Lyrical Lemongrass writes: I looked at the block of chocolate which Paprika gave me as a souvenir from London, uncertain how to react.  ”This is so generous of you, but I don’t bake, Paps,” I said meekly and pushed it back to her.  ”You take it and bake me something with it lah!”   For something so precious, I couldn’t bear to accept it and leave it in my refrigerator, untouched for the next 20 years. “You can cook savoury dishes with it oso what,” she said. That’s an idea, I thought.   So I accepted her kind gift, and then left it in my refrigerator, untouched ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: I was having dinner with my friend, Joan, a couple of weeks back when she brought up the topic of blogging and particularly of my blog posts on my disastrous attempts at  baking.  Not all of us are made for baking, and not all of us are cut out to be famous bloggers.  Who needs that anyway? (being a renowned blogger, that is)  One wrong word, one humorous parody, and in this country, you could just end up in court.  Sigh.  We’ve lost our sense of humour. To Joan, my Baking 101 series may not be back (touch wood ar) because baby, I’ve been ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: Five generations My brothers and I are products of inter-cultural love stories that have spanned several generations.  While our identity cards insist that we are Indians, the reality is that our blood runs thick with a multitude of Malayan colours.  My mother’s forefathers sought their fortune in this land a long time ago, before the flash of immigration in the last century, while my father’s roots, two generations before his, were set in India. My brothers and I are a product of an inter-cultural love story in the nineteen sixties.  He was a patient in a hospital in Perak, and she, the nurse.  They fell in ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: Yummy birthday cake by Delectable by Su Until last week, I had only tried cupcakes and the regular fare at Delectable by Su, and so I was pretty pleased when my Shu Uemura Birthday Party ended with a sweet bang.  The birthday cake was a rustic looking sandwich with oodles of cream, chocolate ganache and strawberries, rich and absolutely sinful. Su takes baking and decorating very seriously as can be seen from her prettily decorated cakes. ********** Thank you, Shu Uemura, for throwing me such an amazing birthday party.   I am in ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: 1. You’ve got to try Just Heavenly’s Indonesian Spiced Marble Cake and Sugee Fruit Cake, two of the specially packaged Hari Raya offerings this year.  The cakes are moist and flavourful and guaranteed to add inches to the waistline because you just can’t stop at one slice.  The Sugee Fruit Cake is Nigel Skelchy’s family recipe, made of semolina mixed with sugared wintermelon, citrus peel, nuts and golden raisins.   The Spiced Marble cake is quite similar to the Indonesian layer cake (but this has swirls, as opposed to layers, of colour), with hints of cinnamon, nutmegs and mixed spice in a moist butter cake.  These are all packaged ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: An extract from Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter” (from Through the Looking Glass); something lighthearted for a wacky whimsical Wednesday! (Note: There are five preceding verses talking about the Walrus and the Carpenter taking a stroll on the beach when they chance upon the oysters) “O Oysters, come and walk with us!” The Walrus did beseech. “A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, Along the briny beach: We cannot do with more than four, To give a hand to each.” The eldest Oyster looked at him, But never a word he said: The eldest Oyster winked his eye, And shook his heavy head– Meaning ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: Vinegared Pork Knuckle My dinners with Kenny Mah and the Devil Wears Prada are always spontaneous and generally take place in Taman Desa or Old Klang Road where they live. The thing about living in Shah Alam is that I get used to driving long distance, and any distance under 35km is a mere walk in the park. The passport jokes are stale although I admit I sometimes indulge in it to tease my lesser neighbours (yes, my friends in Klang). I once decided to have lunch in Klang at my parents’ place, and ended up taking an entire hour to get ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: Extract from The Star: PETALING JAYA, Thursday August 19, 2010: PAS is blaming Valentine’s Day and New Year celebrations as among the main causes of baby dumping in the country. PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan said the occasions were celebrated in an extreme manner and encouraged liberal socialising and free sex, which resulted in the act of dumping babies. “Baby dumping is rampant especially during the months of July to September – the months are dubbed the ‘baby dumping season’,” he said yesterday. He said there had been 15 cases of baby dumping between July and yesterday. “It is an indication that the ‘mating season’ ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: Sometimes it’s hard to say even one thing true When all eyes have turned aside They used to talk to you And people on the street seem to disapprove So you keep moving away And forget what you wanted to say Little bird, little bird Brush your gray wings on my head Say what you said, say it again They tell me I’m crazy But you told me I’m golden Sometimes it’s hard to ...
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Lyrical Lemongrass writes: If you were in Malaysia last year, you would have most likely come across the inaugural Time Out KL (TOKL) Food Awards in 2009.   You would have also most likely wondered how some of the restaurants even made it to the list, and as much as I was surprised at some of the winners, I realised that we had only ourselves to blame.   You see, like all democracies, power is given to the people (yes, it’s true!), and TOKL believes that we, the people, should pick the restaurants that we believe are among the best in KL.  Believe it or not, ...
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