Honda Concept C

 Unveiled a the 2012 Beijing Auto Show, the Honda Concept C is study of a midsize sedan specifically targeted for the Chinese Market.

The Concept C previews a production model currently under development, and expected to go on sale in 2013.

The aggressive design is characterized by a rather flowing roofline and a sculpted body, with the surface treatment showcasing an elaborate interplay of sharp lines.

The focus on the Chinese taste appears particularly evident in the rather busy front and rear areas.

According to the company, the “C” represents “Cool,” “Challenge,” and “China”, while the sporty design that was inspired by the image of a dragon.

The product planning for this model was led by Honda’s Chinese associates and the development was done through cooperation between development teams in China and Japan.

Rendang tops best food list

TheSeptember best food of the world poll from CNNGO now puts Rendang at the topspot. In the July list, Rendang was at the 11th place.

CNNGO says: "And now, after more than 35,000 votes, it appears we gotit all wrong. The world’s most delicious food is not Massaman curry, as wesuggested, but a meaty, spicy, gingery dish from west Sumatra."

"Beef is slowly simmered with coconut milk and a mixture of lemongrass,galangal, garlic, turmeric, ginger and chilies, then left to stew for a fewhours to create this dish of tender, flavorful bovine goodness.
The Indonesian dish is often served at ceremonial occasions and to honoredguests. It's not only delicious but also comes with a simple recipe."

The revised list also has nasi goreng at the second place, and satay at number14

Asean Plus Culinary Festival at La Piazza

Bringan empty stomach and get ready to take notes, because Thailand’s Tom Yam Kung,the Philippines’ Tagalog steak, Japanese’s Takoyaki and sushi, Indonesian’s KerakTelor and Sate Ponorogo are among the delicious menus available at the ASEANPlus Culinary Festival at La Piazza shopping mall in Kelapa Gading, NorthJakarta.

The event not only features various foods from ASEAN countries, but also otherdelicacies from the bloc’s dialogue partners such as Japan, Pakistan and theEuropean Union.

Visitors can also meet a number of local and foreign chefs showcasing theirskills and sharing their knowledge to spice up the event.

“We love to attend culinary events because we like eating and cooking. We justtried takoyaki and the Philippine’s cake,” Noviana, a resident of Duren Sawitin East Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

She eagerly strolled from one booth to another, trying various foods and winesand collecting brochures about cooking utensils while her mom quietly satlistening to a cooking demonstration by two Cambodian chefs in themulti-purpose hall.

The two chefs, Sopheak Pov and Kompheak Seng from Topaz Malis restaurant inPhnom Penh, flew from Cambodia to cook three original dishes — beef sour soupwith thnoung leaves, phrohok ktis chicken and amok fish.

The three-day event, which runs until Sunday, is held in conjunction withIndonesia serving as ASEAN chair this year. The Foreign Affairs Ministryappointed the Indonesian Chef Association (ICA) to conduct the event.

Live cooking demonstrations attracted the most people on Saturday. Chef YongkiGunawan generously shared his tips in making soft and juicy beef satays whilecracking jokes with the audience.

Previously at noon, celebrity chef Ragil Wibowo cooked giant bakpao (steamedchinese cakes with fillings) for visitors in the outdoor venue as a part ofMakan Besar (eating big portions), a culinary program on Trans 7 televisionchannel. Dozens of visitors swarmed for his chocolate, meat and chicken bakpaoright after he finished steaming them.

The culinary outdoor area, which has tropical nuance, is decorated withJavanese wooden gazebos, bamboo, batik and haystacks. There are 34 boothsfeaturing various delicacies. Some booths have ready-to-eat dishes, whileothers, such as the Penang restaurant, perform live cooking shows.

Many visitors lined up dutifully to buy German curly cakes at the EuropeanUnion stall. Yohan, a resident of Kelapa Gading, said that the sweet cake wasnice, but that the original he ate in Germany was better.

“Somehow, I felt a slightly different taste. Maybe there are some certaindifferent ingredients,” he said.

If you come to the venue in the blistering heat of the afternoon, therecommended beverage is Thai tea from Suan Thai, a Bangkok restaurant that isopen daily in Cideng, Central Jakarta. The sweet and fresh taste of thebeverage, which has similar color to carrot juice, will quench your thirst.

Tourism Ministry Looks to Rendang, Shopping to Boost Tourist Numbers

Two of Indonesia’s most-loveddishes — rendang (meat curry) and nasi goreng (fried rice) — are being toutedas the key to boosting tourism in the country, along with shopping.

According to survey data from the Ministry of Tourism, 51 percent of local andforeign tourists in Indonesia have two main objectives: bargain-hunting andsampling the country’s distinctive cuisine.

“For foreign tourists, the biggest source of spending is in the restaurant,”Marie Elka Pangestu, the newly appointed minister of tourism, said onWednesday. “Meanwhile, for local tourists, the biggest source of spending isshopping. We will focus on and intensify shopping and culinary tourism.”

Marie said the ministry would focus on promoting iconic Indonesian dishes suchas rendang, nasi goreng and the sweet glutinous rice drink known as cendol.

“Now we have to think about how to sell the concept,” Marie said. “We willdiscuss it.”

She also said the ministry was planning a push to promote shopping among localtourists, as many came to Java seeking a wider selection of brands andproducts.

Australian chefs turning Bali into a global food-lovers' favourite

In The 2½ years since former Sydneysider KathTownsend took on the executive chef role at luxury Ubud resort Maya, she haswitnessed a momentum that shows no signs of slowing.

''This season has been insane … and my first one was a record for Bali, despitethe global financial crisis in Australia,'' Townsend says. ''The high seasonused to start at the end of June; now it starts at the beginning, even in Ubud,and we're supposed to be the village, boutique area.''

Townsend has worked in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and spent severalyears as Bill Granger's right-hand woman at Bills in Darlinghurst.

She says there has been an influx of Australian chefs in Bali. It can feel asif there are more award-winning foreign chefs and restaurateurs there now thanthere are surfers, at least in the busiest areas of Seminyak, Legian and Ubud.

Townsend reels off a few names: Stephen Moore, a former Rockpool guy at CocoonBeach Club in Kuta; and in Ubud, Nicolas Lazzaroni, a chef who made a name forhimself in Byron Bay and ''takes his food very seriously at Bridges''.

''The general managers here really like Aussie chefs,'' Townsend says. ''Theythink we have a 'give it a go' attitude. I've been employable in Asia becausethey tell me I'm not like some European chefs; I don't have the 'this is mykitchen, stay out' attitude. We get on with it.''

There are many theories about the flourishing dining scene. One highlights the''new'' money coming in from Jakarta, China, Russia and India. There is alsothe fact that Italians and the French have always loved Bali and, as economicwoes dog Europe, the island's value for money, great weather and exoticism makeit a perfect alternative.

Australian interest is also part of the picture: the number of Australiantourists choosing Bali for their holidays rose about 27 per cent (on theprevious year) and was nudging 350,000 in the first half of last year.

Chocolate With a Bite of Luxury

It wouldn’t be a proper Valentine’s Day withoutchocolate, as chocolatiers all over the world know. In Bandung, two cacaocrafters have been hard at work to create the sweetest, most creative offeringsfor lovers in search of the perfect treat this holiday.

Chocolatier Kiki Gumelar, who sells his Chocodot brand of sweets, came up witha package called TekananBatin Cinta (Love Under Mental Pressure), or TBC, for Valentine’sDay this year. The package includes five fun varieties: coklat gawat darurat (emergencychocolate), coklatanti galau (anti-mellow chocolate), coklat tolak miskin (poor-repellent chocolate), coklat badai tsunami (tsunami wavechocolate) and coklatsesuwatu banged (chocolate for something meaningful).

“Our flavors represent the feelings that people experience when they’re inlove,” Kiki said.

Each chocolate bar also contains a message. Loosely translated from Indonesian,the anti-mellow chocolate, for example, says it “comes in handy forhopelessness, exam failures, unrequited love, nightmares, hesitation,nervousness and doubt.”

And the humor doesn’t end there. The message goes on to read, “100 percentstylish, 100 percent confident, 100 percent presence, 100 percent narcissistic,and bye bye to calories.”

“I want to make people smile,” Kiki said. “And people can then give somethingfunny or unique to their loved ones.”

Although Kiki has achieved a light, casual feel with his products, he isserious when it comes to actually making them, experimenting with differentflavors and choosing only top quality chocolate for his Valentine’s Dayselections.

He uses a mix of dark, white and milk chocolate for his products, combiningthem with unusual flavors such as chili. For example, the tsunami flavorincludes extra spice to give tasters a surprise upon the first bite.

In addition to his TBC offerings, Kiki has two other special editions that comewith equally creative names: coklatcegah alay (cheesiness preventive chocolate) and coklat enteng jodoh(easy-to-get-a-soulmate chocolate), which have bittersweet and sweet flavors,respectively.

When it comes to naming the flavors, he considers lingo from social media.

“I’m mostly inspired by daily conversations with my friends, primarily throughthe microblogging Web site Twitter,” he said. “People use different kinds oflanguage when they communicate or post their status updates on Twitter. I wantmy chocolate to be updated and relevant for those who are accustomed to theInternet and social media.”

Kiki says his products became best-sellers last year, and this year he isconfident he can repeat that success.

“For the TBC packages, we sold 1,000 chocolate bars in just the first hourduring the launch earlier this month,” he said.

Valentine’s Day is also a special occasion for chocolatier Adisty Halim, 25,the owner of Dhestchza chocolate products.

Adisty started her chocolate business in Bandung after graduating from highschool, and today she specializes in unique, artistic chocolates. She sellseverything from chocolate bars to 3D creations, and she invites people to placecustom orders on Valentine’s Day with no additional charge.

“Customers can request special designs and even flavors for Valentine’s Daygifts,” she said, adding that the most difficult orders last year were for a 3Dchocolate violin and piano.

“Since we didn’t have the molds, we had to make them [the molds] first,” shesaid. “But we didn’t charge the customers for the extra work and cost. We onlycharged them for the amount of chocolate used for the designs.”

This year, Adisty is offering several designs, including chocolate shaped likea heart puzzle and another like a 3D heart and rose.

“For flavors, we try to follow the trends as well as customers’ wishes,” shesaid. “We want our customers to be able to keep their gifts longer, so we makeproducts that don’t have to be stored in the fridge. People can just store themat room temperature without worrying that they’ll melt.”

Her shop on Jalan Kebon Bibit Tenga has already seen a spike in orders, sellingmore than 100 kilograms of chocolate this week. Her products cost about Rp50,000 to Rp 365,000 ($5 to $40).

With so many fun offerings, nutritionist Nur Fatimah has some good news: Inmoderation, chocolate can actually be healthful because it containsantioxidants that help protect cells against the effects of free radicals,which are responsible for aging and tissue damage.

But too much chocolate, she says, may lead to various health problems,including obesity and diabetes. Many chocolate producers use excessive amountsof sugar, she said, and advised people to instead opt for chocolate with moremilk than sugar.

“But best and healthiest of all is dark chocolate, so make sure you give someof it to your loved ones,” she said.