Beijing is first location outside of the Americas to taste Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew

The China World Trade Centre Starbucks store in Beijing is the first location outside the US and Canada to introduce Nitro Cold Brew on tap alongside its classic Cold Brew. More locations are to come over the next few months, Starbucks said. The introduction of Nitro Cold Brew in China comes after a highly successful nationwide launch of Starbucks Cold Brew.

“We have been relentless in our pursuit to perfect our coffee expertise and Nitro Cold Brew is a firm demonstration of our significant investments in coffee-forward product innovations to deepen our coffee leadership position,” said Belinda Wong, CEO, Starbucks China. 

Source: Starbucks Drawing a Nitro Cold Brew

“Something magical happens whenever we combine our innovation with the unbelievable passion of our skilled Starbucks barista. The handcrafted Nitro Cold Brew will surprise and exceed the expectations of customers who are seeking a different kind of coffee artistry experience in China.”

Nitro Cold Brew is Starbucks' latest take on its signature Nariño 70 Cold Brew. Cold Brew is infused with nitrogen that unlocks the super-smooth, natural sweetness of Cold Brew coffee, which then cascades from the tap with a velvety and creamy texture that customers can see and taste. It is deliciously cold and is served unsweetened, and without ice, to highlight the flavour the cold brewing process brings out in the coffee. 

“Our customers embraced the smooth, full-bodied flavor of Starbucks Cold Brew when it was first introduced in China last summer. There’s a lot of time and passion that goes into brewing each batch of Cold Brew, so it’s been especially rewarding to see customers enjoying it,” said Xi Wen, Coffee Master and Store Manager, China World Trade Centre Starbucks Reserve store. “I am proud that my store has been selected as the first store in China to introduce the Nitro Cold Brew, and I am looking forward to introducing this new handcrafted cold coffee experience to my customers and partners.”

Recipes for cold coffee beverages are developed by Starbucks coffee and research teams, who taste hundreds of cups of coffee to ensure the right blend, roast and brewing method is used to create the perfect flavour profile. Starbucks Cold Brew features a blend of high-quality varietals from Latin America and Africa, which delivers a sweet, dense and smooth coffee punctuated with a chocolatey and citrusy flavour profile.

PastaMania Singapore introduces limited edition SG50 fusion menu

Mum’s Salted Egg Soft-Shell Crab at
12 o'clock, Prawn Sambal-Pura at 2
o'clock, Shiok & Spicy Chilli Crab at 7
o'clock and Hei Bi Hiam Barramundi at
10 o'clock.

PastaMania fans in Singapore can now enjoy their fusion pasta from now till August. The SG50 Menu consists of pasta with a local touch, featuring the winners of the annual internal Chef Mania competition in celebration of Singapore's 50th anniversary.

Hana Lee, Director of Domestic Retail Business, PastaMania said, "PastaMania has always prided itself on providing the whole experience of wholesomeness, range of dishes, ingredients used and in-store ambience and we wanted to combine this with the unique celebration of the nation’s birthday. It’s our very own ‘Truly Singapore’ concept.”

There are four ‘Singapore meets Italy’ fusion pastas, three appetisers, two desserts and three infused drinks to try. The mains are all seafood based:

Shiok & Spicy Chilli Crab
Chilli crab is a 'must try' for tourists to Singapore. Chilli crab sauce flavours this al dente pasta dish, which is topped off with breaded crab claws. The dish is the brainchild of Chan Kar Jung, Outlet Chef. Chan has been with PastaMania for eight years. It is his first time creating a winning dish at Chef Mania.

Mum's Salted Egg Soft-Shell Crab.

Mum’s Salted Egg Soft-Shell Crab 
Salted egg sauce has always gone well with soft-shell crab. A zi-char (Editor's note: local stir-fry) favourite, expect thick, fragrant salted egg sauce tossed with spaghetti and fried soft-shell crab. Wong Seng Kit, Assistant Outlet Chef, has been with PastaMania since 2011. It is also his first time creating a winning dish.

Hei Bi Hiam Barramundi
This textured fish dish stars Barramundi from PastaMania's own fish farm for absolute freshness, paired with fried spicy dried shrimp. The tiny shrimp are called 'hei bi hiam' (虾米) in Chinese. Lim Yong Siong Calvin, Outlet Chef, has been working at PastaMania for eight years. While he has prior F&B experience, this is his first Italian restaurant.

Prawn Sambal-Pura
This dish is all about crunchy deep fried silver fish, also known as ikan bilis, large prawns and a sambal sauce that packs a punch. Ng Sook Enn (Ann), Senior Cook, has been with PastaMania for four years. This is her first time participating in Chef Mania.

Nenek's Secret Rojak.

Appetisers include Prawn Salad Stuffed Tau Pok, which are deep-fried chewy tofu pockets, Chop Chop Chicken Salad which includes pineapple rojak, a local salad, as well as Nenek’s Secret Rojak - a mouthwatering mix of rojak and vegetable pickles called achar.

Goreng Pisang Gelato.

To round off the meal, sample two gelato concoctions: Goreng Pisang Gelato, inspired by the local deep fried battered bananas. or Sago Manis Gelato, a spin on a soupy coconut milk dessert with sago pearls. PastaMania offers a refreshing combination of sago, brown sugar syrup and gelato for Sago Manis Gelato,while Goreng Pisang Gelato features crunchy banana cornflake balls oozing chocolate topped off with gelato.

The Milo Dinosaur, with
marshmallow 'teeth'.

To drink, there are three Freezers: Apple Lychee, Milo Dinosaur, a twist on a local chocolate-flavoured powdered beverage with more powder sprinkled on top, and Limau (lime) Mint, a mocktail take on a Mojito, with basil and mint.

Prices start from S$6.50 for appetisers, desserts or drinks, go up to S$16.90 (ala carte) for each pasta, and while a four-course meal will cost S$29.90.

Established in 1998, PastaMania is a 54-unit halal-certified chain of corporate and franchisee-owned restaurants; based in Singapore with presence in Malaysia, China, Brunei, Kuwait, UAE and Egypt. The brand seeks to bring great tasting Italian cuisine to the world at everyday prices.

Committed to offering high-quality dishes, only the “in-house PastaMania” brand of whole-peeled Roma tomatoes from Italy are used, and all pastas and pizzas are made from scratch at each outlet. The chain also provides delivery and catering services.

Interested?

Look for your nearest PastaMania outlet
Check out the local food terms at this Singlish Dictionary

*All pictures from PastaMania.

Nestlé to remove all artificial colours and flavours from chocolate

Source: Nestlé.

Nestlé USA will remove artificial flavours and FDA-certified colours like Red 40 and Yellow 5 from all of its chocolate candy products by the end of 2015. The move will affect more than 250 products and 10 brands. Products will begin appearing on store shelves by mid-2015, and will be identified by a No Artificial Flavors or Colors claim featured on-pack.

“Nestlé is the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company and our commitment to remove artificial flavours and certified colours in our chocolate candy brands is an important milestone,” said Doreen Ida, President, Nestlé USA Confections & Snacks. 

“We know that candy consumers are interested in broader food trends around fewer artificial ingredients. As we thought about what this means for our candy brands, our first step has been to remove artificial flavours and colours without affecting taste or increasing the price. We’re excited to be the first major US candy manufacturer to make this commitment.”

Ingredients from natural sources can include annatto, which comes from the seeds found in the fruit from the achiote tree, Red 40 and Yellow 5 to replace the BUTTERFINGER centre. In CRUNCH, natural vanilla flavour will replace the artificial vanillin.

“We never compromise on taste. When making these changes to more than 75 recipes, maintaining the great taste and appearance consumers expect from the chocolate brands they know and love is our #1 priority,” said Leslie Mohr, Nutrition, Health and Wellness manager, Nestlé Confections & Snacks. “We conducted consumer testing to ensure the new recipe delivers on our high standards for taste and appearance.”
According to Mohr, this change affects Nestlé’s current portfolio of chocolate brands including NESTLE CRUNCH, BUTTERFINGER, BABY RUTH, SKINNY COW, RAISINETS, GOOBERS, SNO CAPS, 100 GRAND, OH HENRY and CHUNKY. 

Going forward, all newly launched chocolate and non-chocolate candy products (gummies, sours, etc.) introduced by Nestlé USA will be made without artificial flavours or colours. Additionally, Nestlé USA is actively pursuing the removal of caramel colouring from its chocolate products. Caramel colouring is an exempt-from-certification colour additive, which is used in nine of the more than 250 chocolate products.This follows similar moves by Nestlé in other parts of the world, the company said.

Mooncake flavours get more exotic

Mooncakes, a common corporate gift during the eighth lunar month*, are available in a wide range of flavours this year. Most hotels will create new flavours of mooncakes, while restaurants also get into the act with mooncake selections on their premises as well as at booths at various malls. Halal mooncakes are even available from brands such as Prima Deli.  

Early bird offers, credit card discounts and promotions for large corporate orders can also provide more value per dollar, but different offers are applicable at different locations, even for the same brand.

With sales (and deliveries) ramping up towards the mid-autumn festival, businesses are advised to put in their bulk orders in August, and to plan to buy in person well before the festival itself. The Goodwood Park's deadline for bulk orders, for example, on 29 August at 12 noon, while on-site sales end on 8 September.

Chefs experiment with new flavours both for the casing and the filling, with fruit-based flavours being the most common.

The Goodwood Park Hotel is offering mooncakes till 8 September 2014 at The Deli in the hotel lobby. Its new flavour is the Calamansi, Kumquat and Sour Plum snowskin mooncake, which contains bits of sour plum and sugar-poached kumquat, while the tropical fruit snowskin mooncakes Mango with Pomelo and Cempedak flavours are back by popular demand.

Goodwood Park is famous in Singapore for its durian mooncakes, particularly its signature D24 and ‘Mao Shan Wang’ Durian flavours. A new durian alternative debuts this year, made from the premium Black Thorn durian. According to the hotel this mooncake has "an intense bitter-sweet flavour" and comes in a gold-dusted black charcoal snowskin. 

This year’s collection of mooncakes at the Grand Hyatt Singapore includes four traditional and nine snowskin mooncake flavours. According to the hotel, all mooncakes are 100% preservative-free and do not contain pork or lard. Its two new flavours do contain alcohol, however.

The mooncakes are available for sale at the shop at mezza9 from 4 August to 8 September and also at the lobby shop on the ground level from 11 August to 8 September. 

Source: Marriott Singapore website.

The Marriott Singapore is selling mooncakes at the Hotel Forecourt Stall from 1 August to 8 September 2014. The hotel has introduced two new snowskin mooncakes: Italian Roast Coffee Paste with Vanilla Bean Custard, and Coconut Paste with Jhambiri Lemon Curd.

The Raffles Hotel supports online orders for mooncakes till 31 August, with a 20% discount for orders made this way. It will have two new flavours, including a snowskin Tropical Tango Mooncake (冰皮果味”探戈”月饼, pictured below in the centre), where a combination of mango, passion fruit and pineapple in a white chocolate shell acts as the 'yolk' of the mooncake. 

Source: Raffles Hotel website.

The hotel's mooncake shop will be open till 8 September at the North Bridge Road entrance. 

Sheraton Towers Singapore has an online order form up on its website and will offer mooncakes at its Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant, and at a booth at the hotel lobby from 6 August to 8 September. 

Three lotus seed paste-based mooncake flavours will debut this year: a lotus seed paste mooncake with cranberries and hazelnuts, a mini** white lotus seed paste mooncake with lemon mandarin, and a mini green tea lotus seed paste mooncake with rosehip truffle.

Source: Sheraton Towers website.

Mooncake promotions are also available in the malls, where shoppers can taste-test samples before they buy. Many of the well-known hotels and restaurants will be represented, including the Grand Hyatt, Goodwood Park and Sheraton Towers:

Ang Mo Kio Hub: 25 August to 7 September
Bugis Junction: 25 August to 7 September
Century Square: 22 August to 8 September
Change Alley: 11 August to 8 September, weekdays only
Chevron House: 11 August to 8 September, weekdays only

Compass Point: 25 August to 7 September
Junction 8: 25 August to 7 September
Jurong Point: 18 August to 7 September
Lot One: 25 August to 7 September
Nex: 25 August to 7 September
Parkway Parade: 25 August to 7 September
Takashimaya B2 Square (Ngee Ann City): 7 August to 8 September
VivoCity Level 1 Atrium: 19 August to 8 September

*The mid-autumn festival will be celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, which falls on September 8 in 2014.

**Mini mooncakes are about a third the size of traditional mooncakes.

Need to lift the mood in the office? Try ice cream

Got the Monday blues? Maybe ice cream will help, but it has to be the right flavour. Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, has discovered which ice cream flavours make people the happiest. 

Source: Baskin-Robbins.

The company partnered with Juliet Boghossian, a behavioural food expert and founder of Food-ology, an original methodology that links food-related habits to personality traits and behavioral tendencies, on a survey to uncover some interesting insights into how ice cream flavours can enhance or initiate positive outlooks for ice cream fans.

“It’s surprising to most people when they learn that specific ice cream flavours can increase one’s happiness more than others,” said Boghossian. "For example, the ice cream flavours enjoyed as a child can actually trigger happy memories, release tension and remove distractions in the moment. Ice cream lovers can also consume a dose of happy by choosing a flavour with mood enhancing ingredients like chocolate, coffee, almonds or mint.”

According to the survey, the thought of ice cream puts 72% of people in a happy mood even if they are preoccupied, stressed or in a serious mood, and 64% of executives say ice cream builds camaraderie among employees.

Based on the survey, the top ten Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavours that make people the happiest, with the first flavour on the list the most effective are:

1. Chocolate 
2. Jamoca Coffee 
3. Very Berry Strawberry 
4. Rocky Road 
5. Vanilla 
6. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 
7. Mint Chocolate Chip 
8. Chocolate Chip 
9. Pralines 'n Cream 
10. Rainbow Sherbet 

*Findings are based on empirical and quantitative research. Empirical research performed by behavioural food expert and Founder of Food-ology, You are HOW you Eat, Juliet A. Boghossian, between 2002 and 2013, with 200+ adult subjects, (50/50 male/female) residing in the United States. Quantitative data based on an online survey among 1,000 US adults 18+ (50/50 male/female), performed in 2010, using the field services of Authentic Response. The margin of error at the 95% level of confidence is ±3.1%. The top 10 ‘happy’ ice cream rankings were derived based on a scoring system which combined top flavour preferences among 1,000 US adults 18+ (50/50 male/female), and ice creams with the most mood enhancing ingredients.