Garlic and olive oil spaghetti with tiger prawns is one of the new dishes at Tosca Trattoria Italiana at DoubleTree by Hilton in Shah Alam. - Photos: SHAARI CHEMAT/The Star
CELEBRATing an anniversary is always special.
To commemorate its first milestone, Tosca Trattoria Italiana at DoubleTree by Hilton Shah Alam iCity has unveiled a new menu.
Executive chef Lee Keen Suaan, 36, and chef de cuisine Afiq Ghani, 35, who helm the kitchen team, have cleverly created some thoughtful modern fusion dishes to mark the trattoria’s first year.
To fire up your appetite before the meal, start off with an aperitivo. The Negroni is served in a glass dome filled with smoke from wood chips and cinnamon – possibly the strongest flavour I have ever tasted.
I learn that bartenders use equal amounts of gin, Campari and vermouth served with an ice sphere, and “stirred, never shaken” to give this drink its edge.
At the trattoria entrance is a planter box filled with 18 varieties of edible herbs and plants, such as thyme, tarragon, mint and Brazilian spinach.
It supplies some fresh herbs for the dishes at the trattoria – which can be defined as a casual dining establishment. Cilantro, curry leaves and screwpine in the box hint at the fusion of local herbs with Italian dishes.
The Negroni is served within a glass dome filled with wood chips and cinnamon.
Eatery manager Fareez Ramzam, 31, said locally sourced farmed mushrooms from Bukit Gambir, Johor are used for the cream of mushroom soup.
The hearty potage derives its rich flavours from a mushroom stock and its shitake-porcini-white button combination. Truffle oil is used to elevate its earthy notes.
Other notable new dishes lined up are the five-cheese pizza featuring gorgonzola, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano and cheddar.
The Lyon pizza with turkey ham slices, burrata and fresh oregano deserves a mention too.
The secret to achieving that “crispy on the outside, soft on the inside” crust, lies in the use of low-protein wheat flour and the chef’s technique.
After 15 years of making pizzas, Afiq deduced that the proofing process has to be done at 23°C – any hotter and the dough loses its chewiness.
Meanwhile, only the ripest tomatoes are used in the Spaghetti Puttanesca for a rich sauce infused with sweet caramel-like notes blended with sautéed onions and garlic.
The strong notes of anchovies in this dish are tempered by the parsley and basil while bird’s eye chilli pierce through the palate for a spicy kick.
Parmigiano Reggiano that’s been aged for two years, is grated over the dish for a final touch.
Another dish the kitchen team is proud to present is the garlic-olive oil spaghetti with succulent tiger prawns.
Extra jumbo tiger prawns from Sungai Besar, Perak, are used with bird’s eye chilli to give the dish a fiery lift.
For maximum flavour, a prawn bisque is used as a base.
Lyon pizza with turkey ham slices, burrata and fresh oregano.
Roasted truffle chicken, braised duck leg, grilled lamb chops, braised beef brisket and Angus ribeye are listed in the meat section.
Some side accompaniment include roasted potatoes, buttered garlic vegetables, garlic confit and mesclun salad in balsamic dressing.
The salad greens are hydroponically grown and snipped fresh from their pots upon order.
As an alternative to the buttery roast potatoes, there is the creamy and flavourful “duck mash”, infused with smoked duck and accompanies the beef brisket.
The chicken marinated in truffle is cooked in a sous vide for one-and-half hours at 65°C.
To get that crisp outer skin, it goes into the oven for 10 minutes at 160°C.
The lamb chops are first slow baked at 160°C before being fired on the grill.
Devoid of any gamey hints is the braised duck leg. The duck is slow-cooked in its own fat like a confit.
Other memorable highlights of the meal were the 240g Angus ribeye which has a marbling score of seven, while the beef brisket, weighing 200g, is double-braised and smoked with hickory wood chips. Both are superb choices.
One of the ribeye’s four sauce options is beef jus made from the stock of roasted marrow chunks and butcher’s trimmings, reduced down to 30%.
For dessert, the velvety tiramisu comes in a molded orb, glazed with a shiny chocolate ganache and garnished with gold leaf.
There is also a Tosca’s version of affogato, where liqueur has been substituted with espresso dalgona to flavour the whipped mascarpone and vanilla gelato sandwiched between lady fingers.
Tosca Trattoria Italiana @ DoubleTree by Hilton Shah Alam iCity, Level 5, i-City Finance Avenue, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. (Tel: 03-5650 0200) Business hours: noon to 2.30pm (Friday to Sunday); 6.30pm to 10pm (Wednesday to Sunday).
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.
