The Foodies in Us

As you probably noticed, I’ve been blogging less these past 2 weeks. Not because I’ve been out of ideas – I think I sometimes have too many!
It’s been my mistress, the Business. Yes, I’ve been up to eyeballs with work, client meetings and yes, presentations. And then friends have been coming to Penang and we’ve been good tour guides, taking them around, showing them the sights and of course, partaking in glorious food. That’s what Penang is famous for, right?
So much so that I actually MISS eating at home! Miss my own homecooked food. Yes, I was thinking of this just this evening as I sat down to a meal I cooked.
A friend told me that she thought I might be vegetarian. Not so. I used to steer clear of beef and mutton when I was in my teens. But now I don’t mind ordering beef or mutton when I eat out. Especially if I am eating at Kayu Nasi Kandar which has, in my opinion, the best beef curry in the universe!
And the beef kueh teow in town, as recommended to me by Vern. At RM6 per bowl (small) or RM8 per bowl (large), the crowds are rather huge at this corner kopitiam. The kopitiam ONLY sells this beef kueh teow soup. But you should see the patrons bursting out of the shop. Parking is crazy here but the things people will do for one bowl of this extra yummy beef noodles. We’re a nutty nation.
As I was telling a friend over dinner (see? the food connection again), we may argue and debate all things wrong with Malaysia but we’re totally in harmony when it comes to food. We get very patriotic when we’re talking about food.
When Nic was backpacking in Nepal many years ago and shivering to death in the cold mountain air, he dreamt about tucking into a bowl of bak kut teh! I can imagine how lipsmacking bak kut teh can be if one has been on a perpetual diet of Nepali food. I was stuffing my face with dragon ball biscuits in Hong Kong many years ago in order to stem some homesickness. My grandmother had brought the biscuits for my uncle who was then working in HK but I ate them all.
Last week M called me and said she managed to tar-pau 20 packets of this unique laksa lemak from Wisma Central in town. She invited me over to eat the laksa as she said the laksa is only sold once a week, on Thursday. Unfortunately I was not able to sample this unique offering but J, another friend tried it and gave her thumbs-up! Again, I am piqued and will need to nose this laksa lemak out for myself soon. I leave no food trail unexplored!
Speaking of food, I received a lovely coffeetable book from Tze a couple of days ago. I met her many years ago in a yoga class and re-connected with her just this year.
penang passion book
The immaculate Tze is the author of Penang Passion, a book on food and food tales of Penang. She calls herself the reluctant foodie but she really enjoys talking about food. (Tze kindly autographed the book and gifted me with a Penang Passion apron, remarking that I should try out the recipes in her book. Which I will, I hope.)
autographed Penang Passion
Penang Passion was just recently launched and she says that she’s been rather fortunate that her book has been flying off the shelves, thanks to supportive and encouraging friends and family (you can find it in MPH and Popular and soon, in Borders too). She is also a contributor to Vanilla, a Singaporean mag where she writes about her food adventures!
Of course, no one speaks to me without getting a dose of “you must blog, you really must!” And as she is a writer, I tell her it’s even easier to do so. She’s not the first person whom I evangelise about blogging to; I’ve done that to Robert, a friend/client who got so excited he now writes 2 blogs!
Tze wants me to speak on blogging soon (and so has a friend in KL who has been asking me if I have the time to conduct a blogging course for her customers) and I probably need to think seriously about it. 😉

3 thoughts on “The Foodies in Us”

  1. Looks like you’ve been bitten by the foodie bug;-)Keep it up .We’ll compare notes on our blogs.My all time favourite hawker delight has always been laksa,both the lemak and the assam version.It’s a master class of contrasts in textures and flavours and man does it give you a kick.I think having laksa is a lone sport.One should never talk when you are savouring the steaming spicy and aromatic dish.It’s a sacrilege to talk and eat laksa at the same time.;-)That’s why I enjoy my laksa best when I’m having it all to myself.

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  2. HI Tze: I’ve always had 2 big passions in life – books and food! Both go very well together I must say! Have you tried Sarawak laksa? I wasn’t much of a fan until I fell in love with it. I prefer it to Penang laksa, as funny as it sounds. And I love eating the Thai khanom jeen….super lemak but assuages guilt because it is full of fresh and raw vegetables. My Thai aunt’s mom cooks a mean khanom jeen btw. Oh god, am I salivating now.

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