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A sip of tea, a slice of entremets: Jakarta Dessert Week celebrates tea pairing
Enjoying tea reaches new heights when the beverage is paired with well-made desserts.
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Entremets and tea pairing event, part of Jakarta Dessert Week in October 2019. (JP/Muthi Kautsar)
The inaugural Jakarta Dessert Week (JDW), held on Oct. 7 to 20, is more than halfway to completion on Friday.
Notifications on sold-out events as well as photos of people enjoying the festivities at participating venues, such as Fotile kitchen appliances showroom and Beau Bakery Panglima Polim, have been posted on the social media account of JDW.
The Jakarta Post had the chance to attend a JDW event, namely a tart-making workshop and entremets-and-tea pairing at Arkamaya Culinary Education on Oct. 10.
Pastry chef Yosua Ekajaya, a 2016 graduate of Le Cordon Bleu London, gave the tart-making workshop, which comprised three tarts with different flavored fillings, namely strawberry, blueberry and lemon.
In between rolling the crust dough, setting it in the mold and moving on to making the filling, chef Yosua and the host of the event, food writer Tria Nuragustina, chatted about various kinds of pastries. What’s the difference between a tart and a pie, for example? What is a gateau? And what are entremets?
Tarts, of course, are a baked dish with a pastry base and a filling with an open top, unlike a pie, which is usually covered. A gateau, on the other hand, is commonly known as a light sponge cake with rich icing or filling, while entremets are a complex cake comprising many different layers, each made with various techniques.
Yosua also demonstrated how to decorate entremets with mirror glaze, which made quite a show.
First, a measuring cup (or a can, a glass or other things similar in shape) is put under the center of the cake to elevate the cake. And then the mirror glaze, looking shiny thanks to the use of gelatin sheets, was poured and swirled over the cake. The excess glaze inevitably fell to the surface, but that remaining all over the cake quickly set and after a few wipes here and there, voila, the chef presented a perfect mirror glaze entremets.
The mirror glaze demonstration was, however, only given to us after we “labored” on our own spaces in the long kitchen counter to decorate the previously demonstrated tart.
After the “laboring” and the mirror glaze demonstration, we were whisked to a dining space for entremets and tea pairing.
Read also: Juice pairing for special dining experiences
TWG Tea Indonesia partners with Arkamaya artisan cakery -which is founded by chef Yosua himself- to present the pairing, and promote the possibility of pairing tea with entremets, which is a fine gourmet product.
The first entremets was called Elsa, inspired by nastar (pineapple tart), which is popular during Idul Fitri and Christmas in Indonesia. Elsa is paired with TWG’s Alfonso tea, which is a black tea blended with young mango and a secret combination of fruit and flowers. For someone who is not much into cakes and pineapple tarts, I found the pairing appealing. The entremets with its mirror glaze is not only pleasing to look at but also delightful to eat.
Second entremets for that afternoon was called Elma, which is inspired by Indonesian traditional sweet delicacy klepon. Coconut and arenga sugar being the highlight of klepon, I found that Elma went far beyond my expectation.
Read also: (Not so) Similar tastes: Reimagining classic Indonesian Food
Klepon cake has been trending lately, but I’ll stick to the real klepon, as I thought most of the cakes were too rich and sweet. However, Elma is an exception. Its layers of mousse that bring the taste of coconut and arenga sugar are soft, light and airy, as if it teases the palate lightly but is suddenly gone, leaving the palate curious for more.
One of TWG’s best-selling teas, crème caramel, was paired with Elma. A red tea from South Africa blended with sweet French spices, crème caramel fills the “missing piece of the puzzle” for Elma.
The final pairing was between Eloise -entremets made of Indonesia’s famous Marie Regal cookies- and chocolate Earl Grey tea. I could be biased about the entremets as this is the one I’ve been anticipating the most, but I have been a purist when it comes to Earl Grey. However, while chocolate Earl Grey is unlikely to make it to my tea vocabulary, I find that this tea is very much acceptable when paired with the Marie Regal-based entremets.
Leaving the pairing event, I came to realize that nobody will ever need to add sugar to their teas if the beverage is paired with such delightful series of entremets.
