Surprisingly savory
Once or twice a year, Swiss-founded hospitality brand Movenpick Hotels and Resorts runs a global food and beverage campaign for all of its hotels to offer to guests worldwide. A special menu is created by the Movenpick team to offer for a limited time, usually highlighting a particular ingredient.
“They try to come up with dishes that are easy enough to replicate with any local ingredients around the world,” said executive chef Jean Louis Leon of how the Movenpick food and beverage team designs the menu for the global campaign.
The star of this year’s menu is chocolate, but that’s not to say that everything on the menu is dessert. “Chocolate on the Salty Side” presents seven dishes that show that chocolate isn’t always just sweet, but surprisingly savory too.
What we thought was tuna based on its red color was actually beetroot salmon with vegetables and 72 percent dark chocolate. Tomato tarte tartin creatively combines goat’s cheese, pine nuts and coffee beans with white lemon chocolate.
The minute beef goulash has a traditionally made Hungarian goulash sauce made even heartier with dark chocolate. The lamb shank is slow-roasted and then refined with pistachio and hazelnut chocolate pesto. White chocolate, lime and pepper add a slight spiciness to the duck breast and potato pie.
For a sweet finish is the paves au chocolat, made of milk chocolate, crispy cocoa bean fragments, sizzling pecan nuts and matcha powder. Chef Jean Louis took care of personally slicing the paves au chocolat for each of us, which we paired with our preferred after-dinner coffee or tea. Just three tiny cubes are enough; unlike the savory dishes that just hint at it, the paves are saturated with a rich chocolate taste.
“Chocolate on the Salty Side” can be enjoyed at The Sails restaurant until Nov. 20.