Singapore Food Delights

Singapore Food Delights
Classic Singapore dishes re-imagined
Roger Smith, 2015
See it here.

Spent this morning re-imagining some of my favorite Singapore foods.  The result can be seen here in this large Art Print - 36 inches X 21 inches

Food of the Ancients

Quite by chance I came across a translation of one of the most famous cookbooks of all - Apicius; a collection of Roman cookery recipes, compiled in the late 4th or early 5th century AD.

I doubt if many of the recipes will ever make their way to the Margaret Drive Hawker Centre but one never knows.

The list of culinary delights includes: Grilled Sow's Womb, Roast Loins Made Thus, Milk-fed Snails and not forgetting the various laxative vegetable recipes. The latter no doubt taken after attempting to digest the sow.

Approaching the Chinese New Year the price of local sweet meats has already risen and will continue to do so. Bak Kwa will be at apremium in Singapore.

For the next two weeks though I will be back in the land of my birth, after nearly four years away. The diet of milk products, crusty bread and fresh seasonal vegetables (per chance the odd avocado?) will make a pleasant change.

Bright Shiny And New

Newer is not always better and so it has proved with the refurbishment of the food court in the Singapore Botanic gardens.

It was a place I frequented regularly as the variety of food was good and there were some hawkers who cooked in the old (for that read non-sanitised) style, where one could still savour the richness of a sauce from a well fired wok.

My favourites were sotong pagang (grilled squid, Indonesian style) and the banana leaf curry set which could be had for the princely sum of $5.50.

The fruit juice stall did a roaring trade even though they had a penchant for topping up the glass with sugar syrup.

A couple of days ago the food court reopened and so some of us dutifully returned to this once favourite haunt.

Gone were the plastic chairs and tables and in their place stood rows of environmentally friendly wooden tables; quite in keeping with the mission of a botanic garden.

The food service however seemed to have been inspired by IKEA, with stacks of trays and chrome rails to slide them along. The prices were also a dollar dearer. I can't put my finger on it, but the old food court magic was no longer there.

I guess tourists who eat there would not know the difference but we did. Speaking personally I enjoy the atmosphere of the old coffee shops and food courts, provided they are properly cleaned.

I noted that this is blog posting number 94 for 2009 which equals my best and most verbose year - 2007. In one more day I take an annual holiday and like many people in Singapore I will not be traveling far. Maybe I will try and discover some of the older places to eat during the break?