#4 Kuih Talam

Been getting inspiration to reconnect with the Peranakan family heritage (Penang Peranakan to be exact), this is the first of the many traditional food items that we are famous for.

Kuih talam is essentially a dessert made from green pea, tapioca and rice flours. There are two distinct layers visible; the sweet green layer (which should be approximately 3/5 thickness of the entire thing) which is flavoured and scented by the juice from the pulverised leaves of the screwpine plant. The screwpine plant is an essential ingredient in Peranakan cuisine and can be found once upon a time, in the gardens of any respectable Peranakan family abode. The texture of this layer should be slightly firm, yet yielding to the bite.

The white layer is is slightly different in terms of taste and texture. It is made from a combination of thick coconut milk, salt and a mixture of the above flours.

This dessert is made in large round trays, hence its name. It is present in all major celebrations (birth, marriage, birthdays, anniversaries).

The combination of salty and sweet, rich and refreshing makes this, like all other Peranakan dishes, a challenge for the maker to achieve the balance of flavours and textures; a highly sought-after skill in Peranakan cuisine.

#3 Mushroom omelette

Once upon a time, yours truly had a job that enabled him time in the morning to prepare breakfast at a leisurely pace.

This was one of the results; fresh button mushrooms sauteed with a hint of chopped fresh thyme leaves, with a nice mix of farm fresh eggs and a splash of double cream.

Oh, how I long for those times again…

#2 Lasagna al forno

One of my favourite Italian pasta dishes, lasagna is an ensemble of textures – the smooth creamy salsa di besciamella (bechamel sauce), al dente pasta sheets, and fullness of ragu Bolognese.

For this lasagna, I utilised fresh pasta sheets (pasta fresca) made by my brother with spinach (hence the green colour) and paired it with a ragu made with a combination of beef and poultry liver cooked quite dry (a typical Bolognese style ragu).

Generous amounts of freshly grated pecorino romano helped accentuate the overall experience and bring more body and “umami” to the entire thing.

I prefer using pecorino romano instead of parmigiano reggiano for my pasta as it is more robust and complements the tomato flavours very well.

Result – sublime.

#1 Leo kan kook!

Being rather drained of inspiration, I’ve decided to start a series of pictures of food related stuff I have made over the years.

And yes, Leo can really cook!

Here’s the first, and frankly, one of my favourites.

This is a photograph of me slicing some button mushrooms with one of my favourite knives, the Victorinox Fibrox 8″ Chef’s Knife.

This knife was one of the four knives that came together with the four cooking kits during my time in hotel school.

Twelve years on, I’ve given three of them away, and the remaining one is still going strong.

The Victorinox knife is one of two knives (the other being the WMF Spitzenklasse 8″ full tang knife) that I use frequently in my kitchen, mainly for cutting vegetables and fruits.

Knives that I use are limited in length by the space I have available in the kitchen (and unfortunately the kitchen is rather small, or rather, I have many appliances taking up counter space).

And so begins, the journey…

So begins the year with a mind-blowing 19-day European winter escapade; an epic journey of 26,968km with the following routing:

KUL-BKK: Thai Airways (B777-200)
BKK-CPH: Thai Airways (B747-400)
CPH-TXL: Scandinavian Airlines (B737-800)
TXL-FRA: Lufthansa (A321)
FRA-RIX: Lufthansa (B737-300)
RIX-CPH: AirBaltic (B737-300)
CPH-ARN: Scandinavian Airlines (B737-800)
ARN-HEL: Blue1 (Avro RJ85 Jumbolino 😀 – YAY!)
HEL-LHR: Blue1 (B717 – 1st time)
LHR-BKK: Thai Airways (B747-400)
BKK-KUL: Thai Airways (A330-300)

Hotels:
TXL: 3-room apartment at Brandenburg Gate
RIX: Monika Centrum (on the super cheap €58 a night)
CPH: Hotel Guldsmelden
ARN: The all time favourite Sheraton
HEL: Hotel Kamp
LHR: Undecided still… Knightsbridge, Bayswater or Sloane Square?

Cost of flights and accommodation – circa €3,500

Let’s see how this pans out.

Let’s see :)

It’s been too long and I’m at a lost for words really.. So many things happened in the past year, from a new life (wedding, marriage) to a new house.

I’m wondering whether to do a slow recap of things, or just move forward from here 🙂

Undecided. Will let you know 🙂

Thanks for reading (still).

What I do

People often ask me what it is that I do that requires my frequent travels to Europe.

I was asked the same question today via BBM by someone whom I lost contact with a few years and found accidentally.

I summed it up as follows:

I’m in destination marketing.  I basically develop and market tourism related services on a wholesale basis to clients in Europe who send tourists into areas of my purview.

I’m back!

This was a post sitting in my “Drafts” box since the end of March 2010…

It was a thrilling 20-day, 12 flights, 18000-mile run across 5 countries, 3 different time zones, 6 different cities!

But yeah I’m back for now and will be staying put for at least the next two weeks or so.

Travel aside, the medication that I am on has left me with well, not too much weight (4kgs lost) but with a gargantuan appetite.

What a contradiction it is. Having to change my lifestyle basically to wake up early to pop pills on an empty stomach is going to be a foreseeable problem.

Oh well let’s see what happens. Had a great weekend last week with birthday celebrations (happy birthday once more, Sherrie, Shawn and NeeOn) at Checkers where I had the honour of being the glorified birds’ nests cultivator. Finesse at its best really *rolls eyes*

Food was good though – that said, I found monotony in the presentation, side dishes and the overall tastes of the dishes.

Now on to the main dish – I did this trip with a new colleague and travel companion (who’s European).

It was truly stressful for me as he was new with the company; yours truly had to be the nanny.

I hate it when grown adults are tardy, especially when it comes to time; I hate being late to appointments, especially with clients.

The nonchalant attitude that the travel companion adopted was really a pain in the ass. I finally learnt to let go and gave the fuck off to do whatever I needed to do at MY time – with or without him.

I really miss the joys of travelling alone (especially on business trips).

More updates soon!

Its been a long time, hasn’t it?

I know I know it’s time for a comprehensive post.

I’ve not been in the best of health, and my mind’s been pretty preoccupied with the marriage, new house and work as well.

Will churn one out soon! Be patient with me, oh ye faithful readers!

My entire body’s aching due to gym!

Speak soon… 🙂

First Europe trip of the year…

KUL-BKK-ZRH-TXL-CGN-MUC-DME/SVO-ARN-CPH-GOT-FRA-BKK-KUL

Thai Airways
SwissAir
Lufthansa
Scandinavian Airlines

🙂