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I eat those, too. Anything crunchy that's not too hard is fun!

So it sounds like you all are suggesting offal, not a pasta tasting menu anymore? I've promised to take a friend for a pasta tasting menu when he defends his dissertation. He's been to Al Di La' (actually, both of us have, separately). Will he be disappointed by comparison? Neither of us have ever been to Babbo.

It's possible that my memory is failing, but I can't imagine crostini that aren't topped with anything. As I understand it, the whole point of a crostino is that it's toasted and has a topping. But yeah, menus should really specify things like "crostini di fegato," etc.

Tupac, how do you feel your meal compared in quality to the other fine dining you've been doing in New York recently? And after all that wine, were you dead drunk?

I think I would add my support to Pecorino Toscano, and I'm glad Provolone was mentioned, but I have to mention Asiago. A really good Asiago is delicious!

Peter, it's nice to meet you, and in such a picturesque way! I'll be following along. Enjoy the experience!

Before you go, what does your moniker, yunnermeier, refer to? I'm guessing that's a Dutch word? Thanks for the great blog; I'm gonna miss it.

I'm fascinated by the food photos and descriptions in the Noma, Picture report from Copenhagen, Denmark thread. Very interesting cuisine in that restaurant.

Fish fat is good for your health, so eat the fish skin with pleasure and without guilt! I always do.

Thanks for all the work and fun you put into this blog, yunnermeier! I was hoping it would go longer, but for the blogger, the week is exhausting, so enjoy not having to take photos of everything you eat and reply to many questions.

I watched most of the TV program, which I thought was pretty good. If any of you would like to read Mrs. Beeton's book online, it's available in full at http://www.mrsbeeton.com/. Mrs. Beeton seems to have been a very important figure in the history of cookbook writing (excerpt from the aforementioned URL): The format? First, a complete list of ingredients. Then, the mode, time, and average cost of ingredients.

Sekolah Kebangsaan was never in English; that would have been Sekolah Inggeris, and at least in the 70s, that started in Sekolah Menengah (middle school/junior high school). I got fluent in Bahasa Terengganu within 6 months. I have a good ear, and besides, when you have to speak a language, you learn it. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I love really good Ayam Percik, my favorite Malaysian fruits are probably some of the kelat (tangy) bananas and rambutan (when I was a kid, I also loved buah kemunting, wild red berries I used to pick, but I missed the buah kemunting season in 2003), and for sweets, there's nothing I liked better than the wood-roasted kuih bakar I had during recess every day at the sekolah kebangsaan.

Robert, you've done so much work to make this site what it is. I look forward to many more knowledgeable, lucid posts from you. Enjoy life as an Emeritus staff member!

I was there from 1975-77 as a kid, going to Standard 5 and 6 (5th and 6th grades for you Americans), and then visited in the summer of 2003, which is when the story about the pet bull and the belimbing dates from. I'll tell you another funny story, though not food-related: When my parents and I were in Kuala Terengganu getting official permission to live in Kg. Merchang, the government official asked my father what his work was. He made a gesture toward my mother and said he was just following his wife, and that he was a painter and could paint anywhere. I think that nowadays, with all the professional women -- and professional Malay women -- in Malaysia, that wouldn't be thought of as very odd, but in 1975, things were different, and the look of incredulity on that man's face was priceless! We were there because of my mother's work in anthropology. Here are the results of a Google search on my mother's name. And some of her research was even about food and nutrition. I can tell you more about that if you're interested. Oddly enough, when my mother's application for me to study in Sekolah Kebangsaan Merchang was approved, the official was very concerned that I might work illegally. At the local sawmill, perhaps?

Further to yunnermeier's point, when I was living in a Malay village, a standard greeting would be "Makan nasi doh?" That's East Coast dialect for "Have you eaten rice yet?" Just as in Chinese, in Malay, "to eat rice" means "to have a meal," and it's used even if you had something like lempeng or jemput (types of pancakes) for breakfast, instead of rice. A lot of people had three rice meals a day, though. What's the difference in taste between the different varieties of belimbing? I never remember coming across the variety used for cooking. I'm not sure they had it on the East Coast. I'll digress for a second to tell a funny story about the starfruit variety of belimbing. The mother of my old girlfriend from the village (who's now married with two beautiful sons) has a pet bull (that's right: a tame, pet bull with a very sweet disposition and the run of a little village, a kind of small neighborhood with little traffic and a few houses). While we were over at her middle daughter's (also her next door neighbor's) for lunch, the bull came by, and the mother cut up a bunch of belimbing from her daughter's tree that the bull happily ate. Several other belimbing were cut up and served to the human beings as part of our lunch -- or, rather, as a snack while lunch was finishing cooking.

I've gotta go to a rehearsal, but a couple of clarifications: Nasi kunyit means rice with turmeric. Also, belimbing is called starfruit or carambola here. (That is, to the extent it's called anything. I've never seen domestically-grown starfruit for sale, only imported stuff that's pretty green and seldom looks that good, and it's usually sold for at least $1 apiece.) Everything looks great! I'll check in again later.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! (He agreed, right? ) I'm really enjoying your reports.

Love that ikan bakar! So, we've already had sambal belacan and cincaluk. Any chance for some tempoyak? Blog on! P.S. I've never had mangosteen with sambal belacan. In the kampung, sambal belacan was for ulam, in my experience. Do you eat ulam?

yunnermeier, I think you should show these fine people real Malaysian udang galah, if you have the chance. And definitely get something with belacan, if not sambal belacan. And show them Ais Sago Gula Melaka. Again, if you have the chance.

Russ, Fat Guy some time ago started a thread on frozen foods that don't suck, and we discussed berries that are picked when really ripe and frozen as one such food. Many of us agreed that Cascadian Farm tends to make good products, especially in terms of their frozen berries and peaches. How do you rate these products against out of season "fresh" strawberries? And do you freeze any strawberries yourself?

Some restaurants also serve Bindi gelato.

That's right. I lived in Kg. Merchang, on batu 25, halfway between Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Dungun on the coastal highway. Your blog is off to a great start, and I'm feeling "homesick" for the jambu air, the rambutan, the air mata kucing... The last time I visited Malaysia, I spent several days staying at the Shah Hotel by the A&W restaurant in PJ. Shiewie and Maukitten and a couple of non-eGullet-member friends of mine separately took me to a very nice satay stall nearby there. Shiewie, Maukitten, some friends of theirs and I also had a great pig-out seafood meal not far from there. My parents, three friends of theirs and I had another delicious meal at a slightly upscale place on the main road a couple of blocks down from the hotel, and after having been to Restoran Oversea in the mall on the other side of the LTR station a couple of times with my parents, I went there by myself for a last blowout meal before flying home - kangkung belacan and a great braised fish dish that was expensive by Malaysian standards but fully worth it to me. So I'd say that your city is chock-full of great food!

Indeed! I have to admit that I would have cancelled the blog, under similar circumstances. Of course, I'd probably be having a lot of delivery and certainly wouldn't be cooking elaborate meals while ill! Take good care of yourself, Klary. And maybe let Dennis cook a little more?

I can't say I'm familiar with buah nanam. I'm glad you're blogging again, yunnermeier. Selamat makan.

Klary, I hope you wake up feeling well! I'm really loving the photos of Amsterdam, especially the beautiful buildings! I had forgotten what corenwijn was, so I did a Google search for information in English, and turned up this interesting page on jenever on the Thinking Bartender's website.