Quay Po Cooks: D'empire

Showing posts with label D'empire. Show all posts

Monday, January 31, 2011

A night to remember and an excellent meal

Last Saturday evening, I went to support my son, Nicholas’ band, ROSEVELT at the Global battle of the bands competition. He is the vocalist in the band.

The band was formed 2 years ago. They are currently recording their first full album and they hope to launch it by this year. All the songs were originals composed and arranged by Nick and guitarist, Josh. I am so glad to announce that they were selected to compete in the National finals. I wish they will be selected as the National Champion and go on to represent Malaysia to compete in the Global Championship.

Me and Nick at GBOB

ROSEVELT website: http://www.roseveltband.com

I would like to share with you ROSEVELT's first music video:

Title of the song: Madicine

Vocalist : Nick Davis

While I was waiting for the opening of the event, the drummer of the band introduced me to this little brasserie called D’Empire and I had an awesome meal there. I enjoyed the meal so much that I am still thinking about it today. They are so delicious and I will definitely return with my Quay Lo to try other dishes in their menu. The prices are fair and affordable. For the locals, if you want to check this restaurant out, it is in SOHO KL.

Left: Escargot, Center: Chocolate truffle with vanilla ice cream, Right: Garlic prawns with Angel hair

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.