1:13 pm Monday, April 30, 2007
Comfort food
Speaking of smells... I think the smell of food is the strongest stimulant for evoking memories. Especially for Asians perhaps, cos eating is a very emotional experience, where we want to get the whole works we pay $2.50 for --- the taste must be good, the texture must please our tongues, the wetness/dryness must be just right so the food slips down the throat etc etc. So when we finally find the perfect stall selling food as the perfect combination, it's like ecstasy! Explains why shows like "Makan Places Lost & Found" are so popular. Besides the joy that the food gives, it's also because we once went and ate those food with people in our lives --- old classmates, ex-loves, past colleagues, or parents and siblings when we all were in a different stage in our lives.I don't know when I started being offended by animal intestines. Prior to that, Mum used to cook pig kidney soup. I remember the smell, a little 'raw', but with lots of pepper to spice it up and cover the smell. Mum became more health-conscious after that and we stopped eating offal products, and started on a vegetarian and organic crusade. It's a lot more balanced now; we still eat a bit of both meat and veggies, but no more strange meats. I miss my Grandma's porridge too :(My hubby-to-be is always chiding me for being greedy. Whenever we pass by an Old Chang Kee stall, I cannot not buy nothing. The smell of over-fried oil and pastry just draws me. I ponder, and think it's due to the nostalgic factor.In primary school my sister and I used to take the school bus to and fro school. Our bus driver was initially Money-Face (forgot why we called him that), then switched to his equally pudgy uncle Maggi Mee a.k.a. Tan Ah Kow (serious!), so called because of his heavily-permed hair. Although we were so naughty, Maggi Mee was very good to us. He used to take our orders as we were piling into his van at the end of the schoolday. Then he would make a turn into the then-Old Chang Kee stall near the old Rex Cinema, leave the engine running (don't do this at home, kids) and grab the puffs for us, all gratis! It's a bit sad though, that the famous Old Chang Kee we see now is not run by the original owner, but by someone with business-sense who targeted it for the bigger stage. Also don't know where Maggi Mee is now... sigh.Labels: Nostalgic Nut
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