Berry nightmare

August 20, 2010 in FINDING | Tags: , , | 1 comment

“Mari mari merry oom. Beli Beli berry boom.”

Once upon a time, on a dark silent night, a wizard cast a spell in Cameron Highlands. The next day, residents in Cameron Highlands were surprised that many of them shared the same message from their dream: strawberry =prosperous.

A brainstorming session began (and it never ends).

“Let’s grow strawberry.” Good, but not enough. “Let’s grow strawberry and engage visitors to pick them!” Seems fun. Kasimanis Strawberry Farm, Raju’s Hill Strawberry Farm, Healthy Strawberry Farm, EQ Strawberry Farm, KHM Strawberry Farm, Big Red Strawberry Farm, Mountain Strawberry Farm…On my last visit to Cameron Highlands, I spotted easily a dozen strawberry farms.

Strawberries. Strawberries. What to do with it? Eat it. Sure. Sell it.  Definitely. Process it. We have strawberry milkshake, strawberry and cream, strawberry ice cream, strawberry jam, chocolate dipped strawberry, strawberry shortcake. We have strawberry-themed restaurant like Strawberry Moment. Hey, but we still have TONS OF strawberries! Ideas! Ideas! Roti canai (indian flat bread) with strawberry, nasi goreng (fried rice) strawberry…F&B outlets are squeezing their brain to put strawberry in the menu. What’s the weirdest strawberry dish you ever tasted?

Visitors need to bring home all these luscious juicy memories. “Souvenirs!” Strawberry pillows, strawberry umbrellas, strawberry magnets, strawberry slippers… Red is catchy. Now, give me slogans. ”Think strawberry.” “Simply strawberry.” Try Sloganizer for more options. Not strawberrised yet? Stay at Strawberry Park Resort. Take photo with giant strawberry sculptures.  Make a homemade strawberry facial mask. At Cameron Highlands, strawberry never sleeps.

Strawberry is indeed a tourist magnet that brings prosperity to Cameron Highlands. The Highlands is crowded, especially during weekends. You picked or bought your strawberries, but you would probably be finishing it on your way back. No, not because these glossy strawberries that claimed to be organic are sweet and addictive. It’s because you are stuck in the traffic and are hungry for food. Flashy strawberry souvenirs are drowning the green landscape. Watch out, strawberry has gradually mutated into a ladybird and infecting Cameron Highlands. Should resources be spent on researching and improving strawberry quality? Or another strawberry themed toy or folly? Who is living happily ever after in Cameron Highlands? Strawberry or ladybird?

Ladybird is not a Bird

August 15, 2010 in FINDING | Tags: , , , , | 2 comments

Scenario A: At a fruit stall in Cameron Highlands

What’s the name of this fruit?

Cameron apple.

(Apple? It doesn’t resemble apple at all?! )

How do you tell if it’s ripe?

Light colour and green skin is not ripe, yellowish skin with dark purple stripe is ripe.

How much does it cost?

RM1 each.

Scenario B: At home with a few of these fruits at hand and an encyclopedia of ingredients.

What exactly is the name of this fruit?

Solanum muricatum. Or more commonly known as Pepino.

(Not related to apple at all, I really wonder how the farmers at Cameron Highlands come out with the idea of naming it Cameron apple)

How does it taste like?

Soft texture, taste like a combination of cantaloupe, honeydew and pear. Sweet and super juicy (bursting out like those oranges in Sunkist advertisement)

What should I do with it?

Eat by itself (skin removed), add to your fruit salad or like what I did: caramelised it and served with blancmange.

Back to Basics

August 7, 2010 in FINDING, HAPPENING | Tags: , , | 1 comment

One of the great things I learned by teaching others is to ask WHY.

There are a lot of recipes telling you: first you do this then you do that, follow by this and that. Even in a professional kitchen, you are so accustomed in doing things in a certain way until it becomes a routine or common sense. When being questioned, a more experienced chef/cook will probably answer: ”it’s just the way it’s done”.

Freshies in patisserie are like kids who like to ask lots of question. As papa or mama, sometimes you can get away with your kids endless question by saying: you will know it when you grow up. However, for eager freshies, they NEED AN ANSWER. Luckily, it’s convenient to perform some research on internet, and with the popularity of molecular gastronomy and food science, reference is usually readily available.

When making custard, why do you add half of the sugar to the milk and the other half to the egg?

Why not all into milk? or all into egg? Why half and half? Why not 1/4 and 3/4? Why? Why? Why?

1. If you add all your sugar into your milk, you may need to wait for a longer time for the milk to heat up before you can add to your egg.

2. If you add all your sugar into your egg, you may need to whisk it longer to ensure sugar and egg are mixed properly. Over-whisking will create too much air bubbles in your mixture. Too much air bubbles will affect the smoothness of custard like crème caramel.

3. Sugar is a poor heat conductor. By adding a layer of sugar on the bottom of a pan when heating milk can prevent milk from burning onto the pan.

So, actually in this case, it actually doesn’t matter how much you add your sugar into the milk IF your are mixing the milk, sugar and egg carefully. To be honest, sometimes, methods are just up to own preference or norm, no big theory. I’m definitely not a food scientist, but I believe understanding the WHYs behind the HOWs will give you more freedom to play around with a recipe.

Have fun WHY-ing.

So You Want To Be A Chef

July 27, 2010 in HAPPENING | Tags: , , , , | 2 comments

Why? Because I enjoy cooking for family and friends, you replied. Enjoy cooking, yes, it’s a prerequisite for a chef. Cooking for family and friends? Sorry, think again. You will be working nights, weekends, holidays. You will be so preoccupied with the list of things to prepare for the guests in the F&B establishment you work in until you forgot the last time you met with your family and friends. Hopefully, your family and friends will forgive you that you choose to rest rather than to cook for them after working 50+ hours a week.  (P/s: Perhaps that the reason cooks are not well paid?! You don’t have time to spend!)

If you can’t stand the heat, or simply can’t stand, stay out of the kitchen. You will be on your feet almost constantly. Before becoming a chef, you will be trained as a cook that performs monotonous chores rigorously. It may be the Nth prawn you have shelled for the day, but bear in mind Chef Louis Eguaras’s reminder: A chef’s routine is the customer’s special event. Even if you swear that you won’t eat prawn for the rest of your life, you will still need to shell it like the one you first did. Customer comes first, not your sore feet, not your hatred.

And did I mention burns and cuts? Stressed out by flooded orders and irrational customers? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not putting people off from pursuing their dreams to be a chef. I am just trying to share some insights of the real world, other than the Chefdom glamour portrayed by celebrity chefs on TV.  Professional kitchen is a hectic workplace packed with adrenaline rush. A great teamwork, a smooth service, and an appreciation from the customer are certainly the fruits of labour sought after by many chefs in the industry.  Don’t limit yourself in the kitchen either, because a Chef does more than just cooking.

Churros vs. Oliebollen?

July 11, 2010 in HAPPENING | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s World Cup 2010 Final.  Many people are betting. Spain or Holland? I’m not a football fan, I’m clueless.

Perhaps, let start with something I’m more familiar: food. Almost every culture has food made by deep-frying dough: donut, beignets, youtiao, and in this case, Churros vs. Oliebollen.

Churros is a type of deep-fried choux pastry often served dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. My churros con chocolate experience in Barcelona almost left me with a sore throat the next day. The chocolate for dunking is soooooo rich that I felt like I finished a bar of melted chocolate. Quite heavy for a summer breakfast but it would be ideal in winter. My advice: enjoy moderately.

During a trip to Rotterdam, I noticed a street vendor selling Oliebollen.  To a non-Dutch speaker like me, it sounds so cool and looks yummy. However, when my Dutch friend told me that Oliebollen literally means “oil balls”, I hesitated. Calories, greasy, it’s not an appetising name after all. Since it’s so popular, okay, I will try one, just one. Oliebollen is essentially a yeasted dough like a doughnut with bits of raisin and apple filling. My verdict: One is just nice.

Paul the Octopus has made his choice. Have you?

Food Myths in Cartoons

July 5, 2010 in FINDING | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Parents get kids who refuse to eat green vegetable to watch Popeye the Sailor Man. After gulping down a can of spinach, Popeye becomes so muscular and powerful. Wow, he is a hero. The cartoon, Popeye, is indeed a beautiful mistake.  Science studies later have discovered that spinach does not contain more iron than other green leafy vegetables.

It’s not just Popeye that is portraying food fantasies. Remember Tom & Jerry? Tom, the cat, uses all sorts of tricks to catch the mischievous but smart little mice, Jerry. Tom frequently sets mousetraps with cheese as a bait with no success. According to researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University, backed by the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association, mice prefer foods with a high sugar content, not cheese.

Cartoons are very influential, especially to kids who don’t have the knowledge to tell what is right or wrong. Even adults will fall into product placement marketing in movies. If your kids crave for pizza, have you let them watch too much Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

A Date with Cake

June 16, 2010 in MAKING | Tags: , , , | 3 comments

I have one off day per week. Only one precious off day. I’m going to give myself a treat. To be more precise, a date.

It’s a quiet and lazy afternoon. There are a bunch of things on my to-do-list but let’s put them aside for a while. When I was working in London, I’d prepared afternoon tea delights for noble customers. It’s too luxurious for me to have cream tea like the British with cucumber sandwiches, scones and clotted cream, delightful little pastries and cakes. By the time I get everything in place, the sun has set.

Just keep it simple, shall we?  A slice of cake and a cup of tea.

For tea, it will be mulberry tea from my lovely cousin sister. She plucked mulberry leaves from her garden and pan dried them her own. My oh my, couldn’t get any better than this. For cake, I opt for a date cake with subtle soy goodness. No fancy cream or icings, just apricot kernels to give some bites. Here goes the recipe:

No Nonsense Date Cake

110g unsalted butter, soften

90g castor sugar

100g egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

150g cake/all purpose flour

a pinch of cinnamon powder

a pinch of salt

120g soy milk (unsweetened)

80g chopped dates

40g apricot kernel (lightly coated with flour)

1. Sieve all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder, salt) together.

2. Cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

3. Add egg gradually.

4. Add in sifted dry ingredients and mix gently till even.

5. Add soymilk, follow by chopped date.

6. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased and floured baking tin (I used a 12cm*24cm rectangular tin), sprinkle apricot kernels on top (the flour coating on the kernels will prevent it from sinking to the bottom).

7. Bake at 175°C for around 30 minutes till the top of the cake turns golden in colour. Insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean, it’s done.

I enjoy the company with my date at the most comfortable place called home. Where will you bring your date? A family picnic with cheerful sun and green grass? A catch-up chat with friends? A morning breakfast with your favourite cuppa and newspaper? A leisurely do-nothing afternoon with a good book and some music? Wherever it is, wish you have a great one.