PCL

What about Steinlager? That's a kiwi beer no? I think it's drinkable. Recently, Carlton Draught has seen a bit of a renaissance in terms of quality and popularity. The tap product is certainly up a notch from how it used to be, but that could be because I live in the same inner-city suburb where the brewery is, and all the pubs in the vicinity claim to have the freshest beer in the country! Having said that, I discovered the Little Creatures Pilsener last week on a trip to Perth, and wow!!! Wow!!! WOW!!!

I agree. It's not bad. Only one more sleep till KL. MAKAN TIME BABY YEAH YEAH YEAH

Matthew, you are too kind. Any good ideas on how to best identify which tiers of what I have left are cake and which are expanded polyethelene?? I'm thinking of using a fiber optic borescope inserted into a minor diameter core hole made using a tungsten carbide tip. Last night, I rapped the icing with my knuckles and could not detect any druminess or signs of delamination from the substrate.

I am much relieved that what the esteemed spousal unit is proposing to do isn't too far removed from reality. A word of thanks must be extended to all of you who have seen fit to participate in this little discussion. To summarise, it appears that the cake can sit on the shelf for a while, until it turns green or some sympathetic rodent decides to high tail it back to the burrow for communal consumption. But to maybe ellicit more discussion, the cake in question was/is an orange butter sponge syrup thing. Firm. The tiers, were one cake one expanded foam etc. We're currently left with the top three tiers, of which one is definitely cake. A quick inspection this morning suggests that after a week on the shelf, all appears normal. Stress on the 'appears' for I dared not touch the thing. Thanks also for the information on tradition etc. Our first anniversary was actually over 5 years ago. The wedding cake was for the 'reception' we had last year because we didn't actually have any family members present at our 'original' wedding. The idea of re-glazing the cake is also appealing. Maybe I shouild surreptitiously replace the cake tier with another round of identically sized expanded foam, glaze/ice that and leave the thing on the shelf. Maybe I should take monthly photographs and post them here so we can all chart the progress of the cake over time. I'm kind of excited. That's kind of weird.

Hi all. I can't seem to understand this whole thing, but maybe y'all can help. Thanks in advance for your patience: Apparently there is some tradition which holds that wedding cakes should be preserved for posterity. As a result of this, the top three tiers of our wedding cake has been sitting in the freezer for the last year or so, being preserved. Now, space has finally run out and the cake has moved from my in-law's freezer, to the freezer in the garage, still at the in-law's and now, it's made it's way to our place. We don't have space in the freezer. Sorry, but veal bones, chicken carcasses, pork belly etc etc frozen demi etc etc are simply more important than a cake. So, in response, the spousal unit decides that because the cake is packed with sugar, and encased in icing, it can sit indefinitely on top of the bookshelf. I'm not so sure. I'm confused. I could Google it, but I thought the Gullet would be better. For the record, it was a great wedding, i'm very happy, and I loved the cake when i ate some of it, but hey, i think this is too much...

Kosher rabbit, now that's interesting.... what about brining the beast? prior to roasting... thighs... mmm... Anyway, regarding serving size, I shot a big bunny a couple weeks ago, and the thighs and forelegs served 4 no worries with the following sides: roasted brussel sprouts roasted carrots small bowl of lentils with salt pork dunno how the bunny weighed up, but it was BIG.

Totally agree. that' why we only used the shrimp we bought in London for like, spring roll filling, baked garlic butter prawns, etc etc etc. This is an aside, but the best ever raw prawn I ever had was in Italy, just north of Pisa, well further up actually, past Viareggio. The Tuscans like their seafood raw too. The critters were still twitching on the half shell. Ate 'em veins brains and all... sweet as honey I tell you, with a hint of seaweed. SEXY.

Yes, but the texture penalties are high. Some say thawed frozen prawns are bouncier. However, there are unconfirmed rumours bounding about that much of the frozen prawn haul in London, well, Europe in general, are injected with preservatives and also some kind of 'chew' enhancer. I snooped around a bit when I was living over there and most of the frozen prawns are from Bangladesh or Thailand.

I'd do them like I do green beans. - slowly caramelise some onions and a clove of garlic in some butter and EVOO - wash turnips and then while still wet (provides moisture) bung 'em in the pot - splash of white wine, S&P - simmer over low heat till fork tender, although with the swede turnips you might want some bite left in. - squeeze over some lemon juice and serve

I beg to differ....I don't see this thread going firey, except *pant, pant* from the nasi I had this morning. The beauty of nasi lemak is in all its simplicity (with the basic condiments) and in all its perplexity (with all extra indulgences), there's nothing controversial about it. Enjoy. ← After following it for a couple days, I agree Tepee. This thread is more informative and educational rather than all-out debate and self-aggrandisement.

this thread is going to be as firey as the CKT one, probably even more so.... and guess what gang? I'm gonna be in KL on the 26th August!!! MAKAN TIME BABY YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!

We got lots of lemons on the tree at the moment. Thanks for the bath suggestion! As for other winter warmers, I've been diving into a huge pot of lentils the last couple nights. Not puy lentils, but just common green and brown, simmered in wine/stock/herbs/onions/carrots and browned chunks of smoked pork belly... mmmmmmmmm

Yeah my point exactly... it's all under the banner BBQ, and CKT isn't a banner or genre, 'fried noodles' is the genre if you like. So it follows then in Cantonese, that chow-fun, or just friend noodles should be the banner under which CKT, pad thai, singapore noodles etc etc should come under. CKT is just what it is, with a flavour base of it's own. I mean, once you stick ketchup or fish sauce into it, it morphs into something else entirely different right?

Would you say the same about BBQ? Tournedos Rossini? Cassoulet? I mean, accept variations of a regional sort by all means, but in terms of a CKT itself... CKT is CKT. It means something to those who eat it, make it, and there is an accepted method of recognising it. The fact that CONFUSION sometimes leads to MISUNDERSTANDINGS is something I feel this thread is trying to clear up. Pad thai is pad thai. With a prescribed set of measures and ingredient base from which variations can stem. If there is a CKT/pad thai combo fusion thing going on, then let time be the judge. For now, CKT to me is what a lot of us grew up with and has since been disseminated into the global kitchen by nature of the Overseas Chinese diaspora in particular those from Malaysia and Singapore.

yeh... slow cooked pork belly... like at around 130 or so for a few hours, then up the heat for the 'grill' function and move the entire roast, crackling side up of course, and salted to the grill to crisp it up.... i find that a few minutes rest helps to improve crisping, must let the skin breathe...

Well done. If the food was better the night I was there, I might have felt different. But you've hit the nail on the head with regards to experience/setting/demographics and the potential falseness and Sydnefication of the whole thing... (falseness is my own interpretation). It's event dining. Normally, I could divorce the experience from the food, and sometimes, will go back for exemplary food despite having been treated like crap or simply not digging the space, but if I have another experience there similar to the first one, I'd be even more upset and might write a book about it. But I wil go back for lunch!!

Shal, which farmer's market is it in Sydney? Name of producer/seller? The one's I've been to here in Melbourne don't seem to sell the stuff. I do have my butcher, but I"m also interested in comparing prices. I haven't spoken to my Forbes people for a while, they're on a looooong holiday...<pout>

Thanks for the Malaysian forum link Tepee! Much appreciated. To echo the 'invitation' to eat in Malaysia/S'Pore... the CKT must be sampled in every city one gets to. Start up North I guess, in Penang, the spiritual home, and work southwards.

Shal, there's a couple simple but elegant rabbit recipes floating on the Italy forum at the moment. the thread is called funnily enough, 'rabbit'. Sorry, too lazy to link. bad rabbit source disregarded for the moment, most french and italian recipes call for marinading the bunny for a considerable while in white wine and herbs prior to prepping seriously for whatever venture you've got planned.

If I could be so bold as to attempt to crystallise the issue for the collective clarification of the myriad of issues raised in this thread: - CKT is a uniquely Malaysian/Singaporean dish - It was concocted by some really cool mystical dude who harnessed the flavours of lard and cockles and chillies and other goodies into a starch-based staple beloved of all decent Overseas Chinese and subsequently other races, who inhabit the Malay archipelago, resulting in regional variations and adaptations, including the halal versions. - you won't find this in China - the ones claiming to be CKT in Hong Kong simply do not match up to the stringent requirements of the real deal - the ones claming to be CKT in the US/Australia/UK sometimes come close if cooked by 'natives' but the local ingredients invariably fail to match up, especially in the cockles department and MASSIVE BTU's required to fire the stove... - good CKT come from the ONE STOVE, ONE WOK, imbued with mystical and esoteric qualities required to produce this delicacy. - good CKT come from a hawker (independent stall by MASSIVE STORM WATER DRAIN, or affiliated to a Kopi Tiam) who sells NOTHING ELSE ... I have to abandon this post for now, anyone of you, Shiewie in particular, please feel free to add to the list above. It's not so much an explanation but a checklist of reasoning. CKT is like, wow, one of life's immutable essentials... I'm abandoning the post because I'm at work, and have suddenly become so emotional and homesick that I must go collect myself by the watercooler, or even head outside for a cigarette to clear my mind and fog up the nostalgia...

Roger that. Just ask 'em. The butcher next door to the Minh Xuong BBQ Meats restaurant is the best one for chooks. The head-on/feet on chooks come complete with the giblet pack inside. You can roast those little bastards really well, in your new oven, provided you stuff butter down their breasts between the skin. I spatchcocked a bird last Tuesday to cut down on cooking time and man, for a cold night, it was just what was needed.

Do you de-bone the rabbit before boiling?? Or is it more like a prolonged poaching??... and of course, ingbakko, bienvenuto a eGullet!!

There's been lots of lentils cooked in my kitchen this winter. A few variations on the beef burgundy theme, oxtails, curries, and pork... braised, stewed, slow roasted... ...and chicken soups/hainanese chicken rice/chicken congee... gotta love the free-range chooks from Victoria St, Richmond... ...and potatoes, pumpkin... beans.. beans... beans... and a cassoulet coming up

I did pork belly rashers the other day, around 1/2" thick ones, basted with cider. I also did chicken wings, marinated in soy, sugar, sesame seed oil, dark soy, loads of garlic. I also did steaks. Massive bone-in ribeyes. I also did prawns. This weekend, I'm gonna do more. See what the butcher's got for me. What kind of grill do you have? Gas? Charcoal? I use a charcoal grill, with a mix of apple trimmings, coal, briquettes to start it up. Grill sits 3 inches above settled coals. Grill is cast iron. It is not a griddle, ie. flat plate.

Wow, people actually LIVE in Putrajaya? And good food too?? I've only eaten at government department cafeterias where the ayam goreng is always surprisingly good.