Krug in the Kitchen: Top Southeast Asia chefs pair creative canapés with its latest Grande Cuvée

Maison Krug has brought together chefs from some of Southeast Asia’s leading restaurants in Singapore for a culinary initiative by the champagne house that explores how Champagne can be used as an ingredient and inspiration in cooking.

In its 10th edition, Krug in the Kitchen saw nine chef-ambassadors — most of them helming Michelin-starred restaurants across the region — present creative canapés centred on everyday ingredients.

They include Julien Royer of Odette, Sun Kim of Meta, Kazumine Nishida of Shoukouwa, Kirk Westaway of Jaan and Denis Lucchi of Buona Terra. Rounding out the Singapore brigade are Kenjiro Hashida of Iyasaka and Daniele Sperindio of Art di Daniele Sperindio.

Across the Causeway, Malaysia-based chefs Kim Hock Su of Au Jardin and Masashi Horiuchi of Potager also participated.

The annual chef cook-off centres on experimentation and individuality. It also draws inspiration from how Krug makes its champagne. For every Krug release, Cellar Master Julie Cavil blends wines from more than 120 individual plots across more than 10 years to create the exquisite spirit, treating each plot as a distinct ingredient.

This year’s edition of Krug in the Kitchen was a retrospective of themes from previous editions of the maison’s famed single-ingredient programme. Chefs created canapés inspired by ingredients such as carrots, lemons, capsicums, tomatoes, onions and mushrooms in a sprawling space in the Japanese Gardens that mimicked a cooking reality show set. 

The chefs got creative with their canapés — chef Hashida crafted the Bell pepper croquette, while chef Westaway served fish & chips with potato mousse and caviar, and chef Lucchi presented the tomato tart with smoked eggplant, and chef Kim served mushroom toast topped with black truffle. 

The canapés were paired with the Krug Grande Cuvée 174ème Édition, which the region launched at the event. The Krug Grande Cuvée 174ème Édition is concocted from 143 wines spanning 10 different years, from 2001 to 2018. The wines have been aged for seven years in the Krug cellars. 

The champagne boasts crisp and bright citrus notes with hints of beeswax and toasted brioche. Adding to the complexity of the Krug Grande Cuvée is the addition of reserve wines from the maison’s extensive library.

The nine participating restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia are serving dishes specially paired with the Krug Grande Cuvée through the end of October.