Ramadan Ramblings

Yes, I am blogging about food again.

There are other (fairly) interesting things to write about but those require more effort in my part and I don’t think I can muster any – my whole household is recuperating from a prolonged cold - the transition from the hot summer to the cooler weather now that it’s autumn, has taken its toll on my kids and then us parents got the bug too and just when I was beginning to feel a little bit better, I had to go an eat an expired cheese cake – because it still looked good and I hate the thought of throwing it away.

This Ramadhan has been very trying and draining indeed.

But in spite of it all, I still managed to cook a few things. After all, what better time to cook Malaysian food when one is fasting and hungry and missing home and thinking of all those food in the Ramadan Bazaars back home where one used to buy food for berbuka.

Sigh.

Saying that, there are still some food that I would like to eat this Ramadhan that I doubt I will ever be able to make, for example, those scrumptious Putu Mayam and ‘Ayam Percik Bangsar’that I always buy in the Pasar Minggu in Duyong in my hometown. Of course, I could try to make that ayam percik, but I doubt if it’ll taste as good. There are other delicacies that I would like to eat, amongst others; Lompat Tikam, Ketupat Palas and the sweet kelantanese kuih, Akok, but what’s the use of listing them all down here in this blog when I can do nothing whatsoever about my craving and my readers back in Malaysia has all the luxury of reading this and going out to the bazaar and bringing these delicacies home.

Now, I’m feeling bitter.

But you know what? If I weren’t here right now, so far away from home, I would never have known that I am capable of cooking all the recipes that I have tried. You know the other day, I made some karipap, with the twisty bits at the side and all (I have never really passed that part of making the karipap, but somehow I managed) but I wasn’t really confident about the pastry – it felt a little hard to the inexperienced me – so when a new friend from Karachi called to inform that she’s coming later to send some pakoras to me, I quickly made some muffins for her so that I have something in exchange to give her. It then occurred to me that I have already prepared two types of food and I haven’t even started cooking the main meal yet.

How cool was this little housewife? To be able to make 1 of the above was a feat in itself to the old me back in Malaysia.

And yesterday, at the last minute I decided to make some food for a pregnant friend who lives nearby – what with her first baby and all, she must be missing home and feeling a little lost. My husband suggested bread and butter pudding just like the one they used to serve in our old alma mater – he was craving for that, I suppose. And so to satisfy him, I made that and then went on straight to making some wan tan mee for berbuka.

And so, I have come to the conclusion that I have indeed turned into quite a nifty little housewife. I’m sorry if I sound like a little braggart but I am still quite amazed at myself. Allow me some time to recuperate from my shock.

(Pant. Pant. Deep breathe. Blow through mouth……)

But I honestly believe that this is the only way to be when you’re so far away from home with so little friends around. It’s the only way to make a housewife like me feel that she belong and is connected to the community and that she is doing something worth her while – besides bringing up her children and managing her home, of course. Cooking is therapy, definitely. But it can also be escapism for some of us housewives. I know someone who cooks and cooks and cooks to run away from her stress and office problems. And she had to throw 'dinner parties' so that people can finish all the food she's decided to cook. Me, I cook to prove to myself that I can be very good at what I do. I was never 100% confident of my own capabilities but now, I think, there is a chance that I can do this.

I CAN be a very, very good housewife.

Still, I've resigned myself to the fact that I won't be eating any Akok this Ramadhan. I doubt I'll ever be THAT good.