our first tapas was a simple one - rollitos berenjena - eggplant rolls!
It's a wonder how they have managed to roll a soft eggplant and have it infill with cheese! A nice soft start with slight crispiness which goes very well with the tomato puree and aged cheese that comes with it. I always like grilled eggplant, which bring out a musky flavour of the innocent vegetable.

These Croquetas don't look that fanciful but one bite into them and one will be hooked. A vegetarian tapas, these were made from fried mushrooms cooked with Béchamel making its creamy inside. I love this, biting into them slowly to feel the crunchiness of the bread crumbed skin and then slowly letting the juicy inside flow into my palate!

And a couple of red Sangria to celebrate the mood - it was an early birthday celebration for my better half 😄.

Do note that they have a stronger version called Sangaree, that also includes cognac, vermouth, etc. in its concoction; so do order the right one, pricing differs.

Something meaty - Chorizo Papas i.e. chorizo sausages stir-fried with small chunks of potatoes. As the sausages have been cut into smaller piece, the flavour of their air-dried meat have oozed out into the dish and the potatoes have absorbed this flavours beautifully.

Other than potatoes the dish have been cooked with slices of onions together with other spices to add more spunk to it. Chorizos are sausages made from of pork cured meat and get their smokiness and deep red color from being dried, smoked, and cured with red peppers (pimentón/pimentão).

In between bites do admire the blue Azulejo Ceramic Tiles hanging from some of the walls. Azulejo is a form of Portuguese and Spanish painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework.

Azulejo are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, restaurants, bars and even railways or subway stations - some of the nices we saw were at the Obidos Railway Station during our cycling tour of Portugal & Spain. It's a station that's hardly used, deserted in fact and most train passengers don't disembark here seeing that it's very close to Lisbon. Most will take a day trip from Lisbon.

And a surpise for us, the big man himself, Chef Ignasi Prats ..... perhaps I was asking too many questions and he most kindly came out to answer my inquisitiveness! He's a Catalan from Barcelona and was most pleased to hear about our cycling tour in Spain and Barcelona! Getting to know the chef does have it's little perks, one will see why later on!

And comes the most beautiful dish for the evening - Piquillos con Brandada. It's smoked Piquillo pepper (red peper) filled with cod brandade, i.e. slow-cooked cod with mash potato. The slightly salty cod meld well with the bland potatoes in the Brandade. The bright red Piquillo were selected bigger ones with their bases cut of they looked standing there like hot volcanoes ready to erupt! Although looking red hot, they were not that spicy - it's the next dish that would add a strong sting!.

These Padrón peppers dish should be taken as a starter to spice up the palate for more invigorating tapas to come! We had ordered it later, but nevertheless, it was a most welcomed dish. The taste is mild, but some can be quite hot. Drought-stressed plants tend to produce hotter peppers - we bit into the larger one seen on top and was treated to a hot lashing, burning our tongue. Seems like the stressed pepper has stressed our palate! But it was a welcomed feeling that added to our Spanish culinary adventure! Like several other peppers. Padrón peppers become spicier as they mature, their ripe colour is red.

Padrón peppers are customarily fried in olive oil until the skin starts to blister and the pepper collapses. Padrón peppers originate from the municipality of Padrón in the province of Coruña, Galicia, northwestern Spain.

In and around the town of Padrón, the stems are removed before frying. Removing the stems is recommended by major Galician pepper producers as they cause bitterness in fried peppers. Elsewhere, the stems are generally left on the peppers, and the stems are used to hold the peppers while eating.

Okay, these Marinated Olives served almost at the end of our meal, are usually served a the start as an appetizer in Spain. No fault of the restaurant here - it's not on their menu and are usually used as a condiment in their cooking!

Chef Ignasi hearing us request for these, had kindly served it to us a an individual dish, soaked in olive oil. Although there were just the two of us and we did not order much, his personalized touch has warmed our hearts.

A fitting end to our dinner - Churros served as a birthday cake! And the missus was happily most surprised.

The churros here are one of the better ones I have tried locally, crispy on the outside and fluffy soft on the inside. They were served with three dip sauces: Pistachio Creme Anglaise (the lightly creamy creme anglaise had infused with pistachio paste, making it more interesting); chocolate sauce (the regular sauce served with Churros), and berries-marmalade sauce (sweet berries combo with the tanginess of marmalade). My favourite was the pistachio cream!

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Below are Bocado's menu, at the time of this blog
(click here for online Bocado Food Menu):

Bocado's Tapas Menu

Bocado's Vegetarian Tapas Menu

Bocado's Mains Menu 01 (From the Josper Oven)

Bocado's Mains Menu 02 (From the Josper Oven)

Various sauces available including Chimichurri, Española, A la Pimienta and Salsa Béarnaise.

Bocado's Desserts Menu

Below are their Drinks Menu
(Click here for online Bocado's Drinks Menu)

Bocado's Cocktails Menu

Bocado's Mocktails Menu

Bocado's Drinks Menu

BOCADO KUALA LUMPUR

Ground Floor, Bangunan ECM Libra, 8, Jalan Damansara Endah, Bukit Damansara

50490 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +6012-9233206

Online Reservations: https://letsumai.com/bocado

Webpage: www.bocadokl.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bocadokl

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bocadokl

Email: info@bocadokl.com

Hours: 12:00pm-12:00am (Everyday)

GPS & Directional Map: 3.14990, 101.66511

(Click here for Google Street View)

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Friday, September 23, 2022

Art Gallery: Balinese Art 2018 / Balinese Paintings Bali Airport / Hall 8 More Balinese Dance & Community

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Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels

BALINESE PAINTINGS AT BALI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Hall 8 - More Balinese Dance & Community

Bali, Indonesia - November 2018

?While on a cycling trip in Bali, on an invitation by the Brompton Owners Bali group, we visited several places. Bali is an island full of art, whether at its attractive temples, palaces, water parks or just around any corner. And we saw many beautiful pieces. even as we were waiting to board our return flight, at the International Departure Halls of the Bali Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Below are some of the paintings that we saw at Halls 8. These paintings depict more Balinese dances, and community culture of Bali. The above painting shows Baris Tunggal dancers in traditional costumes - Baris is a family of traditional war dances in Bali, Indonesia, accompanied by gamelan, in which dancers depict the feelings of a young warrior prior to battle, glorify the manhood of the triumphant Balinese warrior, and display the sublimity of his commanding presence. Baris derives its name from the word bebarisan, which literally means "line" or "file formation", referring to the soldiers who served the ancient rajas of Bali.

Due to photography angle, and for presentation purposes, many of photos have been cropped and edited to compensate for low lighting. It is better to go there and see these artwork for yourself. Enjoy!

This is page 5 of a 6-page blog, Click Here To Go To Main Page.

< Go to Hall 7 | Go to Other Halls | Go to Hall 9B >

Male Janger dancers.

Janger is a 'flirtatious youth group dance which begins with a tableau vivant and a welcoming song. This is followed by 12 male dancers (kecak) who perform an elaborate routine; when finished, they sit in two rows of six facing each other .....

..... and a female group (janger) enters and sings a traditional folk song, and perform a slower dance with an 'emphasis on fluid, undulating, arm movements.

Kecak dancers.

This dance is performed by a circle of as many as 150 performers wearing checked cloths around their waists, percussively chanting "chak" and moving their hands and arms. The performance depicts a battle from the Ramayana, in which the monkey-like Vanaras, led by Hanuman, help Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.

Now this is an interesting dance, with the ladies's routine partly on swings.

Mageret pandan Balinese silat fighting.

Perang pandan (lit. pandan battle) is a Balinese tradition of ritual combat with clubs made of pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius). It is known in the Balinese language as mageret pandan or makare-kare. Perang pandan is practiced by the Bali Aga population of Tenganan village in Karangasem Regency, Indonesia. The people of Tenganan are devotees of the deity Indra. To honour Indra as a warrior god, many major religious festivals in Tenganan involve a ritualistic battle.

Young boys practicing silat.

Balinese celebrating Melasti.

Melasti is a Hindu Balinese purification ceremony and ritual, which according to Balinese calendar is held several days prior to the Nyepi holy day. It is observed by Hindus in Indonesia, especially in Bali. Melasti was meant as the ritual to cleanse the world from all the filth of sin and bad karma, through the symbolic act of acquiring the Tirta Amerta, "the water of life". Melasti ceremony is held on the edge of the beach with the aim to purify oneself of all the bad things in the past and throw it to the ocean. In Hindu belief, the source of water such as lake and sea water, are considered as the source of life(Tirta Amrita).

A temple ceremony.

Balinese ladies carrying fruit offering baskets (gebongan) on their head.

Balinese ladies preparing fruit baskets (gebongan) for offering.

Balinese having a traditional communal meal called Makan Megibung) at a gathering.

Makan Megibung - which roughly translates to "Togetherness Shared Eating" - is a dining occasion that demonstrates togetherness in Balinese life. It is an activity where some people sit together and share the food from one big plate or, more traditionally, off of a big piece of banana leaf. The tradition that originated in the Karangasem is actually not only about sharing the food - throughout the dinner people can engage in a light conversation and get to know each other better. The word Megibung derives from the Balinese word gibung, which means “share with each other”.

Balinese offerin Ceper prayer basket for Canang Sari at a shrine.

The ceper basket is squarish four to five inch square and are weaved from palm leaves. They function as a tray for putting the Canang Sari.

Canang Sari is one of the daily offerings made by Balinese Hindus to thank the Balinese supreme god Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa in praise and prayer. Canang Sar can be seen in the Balinese temples (pura), on small shrines at public places (like markets), in houses, and on the ground entrance to shops, etc. or as a part of a larger offering. The phrase acnang Sari is derived from the Balinese words sari (essence) and canang (a small palm-leaf basket as the tray). Canang itself consists of two syllables from the Kawi language: ca (beautiful) and nang (purpose).

At communal shrines offering prayers and receiving blessings.

At a traditional Balinese village market, a new bride seems to be shopping with her maid.

A procession carrying a statue of Rangda.
Rangda is the demon queen of the Leyaks in Bali, according to traditional Balinese mythology. Terrifying to behold, the child-eating Rangda leads an army of evil witches against the leader of the forces of good - Barong. The battle between Barong and Rangda is featured in a Barong dance which represents the eternal battle between good and evil.
Rangda is a term in old Javanese that means "widow".

Craftsmen at work while a fierce wild boar statue oversees them.