PastaMania introduces limited edition fusion menu for SG50

Mum’s Salted Egg Soft-Shell Crab at
12 o'clock, Prawn Sambal-Pura at 2
o'clock, Shiok & Spicy Chilli Crab at 7
o'clock and Hei Bi Hiam Barramundi at
10 o'clock.

PastaMania fans in Singapore can now enjoy their fusion pasta from now till August. The SG50 Menu consists of pasta with a local touch, featuring the winners of the annual internal Chef Mania competition in celebration of Singapore's 50th anniversary.

Hana Lee, Director of Domestic Retail Business, PastaMania said, "PastaMania has always prided itself on providing the whole experience of wholesomeness, range of dishes, ingredients used and in-store ambience and we wanted to combine this with the unique celebration of the nation’s birthday. It’s our very own ‘Truly Singapore’ concept.”

There are four ‘Singapore meets Italy’ fusion pastas, three appetisers, two desserts and three infused drinks to try. The mains are all seafood based:

Shiok & Spicy Chilli Crab
Chilli crab is a 'must try' for tourists to Singapore. Chilli crab sauce flavours this al dente pasta dish, which is topped off with breaded crab claws. The dish is the brainchild of Chan Kar Jung, Outlet Chef. Chan has been with PastaMania for eight years. It is his first time creating a winning dish at Chef Mania.

Mum’s Salted Egg Soft-Shell Crab 
Salted egg sauce has always gone well with soft-shell crab. A zi-char (Editor's note: local stir-fry) favourite, expect thick, fragrant salted egg sauce tossed with spaghetti and fried soft-shell crab. Wong Seng Kit, Assistant Outlet Chef, has been with PastaMania since 2011. It is also his first time creating a winning dish.

Hei Bi Hiam Barramundi. The raw hei bi hiam are at the bottom right.

Hei Bi Hiam Barramundi
This textured fish dish stars Barramundi from PastaMania's own fish farm for absolute freshness, paired with fried spicy dried shrimp. The tiny shrimp are called 'hei bi hiam' (虾米) in Chinese. Lim Yong Siong Calvin, Outlet Chef, has been working at PastaMania for eight years. While he has prior F&B experience, this is his first Italian restaurant.

Prawn Sambal-Pura
This dish is all about crunchy deep fried silver fish, also known as ikan bilis, large prawns and a sambal sauce that packs a punch. Ng Sook Enn (Ann), Senior Cook, has been with PastaMania for four years. This is her first time participating in Chef Mania.

Chop Chop Chicken Salad.

Appetisers include Prawn Salad Stuffed Tau Pok, which are deep-fried chewy tofu pockets, Chop Chop Chicken Salad which includes pineapple rojak, a local salad, as well as Nenek’s Secret Rojak - a mouthwatering mix of rojak and vegetable pickles called achar.

Sago Manis Gelato.

To round off the meal, sample two gelato concoctions: Goreng Pisang Gelato, inspired by the local deep fried battered bananas. or Sago Manis Gelato, a spin on a soupy coconut milk dessert with sago pearls. PastaMania offers a refreshing combination of sago, brown sugar syrup and gelato for Sago Manis Gelato, while Goreng Pisang Gelato features crunchy banana cornflake balls oozing chocolate topped off with gelato.

To drink, there are three Freezers: Apple Lychee, Milo Dinosaur, a twist on a local chocolate-flavoured powdered beverage with more powder sprinkled on top, and Limau (lime) Mint, a mocktail take on a Mojito, with basil and mint.

Apple Lychee Freezer.

Prices start from S$6.50 for appetisers, desserts or drinks, go up to S$16.90 (ala carte) for each pasta, and while a four-course meal will cost S$29.90.

Established in 1998, PastaMania is a 54-unit halal-certified chain of corporate and franchisee-owned restaurants; based in Singapore with presence in Malaysia, China, Brunei, Kuwait, UAE and Egypt. The brand seeks to bring great tasting Italian cuisine to the world at everyday prices.

Committed to offering high-quality dishes, only the “in-house PastaMania” brand of whole-peeled Roma tomatoes from Italy are used, and all pastas and pizzas are made from scratch at each outlet. The chain also provides delivery and catering services.

Interested?

Look for your nearest PastaMania outlet
Check out the local food terms at this Singlish Dictionary

*All pictures from PastaMania.

Procter & Gamble's 'Thank You Mom' campaign shows majority of Singaporeans are close to their moms

Source: P&G.

In a recent survey conducted by Procter & Gamble (P&G) as part of its Thank You, Mom campaign, results showed that 82% of Singaporeans believe that they have a “very close or close” relationship with their mothers.

The survey, which polled over 300 Singaporeans between 18 to 34 years of age, found that 62% of respondents would share selected details about their life with their mothers while 22% would “tell [my] mom everything”.

However, despite being close to their moms, only 5% of Singaporeans would say ‘I love you’ to show appreciation. Almost half (46%) would rather show affection by “giving her something she likes” and 29% would demonstrate this by “helping her with household chores”.

Madam Heng Aik Shian, Associate Director of Procter & Gamble, Singapore Country Sales & Asean e-Commerce said, “We have always placed significant emphasis on the importance of family and as a proud sponsor of Moms, the P&G Thank You, Mom campaign is driven by appreciation for the most important women in our lives."

P&G collaborated with local artistes and designers to create themed content in support of the Thank You, Mom campaign. These include the specially designed Thank You, Mom EZ-Link cards and voluntary work with Habitat for Humanity in the local community.

Source: P&G. The three EZ-Link card designs designed by Grace Ciao.

Grace Ciao, a Singapore fashion illustrator whose signature style involves integrating real flower petals into her illustrations, has designed a series of three EZ-Link cards themed around mothers and SG50 for the P&G Thank You, Mom campaign. To get these limited edition cards, shoppers at NTUC FairPrice simply have to spend S$30 on any participating P&G brand to redeem the cards from June 1 to July 31, 2015.

As part of SG50, P&G recently supported Habitat for Humanity Singapore’s Project HomeWorks to clean 50 homes in support of improving safety and sanitation in the homes of the elderly, sick and physically-challenged. Project HomeWorks aims to help the less fortunate in our society who are unable to clean their homes and as a result, live in unsanitary and unhealthy conditions. By mobilising volunteers in the community, this project seeks to ensure no one has to live in an unsafe or unhygienic environment.

Singapore's PGJC calls for Malay Muslim pioneers to share stories for a commemmorative book

As Singapore celebrates its Golden Jubilee, the Pioneer Generation Joint Committee (PGJC), chaired by Speaker of Parliament Madam Halimah Yacob, will honour the contributions of our Malay-Muslim pioneers towards nation building through a commemorative book and exhibition. 

The committee will feature 50 Malay/Muslim first-generation Singaporeans in the book, focusing on stories of hope, struggle and aspirations of the Singapore’s Malay/Muslim pioneers. 

The PGJC invites members of the Malay/Muslim community to nominate deserving pioneers from all backgrounds to share their stories and to have these stories chronicled in the commemorative book. Nominations are open to all pioneers who are still living or who may have passed on and can be made until 15 May 2015, here.