Limited-Time Menu Showcases Flexibility of Cantonese Ingredients

By That's Guangzhou, August 23, 2021

A limited-time set menu has officially kicked off at Aroma, highlighting local Cantonese ingredients in new, creative ways.

Led by Toronto-based Guest Chef Nick Lin, the Canton Integration Menu accentuates regional ingredients such as black tea from Yingde and pigeon from Zhongshan for a truly unique dining experience.

Chef Nick Lin

The meal starts off with a choice of welcome drinks: herbal tea champagne (alcohol-free) or Chinese spirits Jasmine tea cocktail.

Welcome Drinks

From there, a long list of delicately crafted dishes ranging from gazpacho and clams tartlet to frog terrine and cappelletti and more. Each dish containing a distinctive Cantonese ingredient that blends Chef Lin’s childhood experiences in Guangzhou with his global culinary career.

Squab (young pigeon)

Below, Chef Lin shares the inspiration and process of this set menu, which is available until Sunday, August 29.

What’s the inspiration behind the limited-time Canton Integration Menu?
With this menu, I’m trying to find more possibilities for the local ingredients. When I was working at restaurants in Canada, I would always try to use ingredients from farmers in close proximity to Toronto because they are more sustainable, and I support local farmers. Also, the food tastes way better if it’s in season. When I came back here, I was thinking of doing the same thing as in Canada. This is the city I grew up. One of the selling points is using local ingredients and presenting them in a different way. There are a lot of possibilities.

Compressed guava

Black tea mille feuille

Is there any dish from the menu that you’d like to highlight?
One of the dishes that I’m proud of is the pigeon. I process it in two ways – the crown and thigh. I take off the crown and dry in rice straw, which is a local ingredient we use for preserving. It absorbs all the moisture, so when I dry age it, it’s a more intense flavor. the thigh has a special spice and is smoked with sugar cane – which is a part of the Cantonese technique. After it’s smoked, I grill them on an open fire and a bit of jus and finish with deep-fried ginger crumble. On the left side of the dish, you can see some red garnish, which is a local plum. I have three different ways to turn the plum into the garnish, including the use of amaretto, fermenting, as well as mixing with miso and turning it into a puree. The jus is infused with 10-year dried mandarin skin – it’s very floral and light and matches with the pigeon. I also use a bit of pickled young ginger with the pigeon.

Squab in two ways

What was the process of creating the menu like?
I spent two to three weeks creating the menu and set the theme first. The first thing that popped into my mind was local ingredients, so I used any ingredients within a 100-mile radius. Certain areas have ingredients that represent the culture or area like Yingde has very nice black tea and Nansha is close to the sea where there is a type of shrimp that’s very special and included in the menu. The cappelletti – similar to a dumpling – has this Nansha shrimp, cuttlefish, Thai basil, lemon and pepper stuffed inside. After the three weeks, I came and visited the chef of Aroma and check what we have available to complete the menu.

Cappelletti

What do you hope guests will take away from this menu?
I want guests to share my culinary experience from competitions around the world. Every place I visit I see what I can take away, and this menu is local and hopefully, they can discover the flexibility of Chinese ingredients. The frog terrine will have chayote, something we eat a lot here. When I visited Mexico City for a competition, I realized locals there also eat a lot of chayote.

Frog terrine