Quay Po Cooks: tomato sauce

Showing posts with label tomato sauce. Show all posts

Friday, November 4, 2011

Speaking of LOVE

We went to Rome for a holiday in 2000 and we had a great time there. Time flies and eleven years just passed by!

Famous saying, "In Rome, do what the Romans do" just did not apply to me as far as food was concerned when we were there. I remembered I survived my whole trip on bread and pasta. I ate penne pasta in spicy tomato sauce with lots of chilli flakes and NO cheese, for almost every meal. We found this little family Italian restaurant that we both like. It was a cosy little place with friendly faces. Each time, we were there I ordered the same thing and always reminded the waiter to tell the chef that I want extra spicy hot. I guessed the chef got curious about this customer who always asked for more chillis. He finally came out to greet us and see who this hot stuff is. I am sure he was disappointed when he saw this little, very ordinary looking"Kampung" Chinese lady. LOL! He was such a friendly guy and he chatted with us like old friends. No wonder Italians are reputed to be very expressive and warm people. So this is not just in movie but in real life too. Then, the last night, before we returned to Malaysia, we went there for dinner for one last time. After our dinner, the boss of the restaurant and his manager came to greet us and gave us a big hug. They even walked us to the door and ordered a taxi for us when it was time to leave. They wanted us to take a photo with them and we did.

The memory of how easy a hug was given by a stranger makes me want to share with you the speech from the late Italian doctor, Dr. Leo Buscaglia. My Quay Lo sent me this link a few days ago. I did not expect to watch the whole series at one go but I did. Here is a link to Part 1 of 6.

↵ Use original player

Leo Buscaglia -Speaking of Love pt 1 of 6

By KathyN

YouTube

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I enjoyed his speech very much so I was hooked on it until I finished all 6 parts of the series. I could feel a lump in my throat and tears welled up in my eyes throughout listening to what he said about love. He had also written a book called LOVE. From an article I read, A young reader of the book, Silvana Rosati-Capizzano wrote, “Leo was a University professor by profession. He had an idea for a new class to add to the curriculum. He wanted to introduce a university class on "LOVE". When he pitched his idea to the dean, and with much discussion it was accepted, (after much criticism), but only if he did it on his own time, without load credit and without a salary. The idea seemed ridiculous to the other professors. He ignored the ridiculing and forged ahead with this great idea. The idea was not embraced by many students but slowly and steadily, enrollment increased. It had to be eventually capped at 100 students.

These were students of all ages interested in "Love Class". They shared ideas, feeling and observations that was relevant to the human condition. Although they were never really able to define love, one student did come up with a wonderful explanation:

"I find love much like a mirror. When I love another, he becomes my mirror and I become his, and reflection in each other's love we see infinity!" Isn't this definition beautiful?

There are those that dismiss love as a naïve romantic concept while others find love all encompassing and the greatest, deepest feeling that is meant to be given away. Which one are you?

Did you listen to at least the 1^st part of his speech? Isn’t he amazing?

There is so many ways to share love and I know one sure way is through food. I did not replicate the spicy penne pasta I had in that family restaurant in Italy but I made my own version. I used my fusion spicy tomato sauce. Mine is super "All'arrabiata"!! In Italian, it means "angry style" because of the heat of the chillis. I shared my love through food and even in an "angry style", there is lots of love in it. Enjoy!

Penne Pasta in Quay Po's fusion pomodoro sauce

Ingredients:

penne pasta

pamesan cheese to taste

fusion pomodoro sauce (click on the picture for the recipe)

Method:

Add a teaspoon of salt to a pot of water and bring to boil. Cook penne pasta till el dante about 9 minutes. Drain water and pour fusion tomato sauce over it. Add parmesan cheese and serve with freshly baked crusty bread.

Notice I did not give you the measurement for the penne pasta? I don't think it is necessary.

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.