Courtesy of International Business Wales and their efficient Lynsey ‘The Organiser’ Taylor, I was off to introduce Halen Mon to the Far East at HOFEX.
Right from the beginning it was an easy trip, with transfers arranged from the airport to our comfortable hotel in Wanchai (the Red Light District, handy for those who fancied a little extra curricular activity).
The first evening was spent acclimatising in the Irish bar situated virtually opposite the hotel where some of our party met up with their charming son and his girlfriend. It was the kind of place where you think someone you know will walk in at any moment. From there we went to a ‘proper’ Chinese restaurant- being the only Westerners there was certainly a good sign. The food was quickly and expertly cooked and we had a cracking meal of seafood washed down with jasmine tea and Tsing Tao beers for £14 a head.
The next morning was the only free time in the week so obviously we had to do some serious sightseeing and shopping. The two activities were combined in a white knuckle bus ride to Stanley market and back. The service in the stalls and shops was truly world class; no one hassled or was rude, nothing was too much trouble.
Back to the Exhibition Centre to set up the stand beautifully designed and built by Stratamatrix. Wales stood out as an oasis of purity and style in the International section and attracted much positive attention.
Then to the highlight of the week. Thanks to FFB we had been included in a British Food Promotion in Hong Kong last November and had been chosen by the charming Executive Chef, Richard Ekkebus, of the Landmark Mandarin Oriental to be featured on their menu. I had emailed the Amber Restaurant to make a dinner reservation and had received a courteous reply confirming it, and also asking if I was celebrating a special occasion. When I replied that I was visiting as their salt maker I had a warm and friendly exchange of emails with Richard. On our arrival we were greeted with a complimentary glass of Champagne and Richard came out to discuss the menu. He kindly prepared the following special tasting menu which was so outstandingly delicious that it deserves to be reproduced in full. Warning, do not attempt to read on an empty stomach.
Teasers; cold, warm & hot:
Cold - Foie gras in beetroot jell-O ◦ pipette with raspberry & merlot vinegar reduction.
Warm - Cream of cauliflower & almonds ◦ smoked herring roe & chive infused oil.
Hot - “bitterbal” of chicken, mushrooms & lovage.
Amber’s signature tasting menu; voyage, a remarkable journey of discovery
Duck foie gras with smoked freshwater eel pressed in terrine smoked jell-O vinegared purée of white onion pickled nashi pear & chinese turnip salad.
New Zealand langoustines
Steamed with ginger root & welsh vanilla seasalt covered with paper thin chinese turnip, radish in sweet & sour dressing.
Blue fin tuna
Cubes seared, glazed with soy & maple syrup reduction ◦ shiso ◦ crispy chicken skin & lotus root.
Sea Bass
Cooked to perfection and served on a coconut foam ◦ granny smith and spinach salad.
Sisteron baby spring lamb
Roasted ◦ orange & ginger glazed turnips with rosemary, mint tabouleh, slow-roasted shoulder, pistachio & apricot samosa.
Jenever
& lemon sorbet ◦ farmer’s yoghurt pannacotta & juniper berry “kletskop”.
Welsh vanilla seasalt fudge with milk chocolate &
short bread ◦ brown butter & caramel ice-cream.
Interested gourmets can also check out the new Amber menu which features Halen Mon in two guises- on the dessert and the Au Naturel menus-where our Keralan Para’s pepper also makes its Hong Kong debut.
Sunday was the first day of the show and a quiet one as things turned out, as it clashed with Mother’s Day which is celebrated very enthusiastically in China.
In the evening we were entertained by Andrew Davies, (no not that one, I think he had other things to do back in Wales…) who took us to the American Peking Restaurant where we ate more seafood and, of course, Peking duck. Incidentally, can anyone tell me why it hasn’t been renamed Beijing duck?
The remainder of that evening was spent in Kowloon in the quite amazing Mongkok market. It truly was like a scene of the end of the world. I was amazed by the cleanliness and safety of the streets but despite that it felt so extraordinary that people would routinely come out at midnight to wander about in brighter than daylight streets.
Monday was a busy and interesting day at the show with meetings with Chefs from many of the top hotels in Hong Kong. Now all I needed was a distributor.
I had been visited on the stand by various companies all keen to trade with us. I now set out with Norma Barry of WAG to assess them. However, whilst each of them had good staff and professional presentation, the mix of products wasn’t quite right.
Monday evening saw us at the British Consulate General where we met the Trade Mission also out there from Wales. I spent some considerable time talking to Bob Rayner, the Deputy Head of Trade and Investment. I am glad to report that he has been converted to Halen Môn, especially the vanilla one, to such an extent that he has asked for stockists in Japan where he is moving later on this year.
After this we decided to take the famous Star Ferry to Kowloon and try another night market, firstly stopping at the Jade market only to find that its trading hours exactly matched HOFEX’s- surely a mistake on the part of the organisers?- so went to Temple Market instead. We resisted the attractions of the fortune tellers and instead did some serious silk, leather and jewellery shopping, finishing up in the uber cool Felix bar of the Peninsula Hotel. Those of you who have been there will have to forgive me spending a little time describing this amazing place.
To get there you take a lift up to the 29th floor. The lift itself is lined with what looks like ruffles of chocolate and feels like a cross between a brothel and a coffin. As it comes to a stand still outside Felix, the lights dim and you seem to step out into a stage. The hostesses are uniformly beautiful, dressed in long black shirts and moving gracefully around their golden lotus flower shaped stations. We were shown to a table overlooking the harbour where we sipped Champagne cocktails (naturally) and ate elegant snacks of tuna tartare and Caesar salad with a basket of breads.
We were enjoying our talk and our surroundings when the waitress (if that is the correct term for someone so professional and charming) asked if we wanted another cocktail. We decided as it was after midnight that this wasn’t such a good idea with work the next day. She then suggested we might like to sip some water instead. After another half hour we agreed we really should go and asked for the bill. I tucked the money and tip inside the wallet and also gave the girl a tiny Halen Mon, without which I seldom travel. Her whole body went rigid when I told her it was Welsh sea salt. Where in Wales? she demanded to know. North Wales. But where in North Wales? Anglesey. I went to school in Colwyn Bay she said. And more discussion later revealed that she had been there at the same time as two of my children. She said she would be coming to HOFEX the next day and would be sure to visit the Welsh stand.
Tuesday’s show was busy too. Keven, our Peninsula waitress, visited and was made much of by my Welsh colleagues who loaded her up with Welsh flavoured milks, granola, Welsh lamb cutlets fresh from the oven, Ty Nant and, of course, Halen Mon.
In the afternoon I had a meeting with Richard Ekkebus, kindly arranged by Kelly of FFB. He was keen to do more business and very kindly got out his Supplier book and leafed through it looking for a distributor for our sea salts. We agreed to keep in touch and I presented him with a rack of Welsh lamb to try, some preserves, a tin of laverbread and some hand selected giant sea salt crystals.
On my way back to the show I made a quick trip to Marks and Spencer’s to check out their food offering (not very impressive) and Harvey Nichols (non existent).
Back at the show I checked out the two names Richard had given me, one, a British company and the other with branches in Hong Kong and Macau.
That evening was a trip to Lama Island by motorised Junk which necessitated stocking up on liquid refreshments for the one hour trip to our chosen seafood restaurant. Despite being assured of the flat calmness of the sea (thanks Lawrence) it was a bumpy voyage. I was helped enormously by Patrick from Llanllyr and Grahame from Hybu Cig kindly talking to me and taking my mind off the torment my stomach was in. The journey back was much better, an amazing trip through velvet darkness on flat seas.
The show on Wednesday started with a meeting with one of our potential distributors. They seemed a great bunch of people; the products were a good match, I just needed to get some informal advice. I knew a friend of mine dealt with their sister company in England so I sent a text. Immediately my phone rang: Do you know what time it is here??? But he was enthusiastic and excited so I pressed on, having several more meetings that day and dropping off all the samples I had left at the end of the show, finally sharing a glass of Champagne with them before I left.
All packed and ready to leave the hotel, Nerys and I decided on one last shopping expedition. We headed for Landmark where we’d spotted a fabulous little restaurant earlier in the week. We had a bite to eat and then managed a few more purchases before heading back to the airport and catching the midnight plane back to Britain.
It truly was an amazing trip; I met so many wonderful people, kind, generous with their time and contacts, and enthusiastic about introducing Halen Mon to the Far East. I would like to record my thanks to everyone who played a part in that and especially to Nerys, my ‘Hong Kong friend’.
Watch this space for confirmation of our Far Eastern partners and new outlets.