Part 2 of 2
The Origin Story
I believe all meals are to be enjoyed, savoured even.
But sometimes you just come across something that just
makes you dread each mouthful.
It was that situation whenever I see mixed vegetables
served during a Chinese dinner. I found the flavours
just didn't harmonise. Others rave over it but for me
it was dread, not desire. Many vegetable dishes - bitter
and uninspired - just had to be endured.
It was good for you they said.
Until.
Until.
Until I ordered a Broccoli and cheese croissant at
Dunkin Donuts - because it was a Friday. If you know
you know.
It was an eyeopener.
Then I couldn't get enough. I learnt to make it myself.
So the seeds of Meal Repair was planted.
The Current Practice
We eat out a lot mostly because we are not good
cooks and maintaining a collectin of expensive herbs
and spices that get soggy and mouldy in no time is
just not economical. Besides it helps that side of
the economy and we get a variety of ingredients and
nutrients that would be impractical otherwise. I am
no good at identifying and preparing muchrooms to give
an example.
World's Best Breakfast Recipe - Shakshuka AKA Tomato Eggs
I tried. I really tried. Multiple times. Paprika.
Smoked Paprika.
All nothingburgers. No aroma. Bland taste. I like
eggs. I like tomatoes. I couldn't figure what went
wrong.
I hadn't conceived of Meal Repair yet. But looking back,
bacon and fried garlic-onion-oil might have made
it palatable. Sometimes you have to realize that
you just aren't chef material. That said, my rendition
of the 4'33" is among the best in the world.
Or maybe Plant-Based-Whole-Foods just aren't my thing.
But I do enjoy vegetables. At any hotel breakfast buffet,
I head to the salad bar first. I have a choice of dressing
which makes it work there but not at home.
BUT outside meals have pitfalls. You can't season
to taste and what do you do if the meal is spectacularly
tasteless?
In due course I came up with a range of antidotes/strategies
to cope. Some meals - rare - are so bland, undercooked,
underseasoned that the only way to get through it is to drown
it out in any decent goat/mutton curry. A recent Ghee Thosai
comes to mind. Even the chutney and other accompaniments
were just as bleah. Did I forget my EDC that day?
I even thought that I contracted ageusia once again.
Preparation is key which is why I carry a select
team of EDC sauces/condiments in my sling bag.
If I know I am going to get french fries and that
place (even A&W) lacks that, I bring along my own.
Most cheaper places use margarine instead of butter
so I carry my own.
But there is just only so much space in my bag so
the only three EDC is coconut oil, chopped red onion
in vinegar and Himalayan Salt and a small amount of
fine sea salt. This is used for soda drinks. A pinch
or two will take the bite off the fizz.
If you have fried rice, with each spoonful, your
pleasure in that dish diminishes and people might
bail out before the end and waste food.
Those who do that are also not the ones going to
pack the remainder home for later consumption.
Enter my EDC. The addition of coconut oil changes
the flavour profile and two spoons later the
onion-vinegar taste takes the meal to a whole new
level. It boosts your appetite.
That is if you like vinegar. Which I do.
And what is tomato sauce if not mostly vinegar.
And to finish off, a list of guest stars:
01 Tomato sauce
02 Butter
03 Mustard - sometimes you just need the right sauce
for the job and tomato/chilli sauce doesn't
quite cut the mustard with roast beef and
roasted pork belly pairs perfectly with plum
sauce
04 Japanese sesame dressing - one part soy sauce
- one part sesame oil
- 3 parts plain rice vinegar
I use a sauce shaker to mix these up and leave it
overnight in the fridge before use. Great for any salad.
Great also for chopped tomatoes.
An alternative is Yuzu dressing . . . if you can find it.
05 Mayonnaise - perks up any sandwich or burger or plain rice
06 your curry of choice - the final resort
07 Dim Sum sweet bean sauce - dumplings and yam based stuff
08 chopped garlic in soy sauce
09 fake wasabi tube
10 soft smelly cheese
These suit my tast buds. Your mileage will vary.
The next time your dining grinds to a halt, what will
make you take another bite, and another? Share your
experience. Yours could be black pepper or MSG or
olive oil with balsamic vinegar.
In the family photo, you will see that I carry milk.
This is because most places use the cheaper creamer
which is made from palm oil. Only the high end
establishments use (reconstituted) fresh milk.
The container is a 250ml sauce shaker and I have
highlighted the 50Ml levels. I use this in place of
an ordinary cup because 10 of these (2.5 litres)
is what my cardiologist wants me to drink daily
and I don't enjoy washing any cup 10 times.
I carry this in a 1.5 litre PET soda bottle that
has the top removed. Spills are contained. And
a second for the coconut oil. If I come across any
stray nail on the road, I put that into the soda
bottle. I have amassed quite a collection of
hardware this way. I also carry a third that houses
an empty 800ml yoghurt bottle for holding urine
but that is another topic.
This shaker is also used to bring leftovers home
and to freeze for later. I have several of these.
I can also bring home trash like the banana leaf
used to line the plate, tissue used to mop up the
smear of coconut oil on the plate and the bit of
lime shell with seeds. Truly I know how to
repurpose anything. The organics get composted.
The seeds are scattered in the garden and the tissue
is wrapped in newspaper and then set aside to dry
before being used to fuel another batch of biochar.
I neglect this for weeks for the ants to take their
share of anything because I don't want to cremate
any live ants. So far no maggots have emerged so
the system works. Bones/shellfish shell/crab shells/
fat/gravy go to maintain a legion of ants at the base
of the Neem tree.
And once again, for yet another week, the garbageman
has nothing to collect.
In the other photo, I had an accident. I use the
cap of the shaker as a sauce container for the
chilli sauce. I add coconut oil and the vinegar-onion.
As the meal progresses, this gets diluted in the
end at which it serves perfectly as a dipping sauce
for the last of the noodle.
So do I have competition? Indeed I do. I see
some bring their own ground pepper and soy sauce.
Every meal should be enjoyed. None should leave
you regretting it. Examine what went wrong and
improve/overcome . . . or not.
Hope this sharing helps.
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