sour green mango

I just devoured one dipped in a little salt. Bought at a local Asian market a couple of days ago. Best eaten when it hasn't ripened yet. I'm still floating in the afterglow of that tart euphoria. One of my uncles had a huge tree of that particular variety growing in front of his house. I remember picking them off the low branches as a boy. This same uncle had a cockatoo who was quite the diva. He would sing two lines of O Sole Mio and actually take a bow right after by tucking his head under his right wing. Taste does indeed trigger memory recall. Sure, you can find them (green mangos...not cockatoos) pickled in brine or a chutney... but nothing beats fresh.

So, of late references to food have been bombarding my psyche. Recently I quoted something I heard my father saying a long time ago. "Love truly begins after the flash of passion has boiled down to a simmer." That's cookin, baby. Where's Hank Williams when you need him? I've even been dreaming about nosh. OK, admittedly a fair amount of these dreams also involved sex... but food was prominently featured.

I can only surmise that this convergence of the culinary in my life at the moment is directly related to the current play I'm developing. Yeah, it's about a terrorist chef. The pace of development is actually occurring pretty fast. This one is coming quite easily. No, I haven't written a lick yet. Waiting for an opportune moment when I feel that it's fully cooked enough before I will allow myself to be lost in my bliss.

What surprises me is that it took me this long to actually attempt writing a food related play. I originally come from a culture that is practically obsessed about food. It's not unusual for people over there to drive for miles in the quest for a certain dish that is served in some shanty hole in the wall. Really, Malaysians make no bones about the fact that we live to eat. BTW... HERE is a really good Malaysian food blog if you're so inclined.

I cook. I have even "trained" most of my friends here to the point that if I do serve a "full tilt" curry that they will gobble it up while sweating and tearing profusely without moaning about the hellish heat index. I've run a food business... and may again soon. Some of my favorite movies are food related... Tampopo, Like Water For Chocolate, Big Night... just to name a few.

So, yeah... I think it's about time, don't you?

last night I was thinking about food...

... perhaps the real question should be... when do I not? It was spurred on by something that Mum said yesterday as I was sharing a meal with her. "You have become quite a good cook." I beamed because that is indeed high praise coming from one's mother.

I was thinking about how I learned to cook pretty early in life. By the age of 8, I could whip up a pretty decent fried rice. By my teen years I had amassed a good stash of recipes and was able to lay out an entire (and balanced) meal for the dinner table off the top of my head. (No recipe books for this boy.) I loved (and still love) the physical act of cooking. The prep... deciding what goes in and in what proportions... and when it's done and ready to serve. I think it was the the magic of combining various food elements to produce a certain distinct taste that first grabbed me.

Though it was only in my early 20's that I began to appreciate and understand the subtleties and nuances that affect the palette. Until that point in time cooking was more of a functional joy. But the more I cooked the more secrets were revealed to me. For instance, how chopped, sliced and crushed garlic all provide a different value to a dish. Sure, I could have read up about it (and eventually did) but it was the pure joy of discovery through doing that made these revelations akin to the apprentice uncovering the dead wizard's secrets. One day it seemed as if the unprepared food was communicating with me. I was infused with the innate knowledge of what, when, why and how much... and all of this was coming from the food itself.

ONION: If you are thinking of using me in that cucumber salad... slice me wafer thin... and a slight sprinkle of salt will bring out my sweetness. A squeeze of lime as a dressing will hide it until the fresh crunch of the cucumber dissipates... then my true nectar will bloom to its fullness.

It was this that occupied my slightly deranged mind last night... how when we eat several sensation explosions occur. Taste, smell, touch... this series of little explosions... perfectly timed and building one upon another that provides the total sensuousness to the act of eating. This in turn triggers a euphoria... further releasing various chemical secretions into the rest of our physical being that causes us to shut our eyes in delight and moan wistfully as we implode into the complete surrender of the moment to the meal ... not unlike that exquisite sexual experience. And when sharing a meal with someone else this communion becomes a menage a trois with the meal having it's way with both of you simultaneously.

::wiping my brow::

And while I was thinking about all of this... I came up with an idea for a play about a terrorist chef.

EDIT:
And to all you Mamas out there... be celebrated... be very celebrated... you deserve it! Cheers!
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Yeah, we've been talking about touring...

... the show in the Summer of 2008. It's too late to apply for any of the fringe festivals this year. (We missed applications to the SF Fringe by about a week.) Still, a year and a half will give us time to fund raise for it. At the moment, Toronto and San Francisco are on the talking board between the cast, crew and I. (excerpt from the post on the TJ site today.)

Not entirely sure what is on the menu today. I'm sure I'll be able to rustle up something... so, no pictures of food for today.

My friend Kien arrives tomorrow. This gives me a day to get his room ready. His annual visits to perform at the Rogue are always fun... like having family around. Though if we were brothers by birth it would be debatable as to which one of us would claim the title of prodigal son. LOL! We spent our youth together... lost touch for 20 years and reconnected 6 years ago to resume as if those years were just yesterday. Of course, both of us had changed on our different life paths... (and perhaps even grown a little) but essentially the essence of who we were remained. I love the fact that he has carved his own niche here just from his annual visits. (Yeah, the man has groupies.)

Now to hit the graphics trail again. It's really taking longer this year that usual due to deadlines missed... but I am resolute to do the best job possible on it as I can.

So, for now... enjoy the hump of the week.

Cheers!

it's 2 AM...

... think I'll leave a post for later in the day. It may be more lucid than if I attempt to leave one now... just beat from working on graphics. For now... here's hoping your Tuesday starts well.

EDIT: 10:59 AM
Breakfast for Mum... check! Dishes washed... check! Lunch completed... check! Coffee brewed... check! Now it's time for yet more graphics! But not before a post first. (Oops... laundry still needs to be done.)

Those have been my days for the last few months (except substitute graphics work for playwriting for a month and a half.)... and will be for a while. Still, that is my daily routine. Now that it's become more of a routine... I quite enjoy it. It's definitely a shift from the life I used to live but life shifts all the time. This one too will shift eventually.

There are certain little things I take pleasure with now that I never did before. Having lunch with Mum being just one. It's not an everyday occurrence (depends on if she is napping or not) but sharing a mid-day meal together happens at least 5 times a week. I was always too busy before... working, etc... to be able to do this. And frankly... it wasn't something I really cared to do in the past. But that too has shifted over the past 6 months. (The added bonus is that she always compliments me on my cooking... this is particularly gratifying from someone who knows how the dish should actually taste.)

BTW.... on the menu today is (double pot) steamed chicken soup (Chinese style) with garlic, ginger and mushrooms served with garlic rice.

wasn't feeling too hot...

... this morning. Woke up feeling great but after preparing breakfast I felt like that old "Cherrios" commercial... "This boy is running out of steam". I decided it would be best for me to hit the sack again and allow the magic of sleep heal me. That did the trick. I'm feeling much better now... much, much better in fact. I am constantly amazed how when we listen to our bodies... it works with us to regain equilibrium. Still, I think it would be best to not push it today.

There may be an article in Fresno Famous about the show ... that's not shamelessly written by me. I'll keep you posted on when that is posted. This evening we also start the first of the last 3 rehearsals before we shovel it out to the preview audience this weekend.

Graphics work will be taking up most of my day... my week actually. I am attempting to get it all completed and ready for proofing by Thursday. That will then free me up for... web work. It just never ends.

I think It's time for me to hit the kitchen and cook. On the menu today.... Nasi Lemak. (Coconut rice with a spicy sambal garnished with cucumber, chrispy anchovies and peanuts. Usually served in a banana leaf wrapping.) Yet another favorite of mine that comes from the culinary streets of Malaysia. Click the name of the dish above for the recipe... click HERE for more on it.

Cheers!

spicy fried rice topped with an...

... onion omelet. That started off my day today. I haven't had this for breakfast in a while. Just had a hankering for it so I made it happen within 20 minutes. The coffee is on the brew and that will just cap the whole thing off. Don't get me wrong... I like the standard breakfast. But for me... this is comfort food. Now, what shall I do for lunch?

A post that Kien wrote recently got me thinking about this. I have often waxed poetic about the food from Malaysia... especially the street variety. I've enjoyed various foods from cultures around the world... really enjoy trying them. OK, I like food. I happen to think that it is the essence and soul of any culture. Food is the most immediate source that defines that culture. It tells you what they think and feel about life. Their life's philosophies are wrapped up in what they eat and how they like it prepared. Of course, it is also dependent on what is readily available in their region of the world. But it is what they do to it... their value in taste that determines how a dish turns out. The differences even in regions of the same country are quite amazing to behold.

I have often thought about taking food tours of different countries. In fact, I once suggested organizing a food tour of Malaysia... where you will never eat the same meal twice. A friend once traveled with me back home and her entire travel journal was filled with what we ate. I would ask her what we did on a certain day and she would quiz back with "before or after we ate fish and mango curry?" Quite funny really.

p.s. BTW... my cordless keyboard and mouse gave up the ghost today. No services are planned but donations to a good cause will be accepted.