Tag Archives: Food

The Pleasure Of Mini Rice Tables

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What a diff’rence a day makes
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain
~Dinah Washington

I seem to be in some kind of vacuum after my visit to the Lowlands, it’s a good one. I guess seeing my friends again, catching up on their lives, left me with a very positive attitude and hopefully it will stay like that for a while. I’m much happier and I feel a lot better in general. It was extremely good to see them and even though I came back to the UK totally knackered and with a cold, that week will be something to treasure. I miss the Dutch rain and riding my bike already…

I have to work on my CV again today and finalise it. I showed it to a few people to get some feedback, MvdM. made some really useful comments, something I hadn’t thought off so I have to change a few things. It won’t be that much work but since I found the perfect layout I probably end up swapping around sentences and words to keep it like that. He has worked for recruitment agencies in the past so his knowledge comes in quite handy! He promised me to have a look at it when I’m done so I can send it out asap, sweet isn’t it? I found a really cool job last week so hopefully it will still be there when I’ve finished the corrections.

We went to Lakeside yesterday morning because we had to look for a present for M. who will turn 40 next week. We will be going there [New Forest] and stay at a B&B. She has invited a crowd to her party, I’m looking forward to seeing her, S. and the girls again! I was invited to a BBQ party yesterday, AS.’s friends, but I didn’t feel like it, I couldn’t be bothered to go. So I bought some groceries for dinner; MvdM. invited me over and I promised to cook an Indonesian meal for him and W. later that day. We had to be back at 12.00 because AS. had to work from home, working on a cluster of servers for the bank. He took me over to MvdM. and W.’s place around 18.15 in between jobs.

MvdM. and I started cooking around 20.00, I gave him the traditional Indonesian recipe for peanut sauce [sateh sauce], it was his first time but he did an excellent job; it was a delicious sauce with the right structure and well-balanced flavours. Thumbs up for him! I had prepared and marinated sateh ayam and serundeng [fried coconut with spices and fried onion, used to sprinkle over a dish] at home. I prepared sayur asem, a sidedish of spicy green beans. The two of us prepared the main dish: Bami Goreng [Indonesian Stir Fried Noodles], kroepoek and a fried egg [sunny side up]. It was a feast!

I had a lovely evening and I was glad I made them dinner because it made me realise the fun of preparing Indonesian food the traditional way. I actually have missed it. It might sound odd but I never really felt like doing it because it’s so much work and I’ve done it too often on request of friends most of the time. So I ended up slaving in the kitchen for hours. This time it was much fun though, also because MvdM. helped me cook. It was a mixture of cooking, chatting, drinking wine and having a good time amongst the three of us. I’m happy I didn’t go to that BBQ party, this was much much much more fun!

I was home at 04.00 in the morning, and guess what: I behaved this time and was not drunk at all; not even tipsy… Thanks guys for a great evening!
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Next time I will make some yummy rempejeh too and who knows a ricetable some day in the future… I’m off to call my friend in Scotland… Later!

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Some Indonesian/Dutch history and an excellent explanation of a rice table:
The Indonesian cuisine is a rich and complex blend of many cultures. Chinese, Indian, Arab, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and British influences have influenced the development of the country’s present-day foods. Above all, the cooking of South East Asia has had a profound impact on the cuisine of the country. In the larger cities of the Indonesian Archipelago one can enjoy the chili peppers, peanut sauces and stewed curries of Thailand; the lemon grass and fish sauce of Vietnam; the intricate spice combinations of India and the endless foods which are a combination of these dishes. This culinary world of succulent delights reaches its epitome in the Rijsttafel – the crown jewel of the Indonesian kitchen.

The Dutch ruled Indonesia, once the richest agricultural region in the world for 320 years. The Moluccas, a part of the Indonesian archipelago, were the original Spice Islands, suppling the entire world with black pepper, nutmeg, mace and cloves. These centuries of Dutch rule left an indelible mark on the country’s cuisine.
They are responsible for the Rijsttafel (rice table) which originated with Dutch plantation owners who liked to sample selectively from Indonesian cuisine. It became a kind of tradition, and the Dutch because of their fondness for Rijsttafel, introduced it into the Netherlands. Today, in both Holland and Indonesia, the Rijsttafel is a real culinary pleasure.

Called a forerunner of the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, Rijsttafels, at times featuring more than a 100 dishes, are a great way to sample numerous Indonesian dishes in one meal.
From among the many dishes served are nasi kuning; loempia (egg rolls); sateh; perkedel (meatballs); sateh lilit; gado-gado; daging smoor (beef with soy sauce); babi ketjap (meat in soy sauce); kroepoek (shrimp toast), serundeng (fried coconut); roedjak manis (fruit in sweet sauce); and pisang goreng (fried banana); along with a number of sauces.

Rijsttafel is eaten by first placing a little of the hot rice in a soup bowl, then surrounding it with a little of the side dishes, as well as a small quantity of sambal on the edge of the plate to season the food. Each side dish has a special flavor of its own and, hence, one should not mix the side dishes with the rice because the fine taste of the side dishes will be lost.
© 2003 Habeeb Salloum
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Dim Sum and Markets

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We booked our flights and the rental car today for the wedding in June. I found a really cheap B&B in the same little village where the reception will be. It saves us a 12km trip to the nearest big hotel, which would be 40 Euros by cab . I called the cab company of that particular area and the person on the phone was really helpful and kind, he gave me some addresses of hotels to check out online. The nearest hotel would’ve been either Wieringermeer or Schagen and the latter was booked already. A room at Wieringermeer would’ve been another 93 Euros. So I called the lady of the B&B and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the room was available. The perfect place to stay, in the middle of nowhere, in farmer country!
I needed fabric to sew two new dresses, and a zipper to adjust and finish my dress for the wedding. So we went to Ridley Road Market, to this store called ‘Dalston Mill Fabrics’. An Aladdin’s cave to be explored, so many fabrics and colours, zippers, threads. I bought a dark chocolate satin and a light grey satin, thread and zippers so I’m all set to finish the dress for the wedding and start the other two in time. This store was situated next to the Ridley Road market, a cool market, we were a bit late but we’ll probably go there again. I need to look for bamboo steam baskets since mine are falling apart of intensive use. I also need to look for ingredients for Dim Sum, since I have been craving this and Sushi lately. I think I will make some Sushi next week and buy fresh tuna from this market.
We then rushed off to Lakeside, A. had bought the wrong size of shoes so we had to go there to swap them, they only had one pair left unfortunately, the ones on the shelf, so one shoe was slightly more cracked than the other. I went to Marks & Spencer and finally found the pants [cropped leg] that I have been looking for, so I bought two of them in black and I ordered another pair in a light grey tartan fabric [very nice!]. I will have to collect them next Saturday from Ilford. Because I have been craving for Asian food for days we decided to order in Chinese. Unfortunately Dim Sum is never on the menu, well, not the original Dim Sum, only starters… Anyway it was good but I will still make some Sushi next week!!!
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Ridley Road Market
Open: Mon-Wed, 9am-3pm, Thu 9am-midday, Fri/Sat 9am-5pm, Dalston Kingslane Railway Station.
London Borough of Hackney
This is the place to come if you’ve a penchant for Asian, African, Caribbean and Mediterranean food stuffs. Sadly, the market has made headlines in recent months for all the wrong reasons (allegedly illegal bushmeat is easily obtainable if you’re a regular to the market) although that said, it’s still a good place to come for cheap fruit ‘n’ vegetables, exotic spices and Asian specialities. Ridley Road market is a truly great place to walk around; it bustles, it jostles, it smells, it’s noisy, it tests your patience, it tires you out, it’s completely fascinating, at turns its comic and then somehow seems poignant. In short, it’s alive.
The mixture of races rubbing shoulders with each other is incredible: Indian, Chinese, Jamaican, old time Londoners (ie, pre-yuppy), Turkish, African – they’re all here, buying provisions, chatting away in all manner of languages and dialects. And the food on sale is amazing: dates, custard apples, big fat avocados, pomegranites, sharon fruit, mangos, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, puna yams, bags of garlic, thousands of chillis, a whole array of scary blackened smoked fish heads, and even rolls of dried, cured cow skin. The various fishmongers sell between them fresh tuna, coley fillets, live crabs, squid, octopus, salmon, cod, tilapia, skate, red snappers and psychadelic parrot fish.
You take as you find, speak of what you see, and after many years of walking down Kingsland Road, ending up at Ridley Road market, one can never tire of the amazing vibe of the place, its myriad faces and languages all competing with the sound of the market traders shouting back at you, selling they’re bits and bobs, rubbing they’re hands together to get the warmth back in, sipping hot steaming cups of tea. Ridley Road market, and by extension, it’s a great place; busy, colourful, unpretentious, noisy, real and alive. If you can see beyond its scruffiness, you might well find yourself falling hopelessly in love with the place.
© My Hackney
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