Emotional Foodie

“My relationship with prawns ended after one bad prawn”, that’s my usual reply when someone tries to make me eat prawns. I used to love prawns, ate heaps of them… until one fine day when one bad prawn left a horrible aftertaste. That killed every ounce of affection I had for the shell fish. It was really sad that I no longer had any cravings for prawns, and even to put one in my mouth would take a bit of coaxing.

My relationship with food is an emotional one. Very.

This lady relishes being “in the moment, with her food”. I love eating, I love feeling for my food. Watch me eat my dark chocolates and ice-cream… But those who know me would know that emotional- is not an understatement. I have an emotional history with some of my passions, each having a frivolous story of its own. Let me share with you two.

Chicken Wings: The relationship with chicken wings have fizzled over the years, but nevertheless each time I eat the wing, my “valiant attempt” stems from this picture in my mind.

During my primary school years, it is common practice for kids to grab some quick bites before journeying home on the school bus. One hot favorite is of course the deep fried golden chicken wings Stall 5 sells. That unforgettable scene took place when I was in Grade 3. She was sitting opposite me in the bus, eating her chicken wing. I don know how the jzie-jzie did it- the way she brought the food to her mouth made the oily plastic bag appear one class higher. Her lips were glossed very nicely by her food, she was mincing each part of the wing daintily. She “de-fleshed” the wing with her pearlies impeccably. I have never seen anyone eat a chicken wing more gracefully than she.

She was the reason why I bought chicken wings for the next few weeks, just to attempt to eat like she did. And in fact, my valiant attempts to eat the chicken wing like a lady lasted many good years. Only till much recently did I discover that the drumstick would perhaps put the klutz in a much better stead. Hahahaha..

Paella: My relationship with paella is tele-induced. Let me first explain that I pay as much attention to what the actors eat when I watch drama serials, as I do to the story. And I am not talking about serials built around culinary theme. Just normal TV shows, and the characters have to eat as a normal activity. So for paella, it began with 刑事侦缉档案IV. Shoot me.

Zishan & Tangxin ran to the supermarket as it was closing to get ingredients for a late night dinner. Romantic adventure. It was to be the first time he cooked for her, and he made this lovely Spanish dish for his lady. That was the first time I was introduced to paella, and thence began my relationship with the “西班牙海鲜咖喱饭”.

For the record, I have not failed to not order the seafood paella each time I step into a Spanish restaurant.
Just for picks in Singapore: The one at Maison Basque is exquisite, likely due to the French fusion influence. Portions are just about right, rice nicely buttered, but the seafood a tat overdone. I prefer Via Mar for its authentic Spanish feel. The portions are huge, one serving feeds 3-4 ladies easily. However, I find the rice a tat salty & wet from an overdose of butter. Generous helpings of seafood, but sadly the prawns were not too fresh that evening.