Nutmeg Drink

We tried a local drink of nutmeg syrup in water and wow wow wow what a great sweet refreshing nut-meggy drink. I had no idea that there were so many parts to trusty old nutmeg, for me I have it grated over my Brandy Alexanders! Now I’m not a total heathen I do know it’s outer casing dries as Mace and the Indians do cook with that from their spice cabinets, but in what dishes I still have some learning to do!! So, the syrup in made from the flesh around the nut but under the fresh skin pre-Mace. What a more wonderful world it is now that I know about this syrup.

Seasonal Food and MSG.

What at a fabulous class and we learnt so much about market to plate seasonal Malaysian cooking. Chef Samuel is passionate and loved his white board.

According to Chef Samuel there are 5 things needed in Malaysian cooking, Sweet-Sour-Salt-Bitter but they need Umami (MSG) to round out the total Malaysian combination of traditional flavours. 

For example, in Indian its just 3, Sweet-Sour-Umami (natural MSG from tomato) to make the flavour balance and for Thai it Sweet-Sour-Salty with the Umami coming from the fish sauce. YES YES there is a chemical MSG no.621 ++ other numbers that is in a very salty form of MSG badly used in processed food and some Chinese’s restaurants in Australia but I’m not going there!! Malaysian Umami according to the gospel according to Chef Samuel in its natural form can also come from a processed MSG (natural?) which they make from sugar cane and or tapioca … now let’s not get into the for and against of MSG as for Sandy she has a HUGE allergy to MSG in chemical forms and also in the natural fermentation process for example in Italian Parmesan Cheese which as raw ingredient milk and rennet are fine for her to eat but when they are combined and with time and fermentation it is turned into a natural form of MSG which can give my Sandy a REAL BAD time!!!!

Chef Samuel's Cooking School

The is conducted in his apartment on the 38^th floor in the Band Baru Air Itam sector overlooking the city of Georgetown. 

WOW WHAT A VIEW, it’s like being in a plane. 

The apartment rents for about 2000 ringgits a month so about $700 Aus for about 100 m/2, includes security gates into the building, 2 carpark, 2 bedrooms, 1 shower, tiled floors throughout but no kitchen (that, you have to bring in yourself) no fitted kitchen here. Hmmm cheap…. and the apartment upstairs is up for sale, it’s the penthouse and roof top terrace with 360deg views, twice the size and 1,000.000.00 ringgits so about $350,000.00 Aus …. Where is the contract!!! But alas way too much humidity for these 2 dry country kids. From up here you can see to the left to the Penang peak and over to the harbor in front and to the right is Georgetown. It will never be built out as in front are the traditional housing and to the back of the apartment you overlook the cemetery, this is why it is cheap to rent and buy as the Chinese are a bit spooked out about the dead.
So this is the view from 38 floors up, you can see the cars in the bottom of the pic and all the curved crypts facing the sea.

10th Jan

We sailed into the historic city of Georgetown on the island of Penang off the Malaysian mainland where we cooked with a local, Chef Samuel.

Up early as Chef Samuel picked us up at 7.30am from the port gate and drove Sandy and I some 20min to the city’s oldest food markets in the Kampung Baharu sector for a local breakfast of sweet cold coffee (tasted like the little Japanese coffee lollies) followed by a duck and egg soup in a dark soy sauce and a prawn noodle dish (a bit like Pad Thai) spicy and so yum.

If this is a taste sampler of what’s to come, bring it on Chef Samuel. 

Off now hitting the markets to get all the fresh ingredients for the days cooking class. On the menu to learn is Penang Hokkien Mee - Prawn Bisque Noodle, Ayam Rendang - Malaysian Spiced Dry Chicken Curry, Ngo Hiang Loh Bak - Nyonya Five-Spice Pork Roll.

At Pia's Cooking Class

We had the privilege to meet a lovely young like-minded adventurist foodie couple from Sydney, Stretch and the beautiful lady Stretch-ette.

Sorry Stretch, it was the best pic of us!!!

We shared a taxi back to an old partly dilapidated Italian inspired Villa/Hotel near the Port

and enjoyed chatting about past and future travel and food experiences while drinking cocktails overlooking their pool and a cleaner part of the Kedawang Bay away from the filthy port entrance.

The 1st cooking class was on Langkawi Island on the 9th Jan

This is where we cooked with Pia at her restaurant and cooking school, “Pia”s the Padi”. 
Love the sign!

Here we learned her Malaysian versions of the Indonesian's Beef Rendang, Indian Chicken Butter Masala, Fish Sambal and many more. Because Pia is Malaysian/Chinese and her husband is Malaysian/Indian the dishes we learnt were as they say Nyonya.  This was a fusion of food cultures and a very unique experience as it was located a 40min drive inland to a padi field. 

The scenery and the drive to get there (in and a rust bucket of a taxi van) was reminiscent of Fiji 30 years ago. 

This is a developing tourist location and thankfully is still much untouched by western influences so the experience was still quite real. The cost (unreal) of the taxi from the ship was 4 times the cost back so someone is making big dosh at the ports (tourist $) while the locals taxi is still working happily at a realistic local cost for the work/task done. It was a bit disappointing that if the ports are charging the tourist off the ship so much that they can’t employ some locals who are clearly on a lower wage to do some rubbish removal to make the entrance to their ports an experience that would make tourists want to return and not feel ripped off by the government departments running the filthy ports. OK Pete off your soap box! So, with that aside the people we had dealings with in Malaysia were beautiful hearted people who couldn’t do anything more to make our time in their county a pleasure and a culturally unique experience. 

All the dishes we cooked with Pia were big ticks, I love a good rendang and the Malaysian’s sure know how to cook and flavour fish.

 The stand out dish we learned from Pia was the Chicken Butter Masala from scratch. (Margret and John L) Sandy can’t wait to cook this for you. It’s all about the butter and when and how it is applied that makes this dish a roasted, smoky and buttery delight and not just a creamy safe sauce that we have come to know from all the ones I’ve tried in Australia. Maybe I’m wearing rose coloured glasses and it’s just a Malaysian food fling! but truly I have never had it taste so good and now we have the technic from a local Malaysian chef, Pia. May need to improve our outdoor kitchen facilities, oh … and it can’t be cooked on a total fire ban day!!

Then we sailed our way back down the left side of Thailand into Malaysia

stopping at 3 ports and did 3 cooking classes with local Malaya’s.

 Enjoying fireside !!!! suppers on the ship.

 Crab cakes to die for Yum Yum 

and a whiskey bar to wile away the sailing hours.

Pure Bliss