The Food Canon

I am logging in this recipe for my friends in Toronto. It is also helpful for me as there are things I learn each time I cook a dish.

After a week of mostly non-Asian food and in the cold winter of Toronto, Nasi Lemak makes for a very satisfying Sunday dinner with good company to boot.  

This can be seen as a "simplified" Nasi Lemak recipe as being overseas and without access to the usual ingredients meant that there was a need to adapt.

I will start with the rice.

I am barely into the 3rd week of my Sabbatical here in Toronto and already, I have made new friends, and renewed ties with old ones.

And yes, I did some cooking. I get to cook for a dinner party about once a week during the weekend. It is a welcome change in the midst of studying and lots of readings during the weekdays.

What is it like to cook off my blog in a city in the Northern hemisphere? That sparked my own curiosity, as well as my friends here who were longing for some good Asian dishes. The pork and the sauces here are different. Are the instructions on my blog clear enough? Will the wok method work here in this dry weather? Would I set off the smoke detector alarm?

*I am on Sabbatical leave in Toronto till June 2014. I should still be able to blog some recipes from time to time.

I am here till June for my Sabbatical leave, joining the classes and interactions at the Winter Semester in Wycliffe College. Classes have not started yet and it was a week of catching up with some old friends.

I thought I knew what cold is till I arrived in Toronto, right in the heart of their winter. I am not complaining and I reckon I should positively adapt and even learn to enjoy it as I am not here for a week of touristy visit.

I am currently on Sabbatical leave and will be in Toronto for the next few months.

I wasn't sure I would be blogging about anything as I will be staying in a student hostel. Since arriving, I have found out that they do have a decent pantry which can pretty much do everything.

I am glad I brought my Sous Vide device with me. In the cold of Toronto, a warm set of perfect soft-boiled eggs garnished with some soy sauce will make a good start for the day. The eggs here are fresh and I bought some free-range ones.

Christmas is normally a busy period for me, with the second part of my monicker kicking in (the Canon bit) and this year has been no exception.

Not that I mind, of course. With each passing Christmas, I always feel that there could have been more I could do to serve the One whom we are celebrating. The recent riots in Little India triggered again some reminders. One in seven persons I meet here is a foreigner. Truth be told, I loathed the idea of throwing yet another party and hand out more free or "pay it forward" meal coupons. Not that there is anything wrong with this but instinctively in our hearts, we knew that it had to be more than this.