All about food

During the last 3 weeks in Singapore, I didn't have to cook. Rather, I couldn't. 

I chose an apartment with an attached kitchen because the management promised to provide us with pots and pans, as well as gas. Upon arrival, we were told that there was "miscommunication" about the cost and installation of the gas cylinder and the manager could not find pots or pans. Whatever...

Food is everywhere in Singapore. The range and availability of food rank top on the list of things we miss of our homeland. We ate at our parents' homes, hawker centres or restaurants.

If we were hungry at 11 pm, HG would walk down to the Commonwealth market to buy fried beehoon. Cheap, yummy and frankly, too much just before bed.

The night before we leave for Finland, our kids stayed with my parents. So we spent some quality time at Holland V. Supper was sambal stingray, sambal sotong (squid) and fried rice at the coffeeshop. More ticks for our to-eat list. Very tasty and not at a king's ransom - we spent around S$30, including drinks.

Now in Finland, I am happy to have my kitchen back. HG invited a colleague, a Finn now living in Singapore, home for dinner yesterday. I cooked lor bak 鲁肉, a Chinese cabbage dish and baked chicken wings from the supermarket. My kids enjoy stews because the meat is tender and the dish has lots of other ingredients like mushrooms, beancurd and egg.

Living away from Singapore, the internet is an excellent resource for home-cooked food. I discovered so many food blogs. Most are amateurs who love cooking or baking, or moms who, like me, seek out new recipes to keep their families interested in food. The food they cook and their blogs are products of their love.

I discovered love and nostalgia overflowing in Nice Recipes blog. 

The blogger dedicates the blog to her grandmother's cherished cookbook. Besides sharing recipes with readers, she explains the background of each recipe and/or ingredient. Each entry is like a history lesson, a glimpse at what went into mouths in ages past. 

If you are thinking of trying out any of the recipes, cut/paste functions would not work here. This blogger scans the recipe direct from her grandmother's cookbook. To copy the recipe, you have to:

1)  decipher the handwriting

2)  write down/type the recipe

3)  interpret the ingredient list and instructions

4)  apply the recipe.

You see, the cookbook was compiled by hand starting in the 1950s. Nice's recipes remind me of old cookbooks I referred to circa 1980s and earlier. Some units of measurements have changed, some abbreviations are hardly used now, and new equipment and shortcuts have since been invented. 

I've heard that many established cooks, whether professional chefs or cooks confined to their humble kitchens, seldom pass down their recipes. No two persons cook the same way. Certain ingredients they add or technique or extra step would make their food stand out from the ordinary. Their secrets leave with them, so it is said.

Thanks to Niceties, we can still taste bits of the past. Even if you don't cook, you will appreciate her labour of love.

PS Reading this entry again, it occurred to me that perhaps Niceties is not female. I had started by adding "his/" before every mention to "her". I apologise if it's actually Mr Niceties.