Flavor Patrol

Gary Tucker
Posted: February 3, 2009

New York City-The tasting menu of Asiate chef de cuisine Brandon Kida in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York City leads off with its own mini tasting, a selection of six "raw" tidbits, each nestled in a Chinese porcelain soup spoon. In fashioning these intriguing bites, Kida draws from his Japanese heritage and a diverse array of uncommon ingredients, including myoga (a spicy type of ginger), sudachi (a citrus fruit similar to yuzu that is zestier and more aromatic than lemons or limes), and black garlic (garlic treated to a 30-day high heat, high humidity fermentation process until it becomes sweet with licorice undertones).