Underneath the Stars.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Food!

6:24 PM

Surprisingly, its only my 30th post. Interesting, eh? Hahas!!

So states the old proverb "The poor man seeks for food, the rich man for appetite." Indeed, we can see that food is just merely something to keep us alive, however, to enjoy food is of a different level.

We usually look at food without that curiousity. Then again, why would we look at food with interest? It does not really change much. However, when we do, we realise we obtain a higher level of understanding to that mere meal.

Food can obviously be classified into several different types such as chinese, japanese, malay and etc. However, they all have something in common, something that perhaps even I, don't really pay attention to. That is the sense of smell. No matter what food, it emits that sort of smell that is an addition to the enjoyment. The taste obviously steals the 'limelight', but smell makes what we eat even more special. Take for example, stir fried vegetables. Do we not realise if they were fresh, they emit this fantastic earthly aroma, that sort of 'sweetens' what we take in. Or for a more direct approach, we could look at cakes. Cakes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but what makes a cake outstanding, is of course the X factor, to be sensually pleasing. Such as having an oven-baked apple pie. The fragrance that forms strands of ribbons in the air is so suprisingly rich. When we breathe it in, we can even smell the spices that has been mixed with the apples. We might even be able to take in a sniff of the caramel that was boiled with the apples which creates this layer of intoxicating sweetness, making it unbelievably addictive.

But, of course apart from this food has this wonderful texture that cannot be beaten. As what we know, most good food depends highly on its texture which tends to be smooth. For instance, such smoothness can be tasted from beacurd. The soft curd which tends to be quite as smooth as silk makes eating it a pleasure. In addition, combined with the sugar syrup, which fuses with it so brillaintly, makes it a wonderful breakfast or a snack. Another example is from chocolate! Usually what we claim as good chocolates tend to be smooth, or rather in a simple term, 'melts in our mouths'. Indeed, when the great blend of the earthy bitterness of the cocoa powder and the sweetness of sugar unifies with each other by chocolatiers, they become a whole new world as compared to their raw materials which are of the extremes. Having said that, smooth chocolate which melts naturally and explodes its flavour in our mouth, tends to be the ultimate indulgence (as some would claim). It can hardly be denied, can it?

Nonetheless, the presentation! Presenting has always been a tough job, especially when it has to draw in the customers, since it has to bring out the best in foods. To bring out the best in food can of course make it a different experience. Take for instance food dawned in green light would never be nice, since it is hardly pleasing to the eye. Green has always been 'alienated', thus having food that is green, would hardly attract people to taste it. Or perhaps when food is served with a special sauce that has been sprinkled across the plate, dosen't that intrigue you?

Hence, food is definitely something to be 'analysed' and enjoyed. The essence of it is just unbelievable. The unification of different materials could shock many. To be able to understand gastronomy, indeed takes a lot of effort, but to enjoy it probably dosen't take much effort. When we really do manage to take this to another level, perhaps we would discover more in food than just observing it on the surface (:

Friday, May 1, 2009

Birthplaces

9:06 PM

Have you ever wondered why the hometown of people are so important? I just realised why.

As we continue moving on, walking on a path which we believed so much in, we continue to create new circles. New circles of friends, new circles of favourite places, restaurants or even bars. With everything that constantly change, we always find ourselves having to adapt to the changes. Our lives never really settle down all the way.

But one thing that perhaps never change is our birthplace. Now, this is where it all changes. Having been brought up in a city where its all so familiar is one that we cannot part with. We know the area like the back of our hand, our school, our home, our neighbours. Everything seems to fall into place. The area stays, it never changes even as we progress, or at least it seems so. Nothing much does really happens. For instance, bukit batok would always be here, same as New Jersey in the United States. The place just seems laid back enough, an area where we can catch up with the pace. It seems just right.

But once we have to move on, those strings and ties we have held on so dearly for so long, would all have to be broken. We have to continue to adapt to change. But is it all worth it? We question. But yet, we do not have control over our better judgement. We have to move on, in order to progress. We can never ever give up on something that has been part of our lives for so long. Its far too emotional. As we pack, we start to reminiscence on the good times. Our tears start to roll down, we start to move slower, our limbs are reluctant. But nonetheless, we continue with weakened muscles. Hence when we continue to a new area, we never seem to blend in as easily as where we were born. It all seems too new, like a new planet, a new world.

However, being humans we shall continue, we have to, in order to make progress. Thus I shall to. Getting teary-eyed, I know I have no choice, but to move on, still holding on to the past, keeping the strings intact, but yet embracing the future.