The Montgomerie Club house & Buggy

My appology to all golf players and other fanatics; today I found myself the first time on a golf course and not even played! The Montgomerie Dubai Golf Course was the afternoon meeting place with my mates for a post Christmas drink so to speak.

Although The Montgomerie, Dubai has evolved into one of the Middle East’s most luxurious and desirable golfing destinations in recent times, the key to its success has always remained contingent upon the quality of the golf course that would become the focal point for one of Dubai’s most exclusive residential communities, Emirates Hills.

The Montgomerie, Dubai’s championship golf course was designed by Colin Montgomerie in association with Desmond Muirhead.  The course covers 265 acres which consist of 123 acres of turf, 49 acres of man-made lakes (a total of 14 lakes), 93 acres of landscaped gardens and is scattered with 81 large bunkers. 

Leslie & Maurice

The course provides the player with undulating “links land” style fairways with generous landing areas which challenge and intrigue all levels of player. Although large in size, the greens can be very misleading, especially as they are consistently rolling above 9.5feet. Plenty of shape throughout the greens can result in some very trying putts.

One of the signature holes is the par 5 fourth, dubbed the Snake hole for its saddleback fairway which doglegs towards the green, with two bunkers behind forming the eyes of the snake. Further on, the par 5 ninth, with water down the left, is a tough finish to the opening half.  The par 3 thirteenth, a hole designed in the shape of the UAE, boasts a 360 degree teeing area around an island fairway and green, allowing for a completely different golf hole to be played every time. However, it is the par 5 eighteenth that offers a more classic test. At 656 yards it is a monster and, with water protecting the front of the green, it defies even the best player to hit the green in two.

The Montgomerie, Dubai offers two very different seasons of golf.  During winter, the golf course is over-seeded whilst the summer season has the course back to a full stand of Bermuda grass.  The turf growth is vigorous during the summer resulting in a very challenging rough.

Adam & Reto

On my way home we passed an unusual car due to its rarity, a BMW Roadster Alpina, one of the most beautiful cars I have seen in a long time

BMW Roadster Alpina

The BMW Z8 Roadster is slated to end production in 2003 when BMW sells the last few hundred units of a special-edition Z8 – the BMW Alpina Roadster.
Located in the Upper Bavarian town of Buchloe, Alpina was established in 1963 as a BMW tuner. Burkard Bovensiepen, the founder of Alpina, got started as a BMW tuner in 1963 with the 1500 sedan.

Special BMW Alpina 20-inch wheels, in place of the original model’s 18-inchers, have five clusters of four spokes each. The wheels are 9.0 inches wide at the front and 10.0 at the rear.
The tires are Michelin performance tires with dimensions of 255/35ZR-20 at the front and 285/30ZR-20 at the rear. The Pilot Sport’s on the rear are unique to the car, but Michelin will ensure that replacement tires are in stock in the countries where the Alpina is sold.
 

Retaining the Z8′s power telescopic adjustment, the BMW Alpina Roadster V8 adopts a different steering wheel, with three leather-and-metal-finished spokes in place of the Z8′s “banjo” spokes. An Alpina logo replaces the BMW emblem on the steering wheel’s center hub. The cockpit is upholstered in Soft Nappa (distinctive from the Z8′s Nappa), with special piping and Alpina logos in the upper seatback. Three color schemes are offered: Black/Black, Black/Crema and Black/Sport Red.

Modifications to the beautiful exterior of the Z8 have been kept to a minimum. Without a spoiler, the rear of the vehicle could become unstable, so Alpina has limited the top speed to 161 mph. 0 to 60 mph is achieved in 5 seconds.

Alpina build 555 BMW Alpina Roadsters!

The original Z8 was powered by the BMW V-8 5.0 liter 394 hp M engine, the same engine used in the BMW M5.
The Alpina Z8 uses the B10 engine, a specially developed version of BMW’s “regular” V-8 engine. The Alpina engine is a 4.8-liter with 375 hp, with individual throttles for each of the eight cylinders and many other racecar-like engineering features. The power peak of the Alpina engine comes at 5800 rpm vs. 6600, and its torque peak occurs at the same 3800 rpm but is actually higher, with 383 lb-ft. (vs. 368 lb-ft).

Jamon Serrano & Chili Olive Oil Kipfler

The other day I was given by a friend some Spanish ham, “Jamon Serrano”, mountain ham from the black pig in the region of Spain. This called a special lunch with some of my favorite potatoes, “Kipfler”.

Preparation:

Keep the ham in room temperature for at least 24hours to adjust and sweat.

Cook the potatoes until soft and slice. Combine some mayonaise with salt and pepper, add extra virgin olive oil and chili olive oil. Toss the sliced potato and sprinkle with sliced shallots. Use fresh grinded black pepper and truffle sea salt to season. Arrange the slices of ham on a plate and give it a good grind of black pepper. Spoon the warm potato salad next to the ham and serve with vivigar sprayed greens.

Jamón serrano (literally mountain ham) is a type of jamón (dry-cured Spanish ham), which is generally served raw in thin slices, similar to the Italian prosciutto crudo. A foreleg prepared (and eaten) in the same manner is called paleta.

Fresh hams are trimmed and cleaned, then stacked and covered with salt for about two weeks in order to draw off excess moisture and preserve the meat from spoiling. The salt is then washed off and the hams are hung to dry for about six months. Finally, the hams are hung in a cool, dry place for six to eighteen months, depending on the climate, as well as the size and type of ham being cured. The drying sheds (secaderos) are usually built at higher elevations, which is why the ham is called mountain ham.

Mandarin-Laeckerli Pudding

Christmas is over and if you are like me and having Christmas cookies, Stollen, Gingerbread and Yulelog left over and sick of all that to be eaten, create a dessert for your friends and family who will for sure come around these days!

Having bags of Swiss Basler Laeckerli leftover from the celebration days before, I created a dessert with ingredients not always used. Mini Mandarin and Mandarin zest Olive oil.

Makes 4 Portion

240 gram Basler Laeckerli

200 gram Milk, full fat

100 gram Cream, 35%

1 Egg yolk

1 Egg

40 gram Mandarin Olive Oil

4 pcs. Mandarin

Preparation

Soak half the amount of  Laeckerli in cold milk for one hour. Combine the cream with the egg and yolk and drain the milk of the Laeckerli into the mixture. Scoop the soaked Laeckerli into your dishes and arrange the other half on top. Pour the liquid mixture over the Laeckerli. Brush with some Mandarin Olive Oil before backing in water bad for 20 minutes at 160 Celsius. When firm to the touch, serve with some Mandarin segements, Mandarin Olive Oil and dust with icing sugar.