Today I found myself thinking of a story angle for food - "reinventing Polar Cafe".
My cousin Erlich makes the most terribly wickedest confections in the WHOLE WORLD (to fake a phrase from Lola & Charlie) and I think the Fullerton and the Ritz should either hire him or buy their pastries from him. (The photo here is of his famous Chocolate Caib, only 100,000 calories per slice)
One of his top bakes (apart from his awesome Apple Crumble and like, 50 flavours of muffins) is a perfect chocolate Swiss roll. The roll itself is like cloud fluff, and melts in the mouth, yet is firm. But the kicker is the layer of better-than-Valrhona chocolate that is rolled with the cake layer. Angels would sell their wings for a bite of this.
So it started me thinking, as I used to, about what a great column this would make. Reinventing Polar Cafe: How to do the Sugar Roll, Curry Puff and Hot Dog Roll the Vanilla way. I would be able to think these thoughts because I know if I just called or emailed our Vanilla food writer Sim Ee Waun, she would TOTALLY know what I'm talking about, and do a 200% better job than I would have imagined.
Ee Waun's got a funny food story for EVERY occasion, and I love that her solution for the world's woes is a lychee martini (hey, Ee Waun, we are very sad here, how about mixing us a pitcher, extra lychees please?). Ee Waun is 40 and a certified Sexy Dame. Her columns are laced with mission school propriety mixed with a winky-wink cheekiness that I just love.
Ee Waun, please do continue to contribute right here - any of your weird recipes are welcome but more so your quirky food stories. Your column is one of the major things I'll miss most about Vanilla, so do keep giving me a fix okay? :)
PS I'll see if I can steal Erlich's recipe to post here. But in case I've made you hungry, you can find his stall called Opus Deli at Lau Pa Sat. His website to keep you drooling: www.opusdeli.com (he's Catholic - can you tell? :D)
3 comments:
This is sad, sad news indeed. Vanilla had substance and provided lots of inspiring thought.
So sorry to hear that it has fallen victim to the current economic instability.
Hey Pearlin! Good to see you...
Yes, sadly, the magazine we love suffers a premature death. I really hope one day, a publication like Vanilla can be commercially viable — perhaps if we start on a clean slate.
But thank you for adding value to Vanilla :)
OMG! Your cousin owns Opus Deli? Can you pls ask him if V fans will get discount?! ;-P
Love his muffins, and wish he'll have classes so i can learn how to make them so yummy too!
cheers,
Karen
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