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The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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Prehistoric man made cheese, says study Posted: 16 Dec 2012 05:53 PM PST PARIS, Dec 17 — Pre-historic Man was already making cheese some 7,000 years ago, using perforated clay pots as strainers, scientists said Wednesday. Cheese production would have been a key development in human history, allowing the preservation of milk in a non-perishable, transportable and more digestible form, said a report in the journal Nature. Milk processing marked a key turning point in human history, giving access to a nutritious food source without having to slaughter precious livestock. — AFP/Relaxnews Scientists have long speculated that pierced potsherds discovered at Neolithic-era sites around northern Europe may be from cheese strainers. An international team said Wednesday they found proof for this theory from chemical analysis of fatty acid deposits on unglazed pottery pieces excavated in Poland, dating from about 7,000 years ago. "The presence of abundant milk fat in these specialised vessels, comparable in form to modern cheese strainers, provides compelling evidence for the vessels having been used to separate fat-rich milk curds from the lactose-containing whey," the researchers wrote. Early farmers would have been lactose intolerant, lacking the genetic mutation we have since acquired to digest milk products long after being weaned off the breast. Intolerance to lactose, a sugar found in calcium-rich milk, can cause bloating, stomach cramps and diarrhoea, and still afflicts a minority of people today. Milk processing marked a key turning point in human history, giving access to a nutritious food source without having to slaughter precious livestock during the Neolithic period, which saw nomadic humans starting to settle down and farm. The exact origins of cheese-making remain unknown. The team, led by Richard Evershed of the University of Bristol's organic geochemistry unit, said the study is the first to provide unequivocal evidence that cattle were being used for milk in northern Europe as long ago as the sixth millennium BC. They also showed for the first time that people of the era were using different types of pottery for different purposes: as cheese strainers, cooking pots for meat, and bottles waterproofed with beeswax for storing water. Cheese-making is a complicated process, involving the coagulation of milk using enzymes or acid to separate the semi-solid curd containing the protein and milk fats from the lactose-containing, liquid whey. Today's straining process has remained pretty much unchanged, though we now typically use a course textile or sieve instead of a perforated pot. — AFP/Relaxnews

Kebaya Dining Room: A clever update on Nyonya cuisine Posted: 16 Dec 2012 04:23 PM PST The Kebaya Dining Room... Nyonya antiques sit cheek by jowl with contemporary furnishings. – Pictures by BL GEORGE TOWN, Dec 17 — It had to happen, although it took someone with vision and drive to do it: a restaurant in Penang which serves Nyonya food in elegant, classy surroundings. Chris Ong, who has been upping the ante as far as boutique hotels here are concerned – he is the creator of the charmingly-restored Clove Hall, plus the casually chic Muntri Mews and Noordin Mews – has added yet another feather to his cap: Seven Terraces on Stewart Lane. One of the many stunning pieces of furniture in the dining room. The air-conditioned ground floor of this amazing new 17-room Straits Chinese hotel — a first in Penang — houses the Baba Bar (how's that for a name?) at one end, and the Kebaya Dining Room at the other. It really is the latest in-place in town, opened just three weeks ago, and I was privileged to be the first foodie to be invited to check out the "contemporary Straits Chinese cuisine" served there. It's certainly not your average Nyonya restaurant with some token memorabilia dotted here and there. Like the rest of the formerly dilapidated but now skilfully refurbished building, it's artfully furnished with gorgeous pieces, some genuine antiques and others specially commissioned from local craftsmen. The sweeping wooden staircase which leads off one end of the inner courtyard is a stunning example. An avid collector of old Nyonya and china ware long before it became fashionable to do so, Chris has amassed a huge amount of porcelain, and put them to good use. Specially designed display cabinets are strategically positioned to show off some gorgeous blue and white pieces, and he has put the platters and serving dishes to good use, so apart from the food itself, do take note of the platters, plates, bowls and saucers they come in. Otak Otak as you have never seen it presented... delicious. What does he mean by "contemporary"? "I've taken Peranakan food back to its essence," he explained, "and reinterpreted it." This means the presentation as well as the way it's cooked – there's none of the simmering and tumising (sautéing in oil) that is so prevalent in traditional Nyonya cooking; here, it's more sous vide and confit. An example would be the Mantou with Tau Eu Bak, the pork cooked in soya sauce over a low temperature for several hours until quite tender, then sliced and served in steamed white buns (mantou) and pickles. It's an interesting twist on a very typical dish, and I rather liked the flavours and textures: the soft, aniseed pork and sweet soya sauce worked quite well with the tart, crunchy gherkins. Another typical Nyonya dish he presents differently is Otak Otak. The curried fish custard, usually steamed in banana leaves, is encased in home-made short crust pastry and baked, and eaten as an individual starter instead of as a shared dish with rice. As for the mains, duck is slow-braised with 5-spice powder then served with plums and orange segments in a variation of the traditional Lor Ark, and the Hong Bak, usually cooked with pork, here is sous vide lamb in a light Nyonya kurma. Hands down winner though as far as our table was concerned was the dry chargrilled Chicken Kapitan, the aromas of the curried sauce working very well with the slight smokiness of the barbequed meat. All this was accompanied by side dishes of Sambal Goreng Vegetables and Belacan Tempura Vegetables.There is a smattering of Thai dishes thrown in, including a tasty Mien Kham with colourful salmon roe and coconutty Yellow Geng Prawns. Look at the bright green custard in this Creme Brulee dessert... very tasty (right).The smoky, spicy Chicken Kapitan (behind) and the wonderful Yellow Geng Prawns... must-try dishes here (left). It was an interesting meal; certainly quite different, and diehard Nyonya food aficionados might require a different mindset to accommodate the changes he's introducing. But perhaps the point here is that even our classic dishes should move with the times, and he's done it in a way which hasn't taken away the essence of this unique cuisine. However, I think it's in the desserts that he's made really quite significant changes; bringing our sweets, some of which have been served the same way for the past thousand years or more, into the realm of the 21st century. Nyonya Tang Yuen, glutinous rice balls in syrup usually eaten during the Winter Solstice Festival, is filled not with crushed peanuts and sugar but grated coconut cooked in brown palm syrup and served in a coconut cream with slivers of coconut! A very clever celebration of coconut in different forms; cream, grated and slivers. Nyonya Tang Yuen... a celebration of the coconut, a beautiful dessert. There's also Crème Brulee with a difference: with green pandan extract in the custard and tart Passion Fruit and Coconut Panna Cotta. "The inspiration for the restaurant is the hotel itself, which is contemporary Peranakan," the award-winning hotelier explained. "It's a total experience – the building, the food and the objet d'art." There will be new specials each week and I for one am eager to see what he's going to come up with next. Seven Terraces Stewart Lane George Town 10200 Penang Tel: +604-264 2333 Email: info@7terraces.com

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