Category: food fascination

Hi everyone!

Finally after weeks and weeks of bearing with the cold, it’s finally springtime here in Rome. To me it is one of the best times to visit Rome when the temperature is not too cold and not too uncomfortably warm.

If you were here during these times, you’d probably see a lot of these for sale :

These are artichokes, or to be accurate, Carciofi Romaneschi. A speciality of Rome, these are different compared to regular artichokes because the petals are purple instead of green, they are very round and there are less thorny bits inside the buds.

One carciofo costs about an euro each and can be prepared in a variety of ways – such as, a frittata, pasta, risotto, alla romana or alla giudia like this one that I had at a Jewish restaurant.

How pretty! It looks so much like a flower doesn’t it?

Today, I’d like to show you a quick and simple way of enjoying them. I had three carciofi at hand and the first step is to clean them.

First you cut the stalk from the bud. The carciofi needs to be removed of a few layers of the petals outside as they are really tough and chewy. And then you cut the bud into quarters and remove the thorny bits inside. Cut also a layer from the stalk as seen in the picture above.

Oh! An important thing to note is that carciofi gets oxidized very easily. So it’s a good habit to rub some lemon on it as you clean it. You could also throw them in a bowl of lemon-water.

And when you are done, don’t be stunned to see a lot of peelings and whatnots. This is normal

Now sprinkle some regular flour on top of the cut carciofi.

And then dip them one by one in tempura batter and deep fry them in hot vegetable oil. I don’t remember which brand of batter I bought. It was a pre-packaged one, but you could make them from scratch.

And then when they are golden brown, they are ready to eat. And believe me, even if it looks rather unremarkable here, it’s really yummy!

Of course, if you’re like me, I’d always dip them with my favourite chili sauce

As Cart and I didn’t want to lug too much things in Singapore, we decided to get our ingredients in the Singapore supermarkets instead.

Last evening, we have been going practically all around Singapore trying to find the ingredients for the open house this Saturday. First we were at Fairprice Xtra in Jurong Point, and then we headed to Giant in IMM and then finally we headed to Cold Storage in Holland Village.

Check out the stuff that we got, this is just a fraction of the entire marketing!

And we were not finished yet! There are still a couple of final ingredients to get. Thank goodness I still have my scooter with me to take us around speedily.

While it was easy to find certain ingredients, I have to say that, I’m quite surprised to see that its not that easy to find even decent substitutes.

Like mozzarella. I needed these for making my lasagna. But I wasn’t able to find the soft, fresh, ones that I was used to and instead we found this solid one. Cart was extremely amused to see this hard type of mozzarella cheese in Fairprice Xtra.

This was because, mozzarella in Italian, is actually a term where you cut the cheese using your hands making it have the drop-shape. Nevertheless, this would still be fine since the cheese will melt in the lasagna in the end.

Interestingly, while I’ve always had the impression that Xtra would be the high end heartlands supermarket where you can find a lot of unique items, but it was actually the Malaysian brand, Giant that had more variety of items that we needed.

We found Savoiardi biscuits here.

And these are actual Italian brand savoiardi. And these will be used in the making of our Tiramisu!

And cocoa powder. Strangely, we couldn’t find them in Xtra.

We also found parsley in Giant.

Fresh ones aren’t that easy to find actually because the ones that you’d see normally in your regular Singapore supermarkets are Chinese Parsley aka Coriander. It’s not the same thing.

And we also found tomato sauce (not ketchup) made of just tomatoes with no other added ingredients, there was also mascarpone, and other stuff that I can’t remember at the moment.

But I was still missing a couple of ingredients! Can you believe that there were no frozen spinach to be found? Also no ricotta cheese? I was confused and asked for help online.

Luckily, there were some lovely people letting me know via twitter on where to find these ingredients. And the consensus was, to go to the supermarket where most of the expatriates live.

Thus we headed to Cold Storage Holland Village. Cart himself commented at how similar it looked like to Italian style supermarkets but I’m not too fond of these chi-chi supermarkets though. Since the prices tend to be on the high side.

But nothing prepared me when I saw this :

One bloody mozzarella costs 10 SGD?! I could get twice of that in Rome for about 3 euro! I mean come on, how much can the price be for transporting it? I normally use about 2 when cooking for Cart and me. So, hypothetically if I used these to cook for 20 people, it’ll cost 100 SGD alone without adding the cost of other ingredients.

If you were there at Cold Storage last night at about 10pm or so, you’d probably have witnessed me screaming.

No. I didn’t get them by the way. But just imagine how much louder my scream would be like if I had to.

Sidenote : Final call! Open house at my place! Free food! Freebies! And gifts to be won! Please RSVP!

Its just about 10 days to go till Cart and I board the plane to go to Singapore! I’m so looking forward to meeting my friends and family and of course eating good food!

In fact, I’ve been writing a list of the things that I want to eat! Ooh! All the hawker centers in Singapore, here I come! And so, I’ll share a couple of the food I cant wait to devour!

1. Ayam Penyet

Anyone who knows me in real life would probably know already that I’m totally an Ayam Penyet monster (kind of like cookie monster but with Ayam Penyet) I love eating the flavourful deep fried chicken which is then lovingly smashed, served with a potent sambal belacan, rice, and a myriad of vegetables which is supposed to cool and tone down the fieriness.

This Indonesian dish was totally love at first bite for me. Interestingly enough, this dish seems to be more popular in Singapore than in Indonesia. But anyway, in my opinion, this dish probably wont make it in Italy itself because, most Italians wont be able to take the degree of hotness from the sambal.

And for Ayam Penyet lovers, it is definitely the sambal which makes or breaks the dish.

2. Sushi

I love sushi! And while there will be some who baulk at eating raw fish, it actually tastes delicate but still flavourful. The important thing about sushi is the freshness of the seafood.

While I was working in Singapore, I’d frequently scoot to Giant Supermarket in IMM after work to get me a pack of Sushi to eat. It was cheaper and more satisfying to get sushi over the counter that way

Here in Rome, there are quite a number of Japanese restaurants, but practically all of them are pretty expensive. A very simple meal between Cart and I could easily cost us at least 50 euro. And even the pre-packed ones in supermarkets tend to be quite pricey and sometimes … quite unusual.

Frozen sushi? Anyone?

3. Mee Hong kong

Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if anyone in Hong Kong actually knew of this noodle dish or this was an interpretative dish that became popular. Nevertheless, this is the food that many Singaporeans like to eat and of course, I’d always have fond memories of it in a sheet of plastic in square white boxes as takeaways.

Picture from bunkerangs.blogspot.com

In any case, Mee Hong Kong comprises or a starchy type of broth, which usually has seafood and local vegetables and sometimes small bits of beef and served with egg noodles inside. My preference is kway teow which is a broad rice noodles instead of the egg noodles. So I’d always order it that way instead.

4. Prata

One really doesnt realise how much they take prata for granted once one doesn’t have ready access to it. I mean, its so accessible in Singapore. You could practically just walk in any direction and in less than 400 meters, there will be at least one hawker center serving Prata.

Prata, or the correct spelling Parotta, has been one of the choice for breakfasts or supper, or even a little nibble in between. I tried making my own prata, but you know, I think the best ones would need the use of a real griddle made by an Indian!

5. Satay

Its been a while since I’ve had authentic satay. Satay is kind of like shish kebab but much smaller. And it uses marinated meat of usually chicken or beef and served with peanut sauce, sliced onions and cucumbers and sometimes ketupat.

I still remember when I was young, staying at the old house before my parents moved. There used to be this pakcik on his bicycle full of stuff going around in the evenings, singing, “Satay! Satay!” Now that I mentioned this, I suddenly remember kids with baskets full of food, singing, “Epok-epok. Nasi lemak!”

And us kids will run after him, and he’d stop, set up the grill, the container with the peanut sauce and other condiments and start to fan the coals. And the smell of the cooking meat was so appetizing … slowly more and more people will come. These pakciks are a dying breed ?I think. Since my teenage years, I’ve yet to see any more of them.

Nevertheless, satay is easily attainable in Singapore at any random hawker center.

But above all else …

Hearty home cooked food

Yes, most importantly my mum’s cooking. I know that she’d probably feed me too much like last year. She really stuffed me with epok-epok, mee siam, nasi lemak, nasi ayam … the list goes on and on. And inevitably, I’d eat them all up and gain a lot of weight. But I’ll have no regrets because it is now only 3 weeks in a year that I get to experience this again. Better experience everything the best I can 🙂

Sidenote : I’m thinking of doing a makan session while in Singapore. If you’re interested do let me know in the comments below or in my facebook group!

Cart and I both love Indian food and I was quite amazed to see that Cart was able to take the heat of Indian food during his visits to Singapore.

It’s a misconception that all Europeans are not able to eat hot food by the way, and Italians have their hot food too like Arrabbiata. Also, the people of South Italy are known for their use of chillies in their food.

While driving to Cart’s parent’s place, sometimes we pass by The Himalayan Palace Indian restaurant.  Cart was so curious to know how the food was like that last Saturday, that he couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer that we stopped by to have dinner there even though we were going back to Singapore in less than a month.

As we entered the restaurant, there were quite a number of people there already and the amount of people coming in kept increasing. This was a popular restaurant it seems. I looked around the dining area. It was a nice looking place, with Indian art decorating the walls.

We both had the fixed meals. Cart had the vegetarian set while I had the fish set. I looked through the menu, recollecting some of the names of the food that I used to eat and was looking forward to eating them.

When the food arrived, it looked colourful and inviting. But eating it, it lacked the kick and heat that I’m used to. I mean, it tastes authentic enough with the use of spices. But it was just too mild for me. And believe it or not, I had chosen the hottest food in my menu.

I suppose the food was catered to the majority of the population here. While Italians can take hot food, their level of tolerance is not the same as mine. If the food was adjusted to the level of heat that I like, I believe the restaurant will go out of business in less than a month.

The 3 ladies who were sitting at the table next to us seemed to enjoy their food a lot anyway.

At least the food here seemed authentic enough,

Ristorante Indiano Himalayan Palace
Circonvallanzione Gianicolense, 277-279
00152 Roma

If you like Indian food, you might be interested in :

• Anjappar Restaurant
• Taj Samudra

I feel like such an auntie! So, fair warning that this post could be a little boring! 

Being a housewife with Cart as the sole breadwinner, lately I’ve been thinking of ways of trying to save money. Of course, the best way though is to get a regular job and contribute to the household expenditures. But, till then, probably one of the easiest way is to check on what we consume on a weekly basis.

Frozen Sushi? This is so wrong

While Italy is known to have a high cost of living, if we knew how to manage our budget, it would still possible to have a good meal for half the price compared to heading to restaurants. Moreover, I actually like going to the supermarkets and look for a good promotion, and that’s when I thought to myself. Is it possible for two people to survive on 10 euro a day for meals?

Lets find out!

Breakfast :

Normally breakfasts are a simple affair for Italians, basically it consists of cereal, toast or pastry, juice and a cup of coffee. Not a lot of food, but just enough to tide over till the next meal.

Cereal costs about 3 euro and juice costs about 2 euro each and can last two people about 5 days. While coffee costs about 2 euro a pack and that can last about a 2 weeks. And milk costs 1.30 and its enough for 3 days. While I drink rice milk as I’m a bit lactose intolerant. That costs 2 euro and it lasts for about 4 days.

All in all, that costs about 2 euro a day.

Lunch :

Normally lunch for Italians are the biggest part of their daily meals.

It’s a little bit hard to calculate for this because depending on what the menu would be like, usually it would be a different food a day as it could be  pasta or lasagna or risotto depending on what the person feels like eating.

Moreover, I’ve already prepped and frozen some food, like this pack of chopped carrot, celery and onion which is the base of many Italian cooking. Its quite handy and time saving to have them prepared in advance.

Also, I normally eat alone (so sad!) since Cart would be at work . But since he’s also vegetarian, many times I’d be cooking a bit of meat like Pollo alla cacciatora or Polpette for myself because I feel more comfortable that way, since he’s not around :p

All in all, a pack of 500g dry pasta would cost about 1 euro, that’s enough for 5 portions, a bottle of tomato sauce costs about 1 euro, good for about 3 portions. And with 5 euro worth of carrot and celery and onion at the wet market chopped and frozen, you could have like 3 (most times even more) months of ready to use soffrito!

Whereas chicken costs about 4 euro each and meat costs about 4 euro-ish per half a kilo. And that’s enough meat to last me for about a month since I dont eat meat everyday.

Lets see, when divided, that’s about 5 euro for two people (I eat lunch alone though!)

Dinner :

For dinner we’d usually have something less filling than lunch and we’d usually have food like mashed potatoes with seitan,  fritata with mushroom, baked potato with rosemary, bean salad, piadina … stuff like that …  usually accompanied with sliced bread (which by the way, when freshly made is one of the most delicious thing to eat) *drools like Homer*

A pack of mashed potatoes costs 2 euro and a pack is enough for 6 portions, seitan costs about 3 euro which is enough for 4 portions, eggs costs 1.50 euro for 6, potatoes cost about 3 euro for half a kilo, beans cost about 1 euro a bottle, piadina about 2 euro for 5 pieces. And whole bread as seen in the top shelf in the picture, is about 3 – 4 euro which will be enough to last for about a week. Maybe less if you’re a toast monster like me :p

And that costs about 3 euro for two people.

Verdict :

So, can two people actually survive on 10 euro per day?

Hypothetically, yes. But probably in real life situation, its not realistic because there are some things that you have to take into consideration like buying whole, packaged foodstuff, and stuff like that would usually take you over your budget. But if you combine your budget and do your marketing to once a week for about 50 euro, I think its totally doable to have good meals for two people.

Nevertheless, this is a lot more affordable compared to eating out most of the time!

And now, I’m totally auntified because this is the type of conversations that mothers and grandmother’s usually talk about  -_-“

Have you seen this before? It looks like a prawn but it has claws like a crab.

In Italy, this is called Scampi, also known as langoustine as shared by my friends on twitter.

Looks interesting doesn’t it? All my life, I’ve been accustomed to eating the Tiger Prawn variety with its small pincers. So when I was in the supermarket and I saw this pack for sale and I was so intrigued that I got it. Moreover, it was on discount. But the problem is, how do I cook it?

I wasn’t in the mood for pasta. As much as I like pasta, eating it everyday, is such a chore. And while Moby suggested Prawn Vadai, which I love to eat, I’ll leave it to the experts at making them.

I was feeling rice-y instead and after seeing Cart make Strawberry Risotto, I thought that I’d give it a try.

Only thing is, I’ve never made risotto before. There were a number of people that said that risotto is difficult to make, and that you needed to stir it constantly and the end product needs to have the “wave effect” when you shake the plate. I’ll give it a try anyway.

And here was my first attempt at Risotto agli Scampi :

First I fried some chopped onion and garlic in some olive oil. After a while I added some rice to infuse the flavours. Here I used Carnaroli which I found in the cupboard. This is a type of Italian rice that is good for risotto because of the the thickness as well the quality of being able to hold its shape after cooking for a long while.

Also, it is more starchy, so the texture will be very different compared to Nasi Goreng or Fried Rice. Below are several other commonly known types rice in Italy.

One cup is good for two people. One if you are very hungry.

At the same time I had some stock mixed with some of the scampi already simmering in another pot

And once the rice was infused, add in a ladle of stock and stir the rice till the water evaporates. Repeat the process till the rice tastes about cooked. This took about 20 minutes or so. Add salt for seasoning.

At this point, I added a bit of tomato sauce and lowered the fire. I forked out the scampi, pulled off the head and peeled it to get at the meat and threw it in the risotto. I added some butter to make it creamier.

And soon my risotto was cooked!

I gave it a try and thought that it wasn’t bad. Next time I make risotto, it’ll be even better!  🙂

Cart and I were walking around Piazza Navona during the weekend. Though we’ve been here quite a number of times, there were still interesting things to see like performance acts like magicians, giant bubble blowers, human statues as well as artists showing off and vending their paintings.

By the way, can you find something odd here?

After what seemed like hours of roaming around, (foot reflexology!) we reached this restaurant which probably started the whole Fettuccine Alfredo phenomenon.

It was said that this pasta, made with just pasta and butter, was cooked by the restaurant owner to feed to his pregnant wife who found it hard to keep food down. Cart also mentioned that this pasta was cooked by Italian mothers to feed their child when they are ill. In any case, the restaurant owner added it to the menu and it was well received by American tourists and word of mouth made it so famous that the dining walls were full of pictures of famous personalities (I should have snapped a picture)

The thing is, its not really a typical dish that Romans would eat because its so simple, basically made of butter and fettuccine. In fact, if you go around other restaurants not only in Rome but the rest of Italy, you’d never see this in the menu.

Also, 20 euro for a plate of Fettuccine coated with butter!? This is basically a tourist trap. Thanks, but no thanks

Sidenote : I’m curious to know why Italians don’t put chicken in their pasta. I know its an official rule, but what’s the basis for it? C’è nessuno sa perchè non possiamo aggiungere il pollo dentro la pasta?

I made apple crumble for the first time last week, and I’m quite surprised at how easy it was to make. All in all, the prep and the cooking took about an hour and a half in total.

You don’t need to use a Mac for this

Not a lot of pics here because my hands were rather greasy from handling the butter, but the recipe is quite straightforward.

First, you heat the oven at 180 degrees. And then coat your baking dish with butter. And then you put your apple filling layer made from :

• 500g apples already peeled, cored and cut into small cubes
• 50g brown sugar
• 1tbs flour
• Some cinnamon

Mix them all together. And now you prepare your crumble.

• 300g plain flour with a bit of salt
• 180g brown sugar
• 200g butter

Rub in the butter bit by bit. And when it starts to look like breadcrumbs, spoon it on top of the apple filling layer. Pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour and then … TADAH!

Fullamak! Smells good, tastes lovely with ice cream, cream or custard or even on its own! Swensen’s better watch out