When my svelte and sexy wife S and I first started dating, one of her friends described me (behind my back) as a “very porky person”. I’m not sure if she was talking about my ever-growing mid-section or the fact that my favourite meat was and still is pork. I’m hoping that it is the […]

When I was a kid, if I had had my way, I would have eaten eggs for breakfast every day. My mother, however, believed that too many eggs was bad for a growing child. Given that she had a medical degree, and I was just a pint-sized glutton, who was I to argue? These days […]

Ever since returning from Barcelona, I have been slightly obsessed with peta zeta, or as we say in English, pop rocks. It’s Oriol Balaguer’s fault. When we were in Spain, one of the must-visit places on my wife S’s itinerary was Balaguer’s boutique. She’s been slightly obsessed with this genius chocolatier ever since a pastry […]

There are some restaurants and cafes that I go to specifically for one dish. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the rest of the food served at these places isn’t up to snuff, it simply means that that one dish has become one of my favourite things to eat. A meal in one of these establishments […]

Ever tried making something from a cookbook that looks really cool and really simple but just doesn’t turn out right? Or, as happened to S and me just a few days ago, right-side up?
A great friend of ours had recently given us a copy of Modern Spanish Cooking by Sam & Eddie Hart. She and […]

While my darling wife S and I usually try to ensure that our dinner parties unfold smoothly and surely, sometimes mistakes just happen. A couple of years ago, we had planned a rather ambitious menu for a dinner party we were hosting. One of the courses was an oxtail ravioli, made entirely from scratch. I […]

In a recent post, I mentioned that my darlin’ wife S and I have a pretty big collection of cookbooks. And while some books are rarely used, there are others that have become well-worn kitchen companions. We all have favourite recipes and favourite cookbooks that we turn to first when looking for something to make […]

I should probably apologize to some of our readers out there. In one of my last posts, I briefly mentioned that during the summer of 1994, after reading Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, I was inspired to spend several weeks searching for the very best katsudon in Paris (where I was living at the time). While […]

One of the meals I look forward to preparing each year is the dinner our family shares on the eve of Chinese New Year. I remember the frenzied research and rounds of rehearsal dinners I went through before I prepared my first reunion dinner four years ago. I must confess that I was crazily ambitious […]

There’s nothing so sinfully satisfying as a perfectly cooked portion of pork belly. Whether it’s been (slow) roasted or braised, if done properly, the fat on this great cut of meat should melt gorgeously in your mouth and the lean meat should be deliciously tender. Recently, S and I tested a recipe from Cocina Nueva […]

What do you do when a friend gives you a couple boxes of uni (sea urchin) and a jar filled with not one but two and a half summer truffles? Well, after whooping for joy for a good half an hour, you call some equally greedy friends and invite them over for a super-decadent Sunday […]

I have to admit that I bought Emily Luchetti’s A Passion for Desserts primarily because I had to have her recipe for the enticing chocolate chip ice cream cake that’s featured on the book cover. While there are days when one may be inspired to take on Pierre Herme’s Plaisir Sucre, the demands of […]

lamb tagine with olives, eggplant and lemon confit
One of the chefs attending this year’s Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok’s World Gourmet Festival whose food I was most excited to try was Fatema Hal. Ms Hal is considered by many to be one of the most important proponents of Moroccan cuisine on our planet. Over the […]

Marco Talamini is the chef de cuisine at La Torre di Spilimbergo in northeastern Italy and is considered by some to be one of Italy’s best chefs. Earlier today, as part of the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok’s World Gourmet Festival, S and I had the pleasure of attending a cooking class and lunch featuring […]

It’s been a fantastic trip to Bangkok so far. Monday morning, my sexy spouse S and I woke up in a gorgeous room at the Four Seasons Hotel, had a great breakfast at Biscotti and then spent the rest of the morning chilling out with one of my food heroes, Chef Peter Gordon. After […]

When S and I got married 5 years ago (well, actually it will only be five years in 2 weeks), we had originally planned to honeymoon in both Spain and Morocco. We especially wanted to go to the latter. We dreamed of visiting Fez, Casablanca, Tangier and Marrakech. We bought several guide books, surfed multiple […]

Whenever my darling wife S brings home live Sri Lankan crabs from the market, I get excited. I love the flavors and textures of freshly cooked crab. S also has a phenomenal, continuously expanding repertoire of crab dishes. Her crab cakes, for example, are truly inspiring.
I’m a very lazy crab eater. I hate peeling crabs. […]

I only became obsessed with making my own ice cream after I set eyes on the Musso Lussino Pro, a sexy, 38-pound stainless steel ice cream-churning R2D2 with its own built-in refrigerator unit. After reading the glowing review in Burt Wolf, Emily Aronson and Florence Fabricant’s The New Cook’s Catalogue (“makes superb ice cream of […]

Singapore is famous for many things, but the thing our country is most famous for is its food. And of all the wonderful local dishes that people love eating here, no one dish may be more beloved than “chicken rice”. I have to admit that while I like chicken rice tremendously, it’s not my favourite […]

I mentioned in a previous post that I’m a pretty regular customer at Garibaldi, considered by many foodies in Singapore to be our best Italian restaurant. I’ve been going there consistently since it opened and, for a good year or so, I had lunch there with colleagues and clients at least once or twice a […]

Once upon a time, a sailor with a speech impediment and overdeveloped forearms convinced a generation of kids to eat their spinach. Eating spinach, he told us would make us stronger, faster and give us the ability to save our loved ones from evil… or at least big, ugly bearded guys.
While Popeye was not my […]

The very yummy cake that chef Pignolet whipped up during his cooking demonstration
One of the restaurants that I’ve always wanted to eat at but have not gotten around to visiting yet is Bistro Moncur, located in Sydney, Australia. My good friend J, who runs the sumptuous blog Kuidaore, went there a while back and has […]

The Khao Soi Gai that I made at the Four Seasons Resort’s Cooking School
From my very first bite, I was hooked on Khao Soi. Usually served with chicken (”Gai”), this Northern Thai curry noodle dish, most famously served all over Chiang Mai, has become one of my all-time favorite foods. My wife S and I […]

I know I really shouldn’t be jealous of a dog, but I just can’t help myself. The younger of our two golden retrievers, Alix, is both aggravating and inspiring. And at times, I just can’t help but envy her. Let me try and explain. Alix, who is one of the most affectionate and gentlest creatures […]

Like so many others around the world, I’m fascinated by Martha Stewart. As an ex-magazine professional, I totally admire her. She has amazing editorial vision. Over the years, I’ve marveled over countless copies of Martha Stewart Living, admiring both this groundbreaking product’s design and content. When we were planning our wedding, S and I turned […]

This past weekend, we flew to Taipei on Jetstar Asia Airways. This is significant for only two reasons. The first is the price. Jetstar is one of Asia’s new budget airlines. The advent of these new airlines has made regional travel suddenly very affordable. Flights that were once between S$700 to S$800 are now between […]

Well, this is my first post on the new site (which aside from the URL shift should hopefully look the same as the old) and what better celebratory food than an age old classic dessert and snack, the ice cream sandwich. This one was made using chocolate brownie cookies and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
I […]

What a weekend of eating! On Friday, my wife and I met up with two good friends for a delicious yakitori dinner at Ahodori (which I wrote about in March). Saturday night, we had a feast at a friend’s new (and really amazing) apartment. The food, cooked by his gorgeous fiancé, was beautiful. We started […]