say cheese

Christmas like Hari Raya has symbols that announce its coming. One of them is the Queso De Bola.


photo by flickr

chocomania

My predilection for chocolates dated back when I was a pre-schooler who understood the sins that go with it. One instance, upon waking up, I could feel the gooey lumps of unrecognizable Kisses that have tangled with my hair. Invariably, I ate chocolates even in my sleep.

Years later, friends in the States generously sent us Mary Sees chocolates together with Guccis and L'air Du Temps and silver trays from Macy's. Then, in Mecca and Medina we held our breaths when the scrumptious Patchis were weighed at the scales. At Harrod's we lingered on and on at the Chocolate Room and promised to hoard the bought goodies at home.

It's no wonder that my no-longer-secret of a wishlist include one of the most expensive chocolates in the world. These are the "G" chocolates from Godiva and cost 120 Pounds per lb. Like the other items in my wishlist, this is virtually a wish that remains a wish..lol.

at home

The early morning sunlight that streams through the windows makes a perfect Friday. For brunch, cucur udang with kuah satay. Savour the comfort. Think languor.

austerity

If I am to believe the news, then we are on the way to a global food crisis. Food is getting scarce in countries like India and Egypt. It is such a sensitive issue that food protests have been present in countries like Indonesia and Haiti. Of course, the deepening rice crisis even in rice-producing countries as the Philippines has got us worried for family and friends. The difficulties are not only felt in these countries but also in some developed countries as in Great Britain. Brunei is at the moment spared of these troubles because of the subsidies on staple food especially rice.

A large percentage of household incomes goes to food purchase. So, if and when we experience the high cost of eating – time to be austere. Don’t waste food. Do all the right things – grow fruits and veges if possible; try preservation – they go a long way.

Like in Kuala Lumpur and in most of Singapore, no Bruneian who goes to Kuching will ever doubt the halal-ness of the food he/she eats. Kuching is one of my favourite cities because, other things aside, it has an Italian restaurant (at the Merdeka Palace Hotel) that has a buffet of pastas and pestos and unbelievably halal at that!

The nasi lemak, of course, is staple food.

In-room dining at the Holiday Inn has these comfort-food:

Nasi Lemak with accouterments including a leaf-wrapped otak-otak


All too familiar - Roti Canai! The roti was light and airy - not the greasy type.

roti kosong

One of the challenges of aging is metabolic slow down. It means that no matter how less you eat, the weight never loses off. The renowned health institution, John Hopkins Medicine gives these tips:

To quicken metabolism - Eat more frequently. Does that mean we are at liberty to do midnight noshing? Does that mean we can sleep late ala ramadhan nights? Au contraire! John Hopkins says you must get enough sleep to bolster metabolic rate. Non-sleepers gain weight more than tight dreamers. Have enough sleep!! Don't eat after seven pm says Oprah and look at her, Ms Svelte.

John Hopkins also says, eat your breakfast. It quick starts metabolism after sleep. Skipping breakfast lets your body store energy in the form of fat. Eat lean meat. It gets you more mileage than eating carbs and fat. Move around a lot. Fidget if you must. One more tip: exercise frequently and do strength training. You build up muscles, you burn more calories. (Simply said than done, hee hee).

There is of course a warning: Don’t take supplements which tout weight loss (fact is they do but with side effects). They may contain caffeine and other stimulants. These are the things that may affect your heart rate (aside from caffeine): bitter orange, kola nut, coleus forskohlii, guarana, yerba mate, and yohimbine.

Of all the tips, the one that is most attractive is the 'eat frequently' part. For starters, roti kosong on a Sunday is just glorious!!

lleno y con sueno

It has been five months since I started blogging, thanks to my friend, CK, for egging me on towards becoming a blogger despite my age. I have enjoyed reading other people's blogs too, especially those of the younger ones. The world has changed and I see a lot of candidness, a lot of courage, convictions and even humour in my favourite blogs.

My readers differ too. If I put on a Spanish title to a post, I get readers from as far as Guatemala and Colombia. The stats gets me very curious and I am impressed at how diversified the readers are. I get a sense that my blog is schizophrenic (?). My only frustration is that there is no 'enye' (an n with a wave on top) on my keyboard. Maybe there is a way, but being techno unsavvy, I could not see it.

It seems like Raya is not over yet - talk about the longest ever Hari Raya. People still are inviting us to their homes. The latest visit I had was to a South African home where the food was glorious. Thank you, Aishah for giving me the recipe of your unique salad dressing.

The eating has left us lleno and con sueno. Perhaps because of all the sugar and carbs that we have induged in. I am sooo looking forward to a normal life of less gorging.

huevos

Gone are the days when those rowdy children blurted, huevos! (eggs) to anyone who got a zero in his or her exams or lost in games they played. On anything that you lost or failed, you were called huevos! by the arrogant winner (like someone from the Three Stooges). I have not heard of it uttered anymore for decades because my household is such a sweet quiet paradise, no fighting, no fibbing, no rowdiness, no competitiveness. The girls were very well behaved when they were small children, very unlike me when I was growing up. I was climbing trees (my favourite tree was the only 'camias' tree in our backyard where I soaked in sorrow over my losses and ate the small sour camias as if they would expurgate my unhappiness); flying my own kites the colour and design of which I chose meticulously and, of course, playing the 'patintero' or 'balatin' in the late afternoons (to regain lost grounds and composures too).

Many of us, undergo an egg phase. Mine was the psychological distress of losing and being called huevos! Another egg phase of mine was in college, where I mostly got zeros in my Stats tests. Meeza's egg phase (I hope just temporary) is cooking her own egg dish three times a day, sometimes secretly, because she knows how I feel about eggs (the unhealthy cholesterol yolk aspect). It consoles me a bit that she forgets to salt her eggs, though.


I don't have the habit of buying eggs but somehow they get to my kitchen mysteriously. The omnipresent egg actually is necessary for all those desserts that we eat. Generally, though, I would not want the egg to become a staple in my pantry. And, if I do need them, they undergo a scrutiny from me. I learned from my mom that to determine the freshness of an egg, take a simple test. Place the egg in a bowl of water, if it goes to the bottom, then it is fresh; the one that floats is a rotten egg. I also learned by looking, that to remove the shell of a hard-boiled egg, tap it gently all over to loosen the shell, then roll between your hands. Peel off shell and rinse with cold clean water.


Well, loser or not, be egg-happy because it is one of the most nutritious food we have on this planet. Just have it once a week, though, or better eat the whites only.

splendido

My husband has fallen in love with Taal, the cold mountain with a lake and an active volcano in the middle. This is where Splendido, the golf and country club is cocooned. He just had discovered Splendido, but I already feasted on the beauty of Taal long before I even met him. I am glad my husband found Splendido and Taal.

My parents always brought us here when we were children. The long trip, for us, started along the coast of Manila Bay and wove into the smaller roads festooned with fruit stalls. Along these roads we experienced the sight of freshly cut beef from Batangas cattle that hanged on rods and also smelled the brewing of the coffee called "Barako". A barako literally means a thug or a bully. This is the coffee that raises your adrenaline, I know.

In the vicinity of the famous lake, there are quaint, European-like houses owned presumably by well-to-do families. My husband is reminded, he says, of countryside England because of these houses and the cold climate.

As a child, I looked for my favourite fruit when we stopped over at the stalls. It is called 'tiessa' and it looks like a ripe papaya on the outside. The taste is like a chiku gone chalky, my brothers would say. But, it did not discourage me and I suspect I had more Vitamin A because of the 'tiessa'. All of us liked the 'atis' (sugar fruit) because of its unbelievable sweetness and we spit out the seeds to hit on each other. I found the pictures of these fruits (Marketman's) and I am brought back to the magic of Taal.

hari raya cookie

The kueh mor is the ultimate cookie for me. The most jaded eaters here would say that it is on equal footing with the best brioches and turrones of the world. This little cookie is even more "godly" than the one that bears the name "the food for the gods" which is really just a crumbly fudgy square of a biscuit. The "suman" even deserves this accolade more, really.

The kueh mor is indescribable, only metaphors can figure its essence. It has the taste of the oozing madness of a white chocolate; the melt in the mouth rapture followed by gorgeous happiness as you swallow the flowing sweetness.

This cookie has the stamp of a rich and old tradition. It is a favourite among visitors during Hari Raya. It is prepared in volumes for this occasion and is served in opened houses.

The kueh mor is basically made from flour, sugar and butter or ghee. The unique ones have added nuts in them. It is made into a small ball and then baked, coated with icing sugar and in most houses placed gingerly in beautiful crystal jars.

This cookie or kueh (cake) literally leaves you speechless. Don't attempt to talk with a kueh mor in your mouth or the consequences can be fatal!

nasi lemak on sundays

Sunday is when people oversleep and miss a lot. For one, the sounds on a Sunday morning - they are quite different from any other day. There is a peculiar mood too - perhaps because you don't have to rush out to work and you have the time to eat. You'd rather stay indoors and enjoy the stillness and 'mindchew' what you are gonna have for breakfast.

The family's favourite is the ubiquitous nasi lemak. The nasi lemak is part of the Malay psyche as ingrained as the adobo of the Filipinos and the curries of the Indians. It has some variations too. It can come with a choice of chicken, beef or fish cooked in curry or soya sauce or simply fried (pre-marinated by turmeric, chillies and salt). It can be accompanied by the exuberant egg, peanuts and pieces of cool cucumbers. I like mine unadorned so you would see me take out the cucumbers and the half mooned egg.

The omnipresent bilis or anchovy gives the nasi lemak its crowning glory. Whose pantry does not include this magnificent silvery fish with the big taste? A nasi lemak with just the anchovies and the sambal can proudly stand on its own. The fiery sambal and the nutty taste of the fragrant rice which is cooked with the "all food" coconut milk combined with the lovely pandan taste gives the nasi lemak its definitive place in the hall of fame of Malay cuisine.

My aunt who is a compulsive chicken eater and who bases her writings on the "chicken and egg" cycle would love this paper (or leaf) -wrapped thing of a food accompanied by her favourite fried chicken. What inspiration might she have gotten!