The Food Canon

This post rounds up my food journal on my recent London trip.

I mentioned in the first post that this was neither a vacation nor a food trip. I did not plan on visiting any Michelin-star restaurants and we were contented to make some discoveries ourselves. I am grateful for some pointers on this site's Facebook page but apart from that, we were very much guided by our own senses - and our limited budget.

The Salad Pullover

It is strange to be excited about a bowl of green salad.

One afternoon, it was raining and not wanting to be cold and wet at the same time, we popped into a Spanish Tapa restaurant at Kensington. As we were not lunch hunting, we opted for something light: mixed green leafy salad and some cured hams.

A good green leafy salad needs this: Good fresh crunchy greens to begin with, a good vinaigrette and when tossed together, the greens should be lightly coated. You can taste the vinaigrette, but hardly notice it visually. In fact, cheese and nuts are optional if you have a good base to begin with.

I am back in London again. It is summertime although it seems as if the sun is gone preparing for the coming Olympics, as the rest of the city is.

I can go on and on about the wonderful conferences, the people I have met and the atmosphere in the pub when Drogba scored the winning penalty. But as this is a blog about all things edible, we will stick to that. Photos turned out alright with my trusty iPhone 4GS though there were times I wished I had brought along my Canon.

Butter Prawns. This is our regular order each time we visit our favourite family restaurant. This has been so for many years now. This version has the sauces sticking creamily to the prawns and is different from other eateries. 

My Mum had tried to 'crack' the recipe but she never quite succeeded. Of late, I have been experimenting with it. There is no written recipe to guide me but brief conversations with the cook and experiences from cooking other dishes helped me to figure out the method. In fact the main technique which makes the difference is that the oil needs to be hot enough. 

How would you like to see one of the most celebrated chefs in the world eat up his microphone?

Recently,  I was privileged to be at a World Gourmet Summit Citibank Gastronomic event where one of the demo sessions was conducted by the legendary British celebrity chef,  Marco Pierre White himself. He was the youngest chef to be awarded 3 Michelin stars. He trained chefs such as Gordon Ramsay.

We cooked Nasi Lemak recently for 60+ folks at the closing session of Alpha Course at our church.

I will detail here some of the experience and this will also act as a journal record for future Nasi Lemak meals as I am sure last night's will not be the last.

I have said before that Nasi Lemak makes for a fine party spread for these reasons:

• It can be made beforehand and except for the rice, the items can be served at room temperature.
• It is inexpensive as far as the 'essential' Nasi Lemak goes with additional costs coming from the extra items like chicken, prawns etc.
• It is not labor intensive either and does not need great culinary skills and efforts to make. This means, others can be roped in to help.