The Food Canon

As pretty as Matilda

"Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. 
Be outrageous. 
Go the whole hog. 
Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable...” 

I thought these lines by Matilda (in Matilda, Roald Dahl) aptly described the whimsical dinner experience I had at Nutopia, hosted by Chef Stephan Zoisl. 

A dinner set as a Tribute to Roald Dahl, his favourite childhood writer, Stephan set out to immerse diners with a "crazy" experience of sight, sound, taste and imagination.    

By now, you would have heard of the Kale Revolution.

Kale - Picture from here

Juice it, steamed it, salad it and just stuff it raw into your mouth. It is the superfood which will cure your cancer ,anxieties, prevent strokes and strengthen your bones.

It is the vegetable equivalent of chia seeds. Like bees to honey, the Kale Revolution attracts those who treat food like medicine. Never mind the price as it is an imported veg. Or that it can make for awful eating if eaten raw or cooked the wrong way.

Kai Lan is called Chinese Kale.

I love to eat squid and I like it cooked whichever way.

Squid is prized for it's succulent texture. In Southeast Asian cuisine, it is often paired with strong and robust sauces.

If I were to order from a Nasi Padang stall, I would almost always choose a squid dish, especially Sambal Sotong or when it is cooked in it's own black ink: Sotong Goreng Hitam.

The fresh Arrow Squid is really cheap at about $10 per kilo and fresh when you buy it in wet markets. With the escalating price of prawns recently, I will say sotong will be the way to go.