The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| Jamie Oliver makes ‘surprise’ appearance on Epic Meal Time Posted: 23 Jan 2013 04:13 PM PST  Jamie was gagged, kidnapped, pummeled with bacon, candy and Jack Daniel's. – AFP pic In the group's latest YouTube video gone viral, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver makes a special appearance in which he's gagged, kidnapped, pummeled with bacon, candy and Jack Daniel's. In homage to the chef's British roots, this week the Montreal-based food pornographers at Epic Meal Time created a leviathan fish and chip sandwich made with 50 Filet-O-Fish sandwiches from McDonald's, with the aim of making the healthy eating crusader eat the calorific sandwich in the end. Some of the best one-liners from the uncharacteristically long, nine-minute video: After gagging, kidnapping, force-feeding him candy and bacon, and stuffing him in the fridge, an irate Oliver shouts, "Who put you up to this? Is it Gordon Ramsay? You fat Canadian a**holes, you're going to pay for this." When Epic Meal Time host Harley Morenstein is at the McDonald's drive-thru and orders a few double cheeseburgers, McRib sandwiches, oh, and 50 Filet-O-Fishes, the worker stops and says: "Really? I thought you were just playing." Meanwhile, Oliver takes a back-of-fridge-seat to the star of the show, a sandwich that clocks in at a whopping 59,144 calories and 2,840g of fat. After creating the dough for a pair of buns which are then stuffed with rows of Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and bacon, the remaining fish patties are mashed together with fries to create one giant fish patty. The sandwich-filled buns are then used to bookend the patty, which is topped with slices of processed cheese, tartar sauce, and – of course – slices of bacon. Epic Meal Time enjoys a cult-like following on YouTube for building obscene, leviathan creations out of bacon and junk food. Within the span of about 24 hours since being uploaded January 22, 12 pm GMT, the video has gone viral, receiving about 296, 250 hits. – AFP-Relaxnews |
| Posted: 23 Jan 2013 03:15 PM PST  The Modsmobile: a Volkswagen classic bus converted into a café-on-the-go. – Pictures by CK Lim Antiques, chicken rice balls and backpackers abound. The crowds, especially on weekends, are daunting. I'm a true-blue Malaccan yet I rarely brave the onslaught.
All but one shop. Instead of red lanterns and joss sticks in orange plastic wrapping, there is a red Vespa parked outside and a mandarin-coloured Volkswagen Classic Bus inside. That's right: a flower-powered VW van, with fully functional tyres, all four of them. Instead of the stench of grease and oiled sprockets though; this mobile "workshop" has the aroma of freshly-ground beans wafting from within.  Rows of beer cans from around the world (left); formerly a cappuccino (right). Within minutes, I'm seated at a small table waiting for my first cup. The pony-tailed owner-barista who goes by the memorable moniker of A-bert Khow (yes, that's a hyphen, and not a missing L) is brewing an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe for me. His café has the equally memorable moniker of Mods Café, and an appropriate one at that, judging by the vinyl records on one wall and the Beatlesesque drumset next to the coffee roaster. Even the café logo makes use of the Royal Air Force roundel, a classic mod symbol. While slowly pouring a stream of hot water into the dripper, he tells me my Yirgacheffe isn't really at its peak: "You should have tried it a few days ago, when it was at its prime, with fully developed flavours. But that's how beans are, you see, they are constantly "breathing" and changing. That's the fun part and the challenge – capturing them at their best." I take a sip of my Yirgacheffe once he's done and tell him it's okay. A-bert seems unconvinced.  Measuring the correct amount of coffee beans (left) before grinding and brewing (right). I inform A-bert that I am a local but based in KL, so yes, I am just passing by, after a fashion. He nods, as though filled with sympathy for me; I'll be missing out, certainly. More customers flow in so my fellow Malaccan excuses himself to go make more coffee. Amongst the new arrivals is a young Caucasian woman who asks A-bert politely if she could take a picture of him brewing coffee with her iPhone. He nods again (reserving most of his breath for coffee-centric chatter) and she beams. Every shop in the Jonker area is constantly inflicted with flashes of "pass-by" tourist photography so I'm sure A-bert appreciates the polite request even if he doesn't say so.  The aroma of freshly-made coffee draws onlookers from the street. I nod. We smile at each other across our tables, a moment of simple, shared pleasure. "Lovely, isn't it?" I say, "and not just the coffee. This place is …" "… amazing. I know. It's really beautiful. I'm so glad I found this café. I'm from Sydney and this is as good as the stuff back home." We begin to chat over our cups of coffee, and when we have finished with those, we order some more. I discover she is an art therapist and of her desire to work with women support groups in Cambodia.  A pot of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee. An hour later and it's closing time. I promise to connect the Australian with a social entrepreneur who might just be able to help her and wish her better luck dining in our capital city. I thank the mod barista for his coffee and promise to return for the Ethiopian Limu if I can. I walk out into Temple Street and it's raining after weeks of unbearable hot weather. Finally a miracle. Not unlike meeting complete strangers and listening as they share their stories. Miracles don't happen every day, but I find a good cup of coffee helps, don't you?  From a vintage barber's pole (left) to the Union Jack (right), Mods Café is filled with curios and knick-knacks. 14, Jalan Tokong, 75200 Malacca Open daily except Wednesdays 10:00am – 6:00pm Tel: 012 756 4441 Website: Mods Café * Kenny wonders if there are more hidden coffee havens in his hometown. More café stories here. |
A more serene alternative is literally a street away. Jalan Tokong (Malay for "Temple Street") has long been a symbol of multi-racial, multi-faith harmony; here, even the casual traveller would be amazed by the presence of the Kampung Kling Mosque, Cheng Hoon Teng Hokkien Temple and Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Hindu Temple, all in a row. Further down the street are old Chinese shophouses supplying afterlife necessities such as incense, hell bank notes, and even paper versions of iPads and BMWs.| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Food To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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LONDON, Jan 23 – Turkish writer Elif Shafak, of "The Forty Rules of Love" and "Honor," has been announced as the first of three Authors of the Day at the London Book Fair.
I check into hotels and I check out again. The names and the destinations begin to blur. They all have swimming pools and air-conditioned gyms. Housekeeping means fresh towels any time you want some, and tiny bottles of toiletries mysteriously materialising every day, like magic mushrooms.
There is a short but almost interminable wait at the ticketing counter. His number gets called eventually by the LED signboard above. He pays for the earliest ticket he can manage, waits on standby for an earlier flight still. Fully booked, none of the passengers fail to turn up and they fly off without him. Damn.