If you're wondering what to order for your company Christmas lunch or just a gathering of family and friends at your place, look no further. I've always liked Grain, a food company that offers delivery of healthy ready-to-eat meals and now, a catering service. Recently, I found out that their team consists of former chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants! That explains why their food tastes so luxe.
For the month of December, the team came up with a delightful Christmas catering menu that has unexpected combinations of fresh ingredients that have been thoughtfully prepared.
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| Maple Glazed Whole Turkey (S$118) |
When asked about this year's Christmas menu, Grain's Director of Food Product, Rifeng Gao said, "We want to go beyond roast turkey, Santa and the usual works. Our guests can look forward to a multi-sensory campfire hot chocolate live station, unexpected and delightful ingredients pairing and a (uniquely Grain) surprise station that captures the spirit of gratitude during this festive season."
Healthy wholesome food
Grain's dishes are fundamentally rich in nutrition and contain the right amount of everything - down to salt, sugar, healthier oils and house-ade dressings. This reflects Grain's leadership in advocating ta better way to eat everyday.
But the taste-test is always key, isn't it? So you've seen the photo of the big bird above. I like the maple glaze because it's a little more complex on the tastebuds compared to honey but still delivers that slight tinge of sweetness and lovely smokey flavour once it caramelises. But, a turkey is still a turkey and while the flesh wasn't very dry, it wasn't very exciting to eat. Big on drama for sure.
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| Slow-roasted Beef Tenderloin (S$128) |
Now, the beef is something to shout about! The tenderloin is first sous vide before roasting to give that nice browning around the edges. As a result, the beef was oh so tender, juicy and still packs in a lot of flavour. The cranberry sauce was also a very interesting touch to the whole dish. Oh...I nearly forgot about the potatoes that come along with it. It too was very good. Imagine your IKEA Swedish meatballs as a whole steak instead. But 100x more satisfying because it's not ground meat and you can see every ingredient that you're eating. No fillers.
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| Sweet Citrus Salmon Parcel |
I guess the team was inspired by the wrapping and unwrapping of presents, which was why they have a Salmon Parcel as part of the Christmas menu. this is only available in the Christmas Party Set and the Christmas Buffet (details further below). Now, cooking a fish (or a chicken) wrapped in paper is nothing new. It kinda is like steaming the protein of choice in its own juice and sauces. As such, the fish is normally kept moist and infused with all taste of the herbs placed inside.
Grain's Salmon Parcel, therefore, was expectedly moist and not overcooked, with a nice hint of the lime and lemons placed inside. This dish is good fun for those who have not experienced a paper-wrapped fish before!
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| Honey-roasted Brussels Sprouts |
Now this was the unexpected mix in my opinion. The Honey Roasted Brussels Sprouts is actually a mélange of assorted vegetables such as sweet potato (please don't tell me that technically this is a root), pickled guava, brussels sprouts and cranberries. All the veg is then roasted with honey for a sweet and savoury treat. If you're not into brussels sprouts, then you can also opt for Roasted Winter Vegetables with charred pineapple (isn't this a tropical fruit though?).
What I loved about this dish is that the pickled guava gave it a slight tartness, which you'd expect from a salad dressing but not everybody loves a vinaigrette. And as guava is a tropical fruit, it added a nice Asian twist to what could be a very Western dish. Luke usually isn't into brussels sprouts as some places either boil it to oblivion or it could also be a bit bitter. Grain's brussels sprouts were not bitter nor overcooked, which explains why they taste exactly like mini cabbages.
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| Autumn Kale & Brie Salad |
Crunchy sprigs of curly kale are tossed with and earl grey emulsion before chopped pecans, cranberries and mandarin oranges are added for a burst of flavour and colour. Then the creaminess is brought about with the chunks of brie that the team has specially sourced so that it doesn't have too pungent a flavour.
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| Tamarind Vinaigrette Capellini |
I like the Asian-inspired pasta dish because instead of balsamic vinegar, they used tamarind (asam) and so this really brought it to Asia for me on the taste buds then you've got Western from the olives, cherry tomatoes and the capellini but you'll be brought back to Asia again with the edamame. Fusion dishes tend to be hard to do but Grain has really done it with this dish!
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| Wild Mushroom Pesto Pasta |
But if you prefer a more Western tasting dish, then the Wild Mushroom Pesto Pasta will do the trick. It is rich and creamy without being overpoweringly so. I can imagine this with a dash of truffle oil to kick it up a notch!
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| Christmas Spiced Rice |
We Asians love our rice, don't we so why not incorporate some into Christmas? This dish has fluffy basmati rice as it's base and is infused with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and star anise before being topped with thyme-roasted pumpkin and pomegranate. The colours on the dish alone look very festive and taste-wise, it's fragrant but not too overpowering because you'll be eating other dishes with it.
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| Lychee Rose Yule Log (front; S$42) and Holiday Walnut Cake (back) |
Now...what's a Christmas meal without dessert, am I right? The 'normal' one would be the Holiday Walnut Cake that is just cake with walnut and cranberries, served with rhubarb cherry compote. Grain has its Lychee Rose Yule Log that is a lychee sponge cake that is frosted with rose cream and filled with a sour-sweet raspberry coulis topped with matcha crumble, freeze-dried raspberries, fresh blueberries and cinnamon.
While the cakes were light and relatively yummy, I've been spoilt by Pine Garden's Lychee Martini cake. Hence, any other lychee cake often loses hands down to it (in my opinion). Grain's lychee log cake put up a good fight but tastewise, it was like a weak bandung confectionary with toppings that kinda paired with it but lacks that strong lychee flavour.
But hey, it's still a damn good meal that got washed down with Grain's specially brewed Rosemary Iced Tea that's chilled and aromatic because it's black tea spiked with apple and pomegranate juice with hints of rosemary and cloves.
If you really want to wow your guests, go for their Campfire Hot Chocolate (S$4/pax, min 30) where it is a live station that offers cherrywood-smoked cups of hot chocolate (56.5% dark chocolate) with a pinch of pink salt and then a skewered torched marshmallow. However, do have this in an airy area...if not the whole room will smell like a campfire or the haze.
So I say, make yourself a merry little Christmas party without the fuss of cooking with Grain!
So I say, make yourself a merry little Christmas party without the fuss of cooking with Grain!
The Christmas menu can be viewed and booked online at https://grain.com.sg/catering and the breakdown can be viewed below.
| Name and Price | Salad | Mains | Dessert/ Drink |
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| CHRISTMAS PARTY SET S$288 Good for 10 guests |
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| CHRISTMAS BUFFET TO GO 8 courses - S$17/pax; min. 20 9 courses - S$20/pax; min. 15 |
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| CHRISTMAS BUFFET 11 courses - S$18/pax; min 40 12 courses - S$23/pax; min 30 13 courses - S$32/pax; min 30 |
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Images: Grain and Luke Elijah
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