Ittekimasu

After ten years, I'm putting a pause on this thing. I think we can all agree that 2020 was a terrible year; I've been uninspired and need a break.

Grateful for: family, friends, health, laughter, love.

May 2021 lead to better things.

City Twilight

On an unseasonably warm November day: consumed pints of ice cream while people watching in a park, and enjoyed the sunset against the city skyline.

Toronto is back in lockdown. Hope everyone is keeping safe. 

Fall Foliage

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Shinrin Yoku: Forest Bathing

Escaped reality for a bit by spending a weekend at the cottage: hiked, paddled, stargazed and bonfired. Nature really is restorative to the soul.

Semolina Pasta Dough

After searching for months, I finally found semola rimacinata (re-milled semolina flour). It's used to make Southern Italian pasta, which contains no egg. I tested out my pasta making skills that I learned in Pugila and it wasn't too shabby for a first attempt.

Below is the recipe for the dough, which you can use to make different shapes of pasta. I used the knife dragging technique to make cavatelli and orecchiette.

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Pandemic Summer

Bike rides and park hangs: my life in a nutshell.

Black Lives Matter

We're halfway through 2020 and it's been a complete shitshow. It wasn't the coronavirus that broke me, but the police brutality against Black people and the senseless deaths. There were days when I felt like the world was on fire, or maybe it was just the rage simmering through my body.

Case in point:

• Police brutality occurring at protests against police brutality.
• Cops supporting rather than condemning their fellow colleagues for shoving a 75 year-old-man to the ground and left him lying there, bleeding from the head.
• Voter suppression, specifically to disenfranchise Black communities.

This is the reality: racism is entrenched in our society. How can it not be when this land, North America, was stolen from the Indigenous peoples by the white European settlers. This land, built on the backs of slaves and immigrants and yet they are the ones denied the opportunities. 

The coronavirus has clearly shown the disparity in our society: people of colour, those who are lower income, are more likely to be infected by COVID-19 because they live in higher density neighbourhoods and/or do not have the privilege to work from home. They are disadvantaged in areas such as health, socioeconomic, education and poverty. And people say systemic racism does not exist.

The current environment has also exposed the whiteness of corporations and the media. Exhibit A is the implosion at Bon Appetit, which is disappointing but not surprising because (food) media is inherently white. See also: Alison Roman criticizing women of colour for their successes and not acknowledging the origin of her recipes.

One can only hope that the Black Lives Matter movement will finally force changes in this broken system. How can I not be hopeful when I see mass protests happening across the US and the world?

My commitment on becoming an ally: to read, to listen, to learn, to recognize my own biases (because we all have biases), to not make it about me, to speak up, to get involved.

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Recommendations:

• Read: Homegoing, Girl, Woman, Other
• Listen: 1619, In the Dark (season 2)
• Watch: When They See Us, If Beale Street Could Talk

Travel Memories

As we spend yet another week indoors, I wonder if things will ever get back to "normal", or what the new normal will look like. I've spent the past 10+ years wandering around the globe, thinking about my next destination, but I'm not sure if travel for pleasure will exist in the next year or two. Obviously this is of low priority at the moment because, you know, pandemic.

I've been thinking about my previous adventures and for whatever reason, some moments stand out more than others. Some random memories to share:

On a restaurant rooftop in Istanbul with the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia on the horizon while the call to prayer echoed around the city.

The delight of riding a scooter on Cat Ba Island and the beauty of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.

Christmas Eve in Kuala Lumpur: people on the streets spraying cans of fake snow at each other in 30 degrees C weather.

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Life in the Time of Corona

This time last year, I was in the Yucatan, swimming in cenotes and experiencing how Mexicans celebrate Easter.

Then my grandma passed away.
Then I got so sick that I had to be hospitalized.

This Easter, we're all stuck indoors, doing our best to social distance and flatten the curve.

I've been reflecting on the past year and while it hasn't been the greatest, I am:

• Thankful for the health of my family and friends.
• Grateful to the front-line health care providers for fighting in the trenches. The highlight of my day is at 7:30 p.m., when people in my neighbourhood stand on their balconies to cheer for these heroes.
• Appreciative to the essential services workers who can't work from home because the rest of us rely on them.

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Things that currently spark joy in my life:

• Home Cooking: a podcast by Samin Nosrat (of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat) and Hrishikesh Hirway (of The West Wing Weekly, a must for West Wing fans). It is delightfully full of puns.
• The return of The Good Fight: a show that is criminally underrated and even better than it's predecessor, The Good Wife.
• The Bon Appetit YouTube channel: Claire Saffitz's Gourmet Makes is my favourite - the Pocky episode blew my mind. The latest episodes are quarantine-related since they're housebound like everyone else.

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Yes, it sucks being at home all day just as the warm weather is approaching but this meme puts it into perspective:

Your grandparents were called to war.
You're being called to sit on your couch.
You can do this.

Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce

What a strange and scary time we live in.

Thoughts running through my head:

• If I'm practicing social distancing but not everyone else is doing their part, can we stop the spread?
• How can people be so selfish, re: those who continue to head to the park or beach or throw coronavirus parties?
• Will things ever get back to "normal"?

When I can't read the news anymore, I turn to cooking for comfort. The plus side of being stuck at home is the leisure of trying out recipes, things I've been meaning to make but never got around to.

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Matcha Madeleines

It took me another eight years before I used my madeleine pan again. I find this bizarre because it's not that hard to make madeleines: stir dry ingredients into wet, let batter rest for several hours or overnight, then bake. The only tricky thing is to grease and flour the pan well to ensure the madeleines don't stick and retain their shell shape. 

I left the madeleines too long in the oven and they were a bit darker than expected, though nothing a bit of icing sugar can't hide. I was also too lazy to place the batter in a bag but don't follow my rule-breaking ways; it will make your life easier to pipe the batter from a bag and into the pan.

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Vinegar Coleslaw

The humble cabbage.

A vegetable that can do so much and yet is often overlooked. If Eater is right, cabbage will have its moment this year.

I love a good coleslaw - hold the mayonnaise, please. I'm not a fan of mayo and would prefer it kept out of my food, with the exception of sandwiches.

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