Food for thought...

When I was a young boy, I loved eating durians. It used to puzzle me back then, why westerners find the smell of the fruit so disgusting. I used to believe that the king of fruits has the best aroma in the world... so how can anyone describe the smell as being stinky?

As I grow older, I slowly come to realise that different people have different tastes and perceptions. One man's meat is another man's poison. And we don't even have to look at a foreign culture to understand this. Even within our own country, the type of food commonly found in one particular region may not necessarily find favour at another.

My exposure to the varying regional flavours began when I entered boarding school. The school is located on the east coast but students come from all over the country. Indeed, the first boy whom I met when checking into the hostel was this guy from Kedah. He spoke in a thick northern accent which I initially thought sounded weird. Later when I met boys from Kelantan, I thought they sounded even weirder. It was from one of these Kelantan friends that I learned about budu. After returning back to school from one of the term breaks, he brought along some of the stuff to show me and sample the taste. My first thought.... Good lord! How can anyone like this?

Till today, I still have not acquired the taste for budu although now I do like to eat nasi kerabu, which in itself gave me a somewhat apprehensive first impression. I mean... purple-coloured rice? Bizzare.

When I got the chance to study in England, the experience of foreign food culture became more interesting. The English love their fish and chips. They liberally spray their chips with salt and vinegar. When I buy this item from the takeaway chip shop, I always say, `Just salt, no vinegar please.' Vinegar, to me, is the stuff my mum use to soak kaffir limes to make her delicious acar limau.

While on a backpacking trip to Europe during one of the summer holidays, I came upon a shop in Switzerland selling all kinds of cheese. The view from outside the shop window was quite lovely... there were cheese of different shapes and sizes in varying colours of white, yellow and even shades of red. I decided to enter and have a better look. The moment I opened the door and took my first step inside, the pong hit me like a blast. I made a quick u-turn for the fresh air outside. I thought the cheese smelt terrible!

It then dawned on me... this must be exactly the same feeling when Mat Sallehs get a whiff of our durians for their first time. Strangely nowadays, I don't consider the durian as my favourite fruit anymore. I still eat it... but I won't go crazy if I don't get it.

So why am I writing about food today after not posting for such a long time? Well, a few days ago I was watching this overseas cooking show on satellite TV and saw a familiar looking vegetable being used as one of the ingredients, but the Mat Salleh called it in a name I've never heard of before. The vegetable (or more correctly, tuber root) is called jicama, pronounced in the Spanish style as hi-ka-ma. Locally, we all know it as sengkuang, a favoured ingredient in our rojak. Also a compulsory item when my mum cooks her kuah lodeh for lontong.

I had always thought the English name for sengkuang was turnip. Apparently I am wrong. You learn something new every day. Seems like some westerners like to have sengkuang in their salads too...

Note : Pic on the left borrowed from TryMasak Online.

Gift or inducement?

It is the norm, come festive seasons, for many of us to be giving or receiving gifts in the form of hampers. Such a practice is normally done based on a business relationship rather than a personal one… I mean you’d never send a hari raya hamper to your old school friend, would you? Also, the act of giving and receiving is almost always a one-way street. From a supplier to a customer. From a contractor to a client. From a sub-contractor to the main contractor. In short, from a beneficiary to another who is in authority. Never the other way round.

Which begs the question : is hamper-giving during festive season to be considered a token of gratitude or an inducement of (future) favours? Having been on both sides of this equation throughout my working life, I can offer arguments either way… indeed, I’ve had long and serious discourse with colleagues on such an interesting topic, but that is not the intention of this post. We’ll leave the discussions on ethics for another day.

I’d like to talk about the hamper itself… or rather, the things that are packed or wrapped inside the standard hamper to create a visually enticing gift.

Many years ago, during the early days of being in the work market, it used to be quite exciting to be receiving hampers. The feeling is not unlike a school kid getting a gift of candy. It did not matter what was inside the hamper, as long as it was BIG and nicely wrapped in colourful cellophane paper. Pretty soon, the novelty wore off when you realise the stuff inside such hampers are simply packs or cans of everyday foodstuff, most of which you would not normally buy on your own anyway. I may sound like an ingrate but the things they give you are so easily predictable… boxes of chocolate, confectionery, cookies, cans of preserved fruits and maybe some glassware. All these arranged in a plastic basket with a bottle of orange squash concentrate or bubbly fruit drink forming the pinnacle.

The sad thing is, most of the items are from unknown manufacturers (ok lah… if you want me to say it crudely, `unbranded’). In the hamper that I received this year, the only recognizable item is the box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates (to give the hamper a look of respectability, agaknya lah). The box of biscuits is an unknown brand from a factory in Batu Pahat. The can of fish cracker snacks is made by a manufacturer I’ve never heard of before. The bottle of mango cordial is similary from some obscure source, definitely not found on the supermarket shelves.

There you have it… I totally sound like an ungrateful jerk, aren’t I? Dah dapat hamper, nak komplen lagi!

Which now brings me to the point that I really want to make. If you honestly want to give something to somebody to show your appreciation, then please put some thought into what you intend to give. Don’t just pick a typical package from those fly-by-night hamper packing companies that mushroom during festive seasons.

At one of the place where I used to work, we gave our clients gifts of quality hari raya cakes and cookies packed in beautiful wicker baskets, each tied with a lovely ribbon. Doesn’t cost much more than the standard food hamper and certainly much smaller, but I’m pretty sure, much more appreciated.

This year's Aidilfitri...

The first day of Aidilfitri this year was spent at my parents' home in Singapore. My father and my mother are the oldest surviving family members this side of the causeway and as such, they have become the focal point of visits from relatives during this festive occasion. My wife and I have to act as hosts in receiving the large number of guests, most of whom are my cousins and their children.

As always, it was a noisy and joyous day throughout, even though it was pretty tiring... but then, it is only for one celebration each year. Otherwise I doubt us cousins would meet up at all.

It was also a happier hari raya for us this time because my youngest brother who's based overseas, is presently home for the holidays with his family. I got to meet my two nieces and one nephew whom I last saw more than three years ago. With the exception of my second son (who is back in college in Indonesia), my father and mother had an Aidilfitri with the full complement of their grandchildren.

Grandparents and their grandchildren. The eldest grandson is 22 years while the youngest granddaughter is 8.

Kekurangan jemaah

Tapak projek di mana saya bertugas sekarang terletak di kawasan pendalaman di daerah yang dikatakan sebagai tanah paling selatan di hujung benua Asia. Nak kata jauh dari jalan utama... tak juga sebenarnya, tapi kira memang kawasan kampung.

Banyak juga kampung di kawasan ini yang mana penduduknya rata-rata adalah pekebun kecil ataupun nelayan. Dengan adanya beberapa projek pembangunan, maka adalah peluang pekerjaan bagi anak-anak muda tempatan untuk bekerja sebagai pekerja binaan mahir ataupun buruh biasa. Namun begitu, tugasan seperti ini bersifat sementara. Anak-anak muda dari kampung lebih gemar mencari pekerjaan tetap di bandar-bandar besar.

Pejabat tapakbina syarikat saya terletak berhampiran dengan kampung yang sedap namanya... Kg Sungai Dinar. Bila ada kelapangan, saya serta staff-staff yang lain gemar melaksanakan solat waktu secara berjemaah di masjid kampung itu, lebih-lebih lagi di bulan ramadhan yang mulia ini. Apa yang saya perhatikan pada setiap solat jemaah ialah bilangan makmum yang tersangatlah sedikit... itupun majoritinya dari kalangan kami yang bukan penduduk tempatan. Kalau dalam satu saf itu ada sepuluh orang, tujuh darinya adalah kami pekerja-pekerja dari syarikat binaan yang terlibat di sana.

Pada solat asar petang semalam, saya ke masjid bersama seorang rakan setugas. Setelah azan dilaungkan oleh Pak Bilal, tiada lagi makmum yang muncul tiba... jadi akhirnya solat berjemaah kami tiga orang sahaja. Ya, mungkin orang lain sudah bercuti atau sibuk ke pasar membeli persiapan hari raya... tapi sedih juga lah kan.

Dan saya rasa... perkara yang sama turut dialami oleh masjid-masjid kampung pendalaman, di mana jua di tanahair kita ini.

Salam Aidifitri buat semua pembaca. Semuga Allah swt menerima amalan kita semua...

Ada mee di sebalik udang...

If you happen to travel from Pontian town towards the fishing village of Kukup, you may notice a bridge crossing Sungai Rambah. Next to this bridge is a small fisherman's jetty and a simple foodstall. The look of the foodstall is nothing to write about... I've passed by this road countless times and had not noticed it until a friend suggested I try tasting the mee bandung udang. And when it comes to trying out tasty makan places, I'm always up for it...

A few days ago, I was on my way to look for a place to break my fast and noticed that the foodstall was open. I made a stop and had a look at the simple handwritten menu on a large card pasted on the wall. I ordered a nescafe tarik and mee bandung.

The stall owner asks if I want mee bandung biasa, mee bandung udang or mee bandung udang special. `Yang special tu macam mana bang?' I ask back.

`Oh, yang itu udang lebih,' was the simple reply. Of course I have to go for the special la kan?

Prawns and noodles are really meant for each other. Any dish involving the combination of these two ingredients normally cannot go wrong. When my plate of mee bandung udang special arrived at my table, the large prawns actually covered the noodles. The whole dish was delicious. The prawns were fresh and the gravy tasty too. Of course I had to sort of not think about the effects of increased cholesterol intake... if you know what I mean.

Makanlah selagi ada selera.... that's my motto.

At only RM8 a plate, this dish was worth it