Text 1794, 77 rader
Skriven 2008-02-03 14:35:26 av Barbara McNay (1:382/48)
     Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson
Ärende: MEAT 781  80202
=======================
 >  -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Barbara Mcnay <=-

 >  ML> Especially as someone else was paying! I did have a very
 >  ML> nice (and grossly expensive) meal at Jade at the Fullerton
 >  ML> a few years ago, though, and have fond memories of the place.

 >> For lunch that day three of us descended on a noodle-and-dessert
 >> place and rolled out of there half an hour later stuffed to the
 >> gills - total, S$11 (US$8).
 >  BM> Good heavens.  I don't know that we could match that price in the US.

 >  ML> This is true of most big cities: even though the prices at the
 >  ML> high end - or at the tourist end - rival those of New York,
 >  ML> Washington, or L.A., one can find good cheap eats where the natives
 >  ML> congregate. Working-class people have palates, too, after all.

 > Singapore is good that way.  It is very easy for
 > visitors who stay in
 > the expensive tourist hotels to remain in the world of
 > international
 > cuisine and prices as they dine in high level
 > restaurants with
 > magnificent views, but much cheaper, and more fun, to
 > plunge down into
 > the basement levels where small food stalls
 > proliferate.  There is an
 > infinite variety of excellent food to be had - mainly
 > Chinese, Malay,
 > Nonya, Indian, as well as Singapore creations - and it
 > is all cheap.

Gives a different perspective to the phrase, "Eating high/low on the hog."

 > It is also a good way to meet the locals, many of whom
 > like to discuss
 > food.  The last time I was there, I was sitting at a
 > long table eating
 > my rendang, and got into conversation with a couple of
 > ladies who were
 > eating something I hadn't seen before.  We got to
 > talking about it, and
 > then one of the ladies reversed her chopsticks and
 > transferred some of
 > the food (from her friend's plate) to my plate.  Very
 > generous.  It was
 > something like a small Chinese burrito.  Delicious.

That's one way to get a sample of a new food.  I wonder if the ladies remained
friends after the one's "generosity" with the other's food.

 >> I don't think it's the Cryovacing but rather the processing of
 >> the meat beforehand. After all, the "great" steakhouses (i.e.,
 >> the expensive ones) often wet-age their meat by sealing it in
 >> plastic, and few if any complain about Morton's and
 >> the Outback.
 >  BM> And do Morton's and the Outback meats taste medicinal?  Not beefy?

 >  ML> That's my point - people don't complain, and if the food tasted
 >  ML> medicinal, there would be hell to pay. So the plastic wrapping
 >  ML> isn't the problem.

 > In the Vanuatu abattoirs where I used to work, the
 > best steak was
 > cryovaced and aged in plastic for several weeks.  It
 > was delicious and
 > tender, with no medicinal taste.  It does darken
 > somewhat as result of
 > that aging.  Perhaps some irresponsible meat
 > processors add tenderiser
 > to try to "age" steak cheaply, or dye to make it
 > redder.  That might
 > give a chemical taste.

It certainly dashed my expectation of a delightful meal!

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 * Origin: T E X A S ! (1:382/48)