Picnic food
Sausages is a must in our picnic diet. Cahaya always likes sausages. And when the picnic location is equipped with a barbecue equipment, it does not seem right to not have sausages on the menu. Andy does not eat red meat much. To avoid eating red meat-based dishes, he always prepared bananas, apples, and peanut […]
Grapevines
A question–if the fruits branches are overhanging the footpath, are we allowed to pick the fruits?
Let me tell you something about an olive tree
I saw olive trees again. I texted my sister and told her that I have been seeing olive trees in the neighbourhood. The text went like this–“Ini pohon zaitun yang kuceritakan tempo hari. Ia tumbuh di jalan defat rumah kami. Kau lihat, zaitun tak hanya tumbuh di Arab, atau representasi tanaman Arab. Ia ada di […]
Lemon trees
Lemon is an unusual ingredient in Javanese culinary tradition. We use lime a lot instead. And the lime leaves. But lemon, no. We use lime in curry, rendang, stir fry dishes, savoury snacks, and fresh drinks. We used the juice and the leaves. It is not too difficult to find lime in Melbourne, or in […]
Seeing vending machine as a friend
Vending machines can easily be found in public spaces: library, train station, office building. They are usually placed at the corner of the building, at the corner of the streets, on train platforms. They are machines on which people depend when the needs for snacks or foods arise. It seems that they are placed at […]
Looking at corn on Swanston Street
On one hot summer day I walked down Swanston Street and saw a group of corn plants on the other side of the road. Is that really corn? I wondered. I turned around to see it clearly. They were indeed corn. Would the corn taste sweet? I don’t know. Next to the corn, there […]
An Unfinished Story of the Source of Good Food
The fridge in my house in Surabaya is always chaotic. It resembles a repository where a jumble of different kinds of food wrapped in plastic and paper are placed without any clear system of categorisation. Vegetables, butter cans, colourful candies usually used to decorate birthday cake, biscuits, sugar, dried fish, peeled onion, powdered spices… All […]
Raw long beans sambal
I crave for sambal kacang panjang (raw long beans sambal) sometimes. This often happens when I have a huge bowl of white rice on the table. Good quality rice smells fragrant. It makes me want to add a touch of strong salty taste to it. In this case, sambal kacang panjang with any type of […]
Chillies wisdom
Grow chilies in the garden, my grandmother used to say. Green chilies are fine. Red ones are better. Chili eaten fresh, or combined with other elements, makes everything taste better. Chili is spicy, zingy, and fiery. It is hot and addictive; it makes you want for more food. Chili is the crucial ingredient for the […]