Text 2600, 107 rader
Skriven 2008-02-17 20:06:12 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Michael Loo
Ärende: HAPPY NEW YEAR 858 80217
================================
 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Glen Jamieson <=-

 GJ> Was "bumboat" the actual wording by WS Gilbert,
 ML> 'course it was, you silly thing, else I wouldn't have brought
 ML> it up.

Well, that would date the word to before USAn influence, and indicate a
greater likelihood of its derivation from antique Chinese.
 
 GJ> As that is one part of Singapore I haven't been to, I was wondering
 GJ> what the eatery was like.  I've lived with nipa palms, mangroves and
 GJ> hermit crabs, so have seen enough of them.

 ML> My friend Lori was quite taken with the crabs and their little
 ML> dramas being played out at low tide. We found it interesting
 ML> that it appeared that the big claw conferred an advantage for
 ML> a while, until it got so big that the owner had to sort of
 ML> dance around it, dragging it along rather ineffectually.

The large claw would be effectively lighter once the crab was fully
submerged, but in any case, you could observe and philosophise about
nations which have a defense force which grows and grows until it takes
over, and becomes a burden to the rest of the nation - or crab.  An
equally absorbing tropical pastime in the absence of TV is watching the
mating habits of house geckos on the windows.  As good as a soap opera!
 
 GJ> curry, do the locals address you in Mandarin, Singlish, or do you
 GJ> display a little Stars and Stripes badge of some sort?

 ML> Cantonese, then Singlish when that doesn't work.

And then, when you replied in Amerenglish, then what was the reaction?
 
 GJ> Title: Fish Head Curry

 ML> The fish head curries I've had tend to have a prominent
 ML> sour component. I think I might prefer a coconut-curry-style
 ML> one, but I've never seen such

There are lots of fish and coconut dishes, so it would work.
 
 GJ> 1 lg Fish heads; >2, >2.5kg

 ML> What does this mean?

From my long-time study of the transcriber's methods, that would be his
short-hand for, "1 to 2 large Fish heads, of total mass up to 2.5 kg".

My Punjabi son-in-law makes an excellent fish curry similar to this.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Fish Curry With Coconut (Goa)
 Categories: Mains, Fish, Indian, Asia-w, Charmaine
      Yield: 6 servings
 
    750 g  Fish steaks
           Lemon juice
           Pepper
      6 lg Dried red chillies; pref
           ; Goan or Kashmiri type
      2 tb Desiccated coconut
      1 tb Coriander seeds
      2 ts Cumin seeds
    1/4 ts Fenugreek seeds
      4 ts Finely chopped garlic
      1 ts Finely chopped ginger
      1 tb Tamarind pulp
      2 tb Ghee; or oil
      1 lg Onions; finely chop
    375 ml Coconut milk
  1 1/2 ts Salt
 
  Wash fish, rub over with temon juice, salt and pepper and set aside.
  Soak the chillies in hot water for 10 minutes.
  
  In a dry pan roast the coconut, stirring constantly, until brown.
  Remove coconut and dry roast the coriander, cumin and fenugre k
  seeds, shaking pan or stirring, until brown. Put soaked chillies,
  coconut, spices, garlic and ginger into electric blender an blend to
  a smooth paste, adding a little water if necessary. Soak tamarind
  pulp in 1/2 cup hot water,squeeze to dissolve pulp, strain.
  
  Heat ghee or oil in a heavy saucepan and fry the onion until soft.
  Add the blended mixture and fry on medium heat, stirring unt l it
  darkens in colour and smells cooked. Add the coconut milk, salt,
  tamarind liquid and bring slowly to simmering point, stir ing to
  prevent curdling. Add the fish and simmer, uncovered, until fish is
  cooked. Serve with rice.
  
  Note: Ground coriander, cumin and fenugreek may be used instead of
  whole seeds, but first roast them on low heat to intensify t e
  flavours, stirring constantly and taking care that they do not burn.
  
  From: CHARMAINE SOLOMON'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASIAN FOOD By: CHARMAINE
  SOLOMON, with NINA SOLOMON IBSN 0 85561 688 1 Scanned/Edited by:
  KEVIN JCJD SYMONS, MARCH 2005
  
  From: Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia
 
MMMMM
 

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 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)