The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 11 Nov 2012 05:25 PM PST

The wooden house is slightly set back from the main Teluk Bahang Road.

BALIK PULAU, Penang, Nov 12 — Say the words "Balik Pulau" and what immediately springs to mind? Well, apart from old wooden houses on stilts and life as it was half a century ago? Assam laksa and durians, of course!

The dry hilly slopes are perfect for growing this delicious albeit prickly fruit, and several fishing villages here produce belacan (fermented prawn paste) and hey ko (black prawn paste), so it stands to reason that the "back of the island" or Pulo, as the Chinese call it, has become known for its tasty durians and equally fragrant Penang laksa.

At "The Middle of Nowhere", you will be able to feast on both to your heart's content — during the season, that is. It's become known by this name because it does seem to be located in the middle of nowhere, although it is actually set somewhere between the Teluk Bahang Dam and Kongsi, the town centre of Balik Pulau.

Eric tackles one of the durians from his plantation.

As you leave the northern tip of the island and travel the long and windy eight kilometre road that leads to his door, you will come across a wooden house set a few metres in from the road. The sign alone will make you salivate: "DURIAN" in giant words.

Despite the main thoroughfare, it is a peaceful location which brings to mind Cameron Highlands or Fraser's Hill with its abundant greenery and foliage. Luxuriant creepers full of large gorgeous flowers trail up along the open-air sides of the dining porch.

It is here that Eric, a trained chef, has been doling out his version of home-made assam laksa to hungry locals and tourists for the past few years. Originally only open during the durian season, it is now available practically every weekend and during long public holidays.

"It's quite casual and relaxed, more like R&R for folks who pass by," he explained, "because there's not much in town to cater for them."

The laksa is made with locally-caught sardines or "Tua Bak" (big eyes) from Pulau Betong or one of the other fishing villages nearby. He insists on using fresh fish cooked the traditional way: once they have been cooked in the rempah-and-tamarind soup, they are fished out and the flesh removed to be served, together with the other typical laksa ingredients like julienned lettuce, cucumber, mint and bunga kantan, atop the noodles.

However, even in Balik Pulau, sometimes forces of Nature intervene, and the fishermen come back empty-handed. This is when his innovation as a trained chef comes in really handy.

Eric's assam laksa is made with fresh fish and local 'hey ko'.

"I will cook whatever is at hand and whatever my mood is," he said. This could either be Hokkien Mee or, as is the case for the month of December, an added item on the simple menu: Banana Leaf Rice.

His customers don't seem to mind. They come from all over the place, and as far as Singapore and Hong Kong — a French family was tucking into the fragrant fruit when we were there — and delight in whatever is on offer. It's not a big place, so they call up to reserve a table.

The plantation consists of about 80 trees of different varieties including Ang Hey and several others set amidst some 2.7 acres of land. There is usually only one main annual durian season. This year, however, as though to compensate for the worse crop ever — apparently only 5 per cent was fit to be harvested — there is a second lot of bounty to be had which, according to Eric, will run from now till about mid-December.

So gather ye durians while ye may, as this bonus, as he so aptly put it, is "a feast from heaven", and will not last forever.

"The Middle of Nowhere"

202 Jalan Teluk Bahang

Tel: +6012 401 0101

The durians are sold by weight.

Open from about 10am to 4pm on weekends and long public holidays only.

Museum explores America’s food history

Posted: 11 Nov 2012 04:20 PM PST

WASHINGTON, Nov 12 — The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, looking at everything from the influence of immigrant populations, fast food, and the role of science and technology.

Julia Child's Kitchen, the opening story in the new exhibition 'Food: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000' at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. — AFP/Relaxnews

'Food: Transforming the American Table' opens with arguably the most influential culinary figure in the US, Julia Child, who has been credited with demystifying the notion of homecooked meals and making cooking accessible and pleasurable again at a time when the TV dinner was at the peak of its popularity.

The relocated kitchen from her Cambridge, Massachusetts home kicks off the 353-square-metre exhibit, which goes on to explore the way the dinner table has evolved over the years from 1950 to 2000.

The exhibit is divided into four distinct sections displaying 160 objects. 'Resetting the Table,' for instance, explores the way new immigrants have introduced American palates to Asian, African, Middle Eastern, Mexican and Central American flavours, in addition to looking at the rising interest in local, organic and artisanal foods.

'Who did the cooking?'

The display will also explore the impacts of shifting gender roles and the way working patterns and family life changed the way families gathered around the dinner table.

America's wine-making tradition is given homage in the exhibit, while the 'New and Improved' section looks at the way industrial agriculture and commercial food production lined grocery store shelves with convenience foods and how busy, harried lifestyles spawned the birth of drive-thru and take-out dining.

After exploring America's food culture, visitors are then invited to pull up a seat at a 7-metre communal dining table to share their thoughts about the way the food landscape has changed in the US.

The latest exhibit comes on the heels of another American food-themed project by celebrity chef José Andrés, who transformed his Washington DC restaurant Café Atlantico last year into a pop-up eatery called America Eats Tavern. The project, in partnership with the Foundation for the National Archives' exhibit What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?, traced the journey of the government's role in the American diet.

The exhibit opens November 20. — AFP/Relaxnews

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Isnin, 12 November 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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