As a professional taster and judge of food, wine and spirits it is my lot to experience the best (and sometimes the not-so-good) cuisines of the world. And I do appreciate the art and skills that chefs dedicate their lives to learning. Sometimes I am captivated by their ingenuity - and it's not always in the 5-star places that I find chefs that impress.

In many parts of the world travelling is easy and finding a new star in the making can happen almost anywhere. In Hong Kong I dined recently with an old friend at the new Whispers restaurant on the G/F of the On Hing building in Central. And it turned out to be one of the best meals I have had in many moons and surprisingly affordable.

The menu was inspiring with sous vide pigeon, confit of sea bass and very tasty short ribs. Trained in Australia at the celebrated Cordon Bleu, Head Chef Patrick So loves to make confit - that wonderful French innovation that cooks with duck fat. Its no mean feat to do it with fish - his was delectable. And to top it all, he made an Apple Crumble with his own home-made cinnamon ice-cream that was utterly delicious.

Now, we don't all have a sous vide machine, or the patience and know-how to produce a confit, or to produce tender and tasty short ribs but it's not beyond the expertise of a home cook to produce an Apple Crumble, so here is a recipe for one that was inspired by Whispers Apple Crumble.

It's a nourishing dessert that's been the delight of generations all over the world.

The tip to making a good crumble lies not in the apple but in the crumble; no water is added but sugar is - that's what makes the crunch. Having said that, let me add that I'm not an advocate of using a lot of sugar so I use red eating apples instead of the traditional Granny Smiths, which are quite sour. The usual formula for the crumble by weight is 2 parts flour, 1 part sugar and 1 part butter.

This recipe calls for 1lb red apples, 1 or 2 ozs sugar - increase that if using green apples, juice and rind 1 lemon or lime, 5 ozs plain (all-purpose) flour, 3 ozs butter, a good pinch each of grated cinnamon and grated nutmeg. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 while you mix the flour, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl, then rub in the butter a little at a time or mix in vigorously with a fork, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Peel and slice the apples - if you want the roughage keep the skins, layer into a buttered casserole, sprinkle with lemon juice, grated rind and grated nutmeg, cover with the crumble mix. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the crumble is browned.

To make this dish without an oven, stew the apples with the spices and a tiny amount of water to save them from sticking, adding the grated spices and a spoonful of sugar in a little melted butter - if wanted - and put into individual dishes. Place a couple of shortbread biscuits between sheets of baking paper or in a freezer bag and crush with a heavy weight, top the stewed apples with the crumbled biscuits and serve with ice-cream or yoghurt.

If you want to add a bit of one-up-manship you can make apple wafers ahead of time by slicing an apple very thinly, discard the pips, and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper in an oven preheated to 150C (no fan) and bake for 40 minutes or so until crisp and dry. Use them as a garnish on top of the ice cream.

(HK Edition 02/26/2011 page4)