One telling thing about the mooncake festival this year was the amount, or lack thereof, of press releases I received about traditional mooncakes.
There are still plenty of those around, but it does seem that many restaurants are more interested in showcasing their new, unorthodox versions. Part of it is due to marketing - after all, a "strawberry-snowskin chocolate truffle mooncake with champagne nuggets" sounds far more exciting than a "traditional double yolk lotus seed paste mooncake".
Still, have we all reached a point where novelty and hype matter more than taste and tradition? Where can you draw the line between innovation and sheer opportunism? At the end of the day, does it even matter if a 'mooncake' is not a mooncake? Take a look at the following different mooncake collections and decide for yourself.
Xin Cuisine Restaurant's Mini Special Egg Custard Mooncake with Egg Yolk ($50.10) Holiday Inn Atrium Singapore
317 Outram Road
Tel: 6731 7173
This bestseller was created 19 years ago by one of Xin Cuisine Restaurant's longest-serving chef, Cheung Kin Nam. Chef Cheung wisely retained several elements of the traditional mooncake - there is salted egg yolk, as well as the traditional crust, which is very lightly baked. The real difference lies in the egg custard filling, which is creamy, moist and has just the right amount of sweetness. What makes this mooncake such a winner is the deft blending of the different tastes and textures of the three main components - the skin, the filling and the egg yolk. The combination just works - there's really no other way to describe it.
Cui Xiang Ting's Snow Skin Cream Cheese Mooncakes ($38 for a box of 8pc)
AMK Hub #03-12
Tel: 6853 0990
These mooncakes are targeted at the young and trendy crowd who are looking for something different. The snow skin cream cheese mooncakes come in three flavours - Strawberry Fig, Orange Almond and Macadamia White Lotus - and have a yoghurt-like taste as they are made from milk, cream cheese and various fruits. Plus point: all Cui Xiang Ting's products are certified halal, so you can even get them as gifts for your Muslim friends and associates.
Spinelli Coffee Company's Cheese Mooncakes ($4.80 each / $18.80 for 4pc) Spinelli Coffee stores islandwide
Spinelli's 'mooncakes' are, in actual fact, adaptations of their popular cheesecakes. The coffee chain has many expatriate customers, who do not take to traditional mooncakes well. This led the company to create its cheese mooncakes - cheesecakes shaped like mooncakes. There are four different flavours: Green Tea, Strawberry, Orange and Classic Cheese. Personally, I prefer the Green Tea and Classic Cheese flavours. This is best enjoyed if it is taken as a cheesecake, rather than a mooncake.
Starbucks' Snowskin Truffle Mooncakes ($36 for a box of 8pc) Starbucks stores islandwide
Starbucks' three new flavours are meant to be enjoyed with a cup of Starbucks coffee - an interesting twist on the Chinese custom of pairing mooncakes with tea. The Starbucks Signature Espresso Roast Truffle contains coffee and chocolate, Parmesan Macadamia Truffle has vanilla truffle while the fruity Raspberry-Framboise Truffle blends raspberry cream truffle with white lotus paste. Highly unusual flavours - but not surprising when you take into account Starbucks' consumer base.
Hua Ting's Snowskin Mooncakes for the health conscious ($10 - $10.50 a piece) Orchard Hotel
442 Orchard Road
Tel: 6739 6666
Orchard Hotel's Hua Ting restaurant is known for its traditional baked mooncakes, but even so, it is not resting on its laurels. Master Chef Chan Kwok has created three new flavours which contain no arterial flavourings or preservatives. There is Pumpkin Snow Skin with Salted Green Bean Paste, Green Tea Snow Skin with Green Tea Paste and Single Yolk, and Beetroot Snow Skin with Red Wine and Cranberry Paste.
It does seem, at the end of the day, that restaurants and hotels will continue to churn out all sorts of unusual flavours in order to grab the attention of fickle consumers. However, traditional mooncakes will always be in demand. People will eventually become jaded with avant-garde flavours, while well-made, traditional, baked mooncakes will always be appreciated, even if they are not always trendy or fashionable.
What kind of mooncake do you like best? Are you a traditionalist, or are you game to try anything new and interesting? Take part in our discussion here!
