What are you going to prepare on food when you have a bunch of McDonald executives in the house for a meeting? Of course Burgers! And that’s what I did just the other day; McSweetBurgers, small, two-bite-size pastries. I am sure you have never heard of such burgers but actually they are easy to prepare and they look absolutely real with the exception that they are sweet.

The bun is made of Otello sponge, sprayed with dark chocolate on top and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The “meat patty” I have made of rice crispy, Pailette Feuilettine, Praline Paste and Milk Chocolate. The cheese was replaced with slices of mangoes, the tomatoes with strawberries, the lettuce with kiwis, tomato ketchup with raspberry sauce and the mayonnaise with vanilla sauce.

Otello Shell Recipe

250 gram Egg Yolk

50 gram Sugar

250 gram Egg white

100 gram Sugar

125 gram Flour

125 gram Cornstarch

Once again, month end and my monthly recipe for the group is due for submission. “Themed Coffee break” is asked and some of us had already sent in their creation. Being Ramadan and one of the three hotels in the Middle East what can be further than a Arabic theme? I am sure others in the group would welcome some ideas they can easily replicate in their property.

Om’Ali, a pudding made of baked puff pastry, nuts, milk and cream or a Muhalabya, again a pudding made of milk, Orange blossom, dried apricots and candied pumpkin with pistachio nuts can be done by almost everyone. Saudi Dates, in particular Kidiri Dates with candied Orange is a bit more difficult to get for example in Asia. However, similar quality of dates are almost everywhere available.

The entire recipe of this theme can be downloaded here.

Pocari Sweat  is a popular Japanese soft drink and sports drink, manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.. It was first sold in 1980. For years and years Pocari is about the only drink I consume on a daily base, even before I lived in Tokyo. In other Asian cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur 100plus is comparable with Pocari, a kind of a sports drink.

Pocari Sweat is a mild-tasting, relatively light sweet drink. The “Arctic Shatter” variety of Powerade-brand sports drink very closely resembles it, in both color and flavor. Ingredients listed are water, Stevia, flavourings, acids, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium lactate and magnesium carbonate. It is sold in liquid form, in aluminium cans and plastic bottles, and also in powder form.

The drink is also produced and distributed in other regional countries, such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman. In addition the drink can be obtained in the ethnic Asian areas of many cities around the world.

Curious Name

The reference to the bodily fluid resulting from perspiration in the name of the beverage tends to have a certain offputting or humorous connotation for native English speakers (to the extent that it has been parodied by humorists such as Dave Barry). However, the name was chosen by the manufacturers originally for the purpose of marketing the product as a sports drink in Japan, where people generally do not mentally translate names appearing in English and are therefore not bothered by the connotation. It was largely derived from the notion of what it is intended to supply to the drinker: all of the nutrients and electrolytes lost when sweating. (The first part of the name, Pocari, means “like a cloud floating in the sky” or “a situation in which a cloud is floating in the sky” in Japanese, and has a connotation of lightness, buoyancy, and ease. “Sweat” was apparently intended to suggest diligence and its fruits – the idea intending to connote to the user that Pocari Sweat works to make one feel fresh and relaxed. However, some Japanese apparently drop “Sweat” from the name in common usage.