A Sentimental Education

I'm a sucker for classic romances. However, when I give a modern romance novel a chance, I get bored to tears within the first few chapters for one of a few reasons.

A typical modern romance usually features a neurotic, spoiled heroine with an incurable shoe addiction that is supposed to be endearing to readers but instead, annoys me to the core. Not all women are brainless creatures who suddenly become helpless at the sight of the latest shiny cut leather on high heels!!! Alternatively, there might be a Fabio-esque character who is raring and ready to sweep a fragile, helpless woman off her feet only to ride into the sunset on a white horse, no less.

I'd like to first state that I'm not a man-hating, bra-burning feminist. I enjoy a trashy novel once in a (great, great) while. I have to be in a very specific brainless mindset to actually be in the mood to enjoy one of these moderm romance novels. It isn't so much the misogynistic, patriarchal portrayal of women that disgusts me (although that doesn't really help their case). It is the assumption that female readers (who are these books' target market) are so mindless that they could enjoy such two-dimensional drivel on a regular basis, that appalls me!

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy romance stories as much as the girl next door, but just because a story features a romance doesn't excuse authors from good writing; y'know, stuff like character development, creation of suspense/action, eliciting an emotional response from the reader, an interesting yet realistic plot, etc, etc. So I often end up going to second-hand bookstores (of which, there are at least two in my neighbourhood) and picking up classic fiction. I recently finished Gustave Flaubert's masterpiece, A Sentimental Education.

Though not widely considered a "romance", everything about it is romantic. Centered in this book, is the main character's, Frederic Moreau's, growing affection for a friend's wife, Madame Marie Arnoux. The development of this romance uses the background of the 1848 French Revolution, where we also witness the political education of Frederic and his contemporaries. The constant tension between Frederic and Marie is mirrored in the upheaval of political events as a background. Flaubert not only took care to describe to us the intricate folds of Marie's chartreuse dress or her curled auburn locks, but also the smell of fire in the Parisian streets after a riot and the beauty of his countryside hometown of Nogent.

I think my favorite heroine (if you can call it that) in the book is the city of Paris. Despite the relative darkness with which Flaubert depicted the general mood and the city, there is a certain strength and beauty about it all. It is ironic that although the book's title means the education of feelings, in the end, Frederic achieves neither education nor feelings (or sentiments), leaving us regretful that he and his contemporaries did not achieve their full potential.

An imperfect character, Frederic leaves a lot to be desired, what with his womanizing ways and spoiled brat attitude of entitlement. However, I suppose I identify with him a little bit. Till the end, Frederic was always be a dreamer, full of longings and desires. There is something familiar about the way he and his pals would hang out over drinks and tidbits, talking about the people they knew and politics. It reminds me a bit like grad school and my friends, knocking back a few together at the end of another hard week. (Spoiler alert! If you're going to read this book, stop reading this blog entry!)

The book ends with Frederic and his oldest friend sitting around, reminiscing of days gone by, loves lost and promises unfulfilled. The ending is a bit on the negative side, with the main characters either dead or having accomplished little to nothing. Nevertheless, it serves as another reminder to me of life's fleeting quality, and that we all should seize the day and live it the fullest.

Treating myself...

There was a little surprise in the mail about a few weeks ago. It was a white envelope addressed to me with no return address. If I was paranoid (like my boss), I would've put on some gloves before opening it. To my (pleasant) surprise, it was a $25 Amazon gift certificate from my friend (you know who you are *virtual hugz*). $25 is very generous, especially by Amazon standards. You can get sooo much on Amazon for $25, considering the prices are usually 30% or more lower than retail prices at bookstores.

It wasn't hard deciding what to get on Amazon because I do keep a few wish lists there myself. The first treat I got for myself was a Daft Punk CD. I've been in the mood for upbeat electronica music lately. I find that it's good music to listen to while doing experiments at work or running outside. I know it's rather Eurotrash of me, but I don't care! :D

The second treat I chose is the one I'm super super excited about. I bought Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets book. If you don't already know (which means you're either an abonimation of Nature or a "normal" non-baker), Dorie Greenspan is the goddess of baking. Seriously, her recipes are awesome and can't be beat! From what I hear, she's very very nice in person too :)


Every day I would peek in my mailbox and ask "Wherefore art thou, Amazon package?" I got the free Super Saver shipping, so I had to suffer for a week before getting my precious treats. The long-awaited package came in the mail today and I immediately tore into the box, extracting the cool CD and my book! My Dorie Greenspan book!

Let me tell you that I read that book from cover to cover within the first few hours of receiving it. I love how the book was organized with little tidbits of Dorie's experiences with the bakers of the best bakeries and patisseries of Paris. Interspersed with the charming stories were recipes that the various pastry artistes shared, ranging from the classic madeleine to the formidable gateau St. Honore. The illustrations of Paris and the pastries were sweet and were evocative of those found in the Roald Dahl books of my childhood. I like that Dorie takes care to give the ingredient measurements in both metric and volume amounts. The suggestions to personalize the creations were fun and it's very helpful to have a list of alternatives to quality French ingredients she found in Paris. If there's any disappointment, it's only the fact that there are no recipes for the French macaroon in the book. Oh well, I guess I'll have to treat myself with another Dorie book soon!

Anyway, I was so excited and I took some time to decide which recipe to try out first. Since there are no big occasions or party in my social landscape in the next week, I picked out a more portable pastry recipe to experiment with. I was immediately taken with the madeleine recipes in the book. Although I'm not French (by a long stretch!), I can identify with Marcel Proust's fond remembrance of these shell-shaped cakes.

Growing up in Singapore, there was a popular French bistro chain (almost equivalent to Au Bon Pain here in the States) called "Delifrance". They sell all sorts of yummy French fare ranging from croissants and quiches to madeleines. Their madeleines were available everywhere, even at a gas station two blocks away from my school. After a long day of classes and extracurricular activities, I would often stop by the gas station to get a box of Delifrance madeleines, savoring one in the bus on the way home. I would share the rest of the box (there were 6 cakes in a box) to my sister and cousins who were living with me at the time. It would often be the highlight of our young, (seemingly) boring, long schooldays.

So, I joyously undertook this challenge to recreate those simple yet sweet memories at home, and here are what I found to be the keys to the perfect madeleines.


Mixing the batter is pretty simple. As long as you follow the directions and don't overmix, it should be allright. Now, most of the useful tips are to be followed after the batter is mixed.

First, to achieve the signature hump of the madeleine, the batter has to be refrigerated for at least 2-3 hours, preferably overnight.

Second, the special shell-shaped madeleine pan has to be generously buttered and floured to ensure that these yummy cakes won't stick and ruin its shell shape.

Last but not least, madeleines are best enjoyed the day they are baked with a cup of coffee (I myself prefer tea). But if you have to save them for another day, store them in an airtight container after they are completely cooled.

Bon appetit!

A San Franciscan Weekend

The San Francisco bay area is truly one of my favorite places ever. Maybe it's just the "granola" side of me talking but there's a free, green spirit about the area that I adore, what with the constant presence of activism in the street corner or the bi-weekly farmer's market in almost every county. I jumped with joy when I saw that there are recycling and composting bins to be found throughout the city. I also hear that retailers are mandated to use recycleable or compostable shopping bags by law! If San Francisco can do it, why can't the rest of the country?


Anyway, the main reason for my SF trip is to attend a scientific meeting that's held over the weekend. I had to present a poster there and got the chance to attend some interesting talks. Initially I wasn't looking forward to the poster session because I thought that my work is kind of lame. However, many people stopped by my poster and asked many questions. It has truly revived the scientist in me. Wow! Someone's actually interested in what I'm doing, haha! :)

I attended most of the lectures and professional events that I thought were directly related to my work and this still left me with plenty of time to sightsee and basically do whatever I wanted to. On my first night, I met up with two of my cousins who lives in San Jose. Actually, they met up with me. They were so sweet that they picked me up from the airport! Here they are, regaled in plastic bibs!


Actually, the reason they were wearing bibs (I had one on too!) was that we were about to enjoy a crab dinner and eating crabs with your bare hands sure can get messy. Hendra brought us to Thanh Long in San Francisco for its crazy good Vietnamese seafood fare. We went there on a Friday night and it was super packed. Once I smelled the strong, distinctive scent of garlic, I knew that we were at a good place. Fortunately, we were seated within 10 minutes and my cousin Hendra shortened our waiting time by immediately ordering the specialties without even opening the menu. We had a giant Dungeness crab each and tiger prawns served over a bed of garlic noodles. The roasted crab was deliciously moist and super meaty. The sauce (made with garlic and "secret" spices, whatever they may be) was perfect for dunking the chunks of soft crab meat into. The butterflied tiger prawns were also tasty, though a teeny tad overcooked. My favorite just had to be the garlic noodles: a bit on the soft side of al dente and 100% garlicky!



Believe it or not, after that meal fit for giants, we shared two desserts: the molten chocolate cake and fried banana, both a la mode.The chocolate cake was just allright to me but the fried banana brings back memories of my childhood for me. One of my father's favorite snacks is fried banana, a staple of Indonesian cuisine. Growing up, he used to bring me along to a fried banana stand in the heart of the Jakarta Chinatown when he sneaked out of the house for a snack :)



Besides enjoying the seafood in SF, I also headed towards a Californian institution: In'n'Out. I've heard many friends rave about this Cali joint and I've always wanted to try it. The previous times I was in California, I wasn't able to make my pilgrimage for one reason or another. This time, I was determined to not miss it! After I presented my poster at the meeting, I decided to go for a run around SF. Long story short, I ran from my hotel (near the Civic Center) to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then to Fisherman's Wharf, before heading back to the hotel. If it sounds like a long run to you, it's probably because it WAS a looong run. I had planned it out so that I would have my post-run meal at an In'n'Out at Fisherman's Wharf. After a blistering run throughout the 45-degree sloped of Sn Francisco, this was a sweet sight for sore eyes (and legs!).


When I went into the restaurant, there was already a long line ahead of me. This particular In-n-Out was packed with tourists due to the location, but there were a number of locals too. As they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do; so I ordered a double double meal. I just can't get over how funny the name is! :) So, the double double meal consists of a double double burger (double the patty and cheeese), fries and medium drink. The unlimited drink part was pretty awesome because I was sooo dehydrated after my run and I must say that I had never tasted a more refreshing or delicious Diet Coke in my life!


Mr oder took a little less than 10 minutes to complete, which makes me believe that they actually cook the food only after they received the order. Although the fries were unimpressive and were on the soggy side (McD fries are better), the burger itself was yummy. I could actually taste the meat! Unlike other fast food joints that serve burgers that are unbelieveably tasteless, I like the beefiness (yes, the BEEFiness) of an In-n-Out burger. As if this is not Cali enough, they wrap their burgers in paper instead of plastic, hand-cut their fries and lettuce, and only use vegetable oil. Isn't it awesome?

The rest of the time in SF, I spent munching and snacking instead of having big sit-down meals. I just wanted a taste of as many things as possible! Of course a trip to SF is never complete without a visit to the largest Chinatown in the US. I searched high and low for this one bakery my cousin brought me to previously, where I enjoyed the most luscious egg tart ever. After an hour or so looking lost and having lost hope, I found it: the AA Bakery & Cafe!

As with most Chinatown bakeries and cafes, this one was filled with older Chinese folks, enjoying their morning egg tart or other yummy pastries over a piping hot cup of milk tea (or nai cha). As for me, I made a beeline to purchase my favorite Chinese pastries: egg tart, steamed "paper" cake and a custard bun topped with a thin almond cookie.

Unlike the Chicago C-town bakeries, in SF, the egg tart shell is made with puff pastry, giving it a rich flavor, flaky texture and a delicate crispness that is distinct from the graham cracker-style crust used in other cities' C-town bakeries. The actually egg custard part is also much milkier and softer, which makes SF egg tarts my favorite ever!


The custard-filled bun topped with almond cookie (I don't know its official name) was also a yummy treat. I've never seen them in the Chicago C-town and I first had this with my cousin in SF a few years back. This bun combines a soft bready texture with the cool creamy filling and a lightly crunchy cookie top. Man, Asian cuisine is chock full of foods and dishes that combine different textures and flavors; and this bun is (in my humble opinion), the most delicious example of that.


The steamed "paper" bun (my absolute favorite Chinese pastry ever!) was not as good as the ones in Chicago (Chi-town pride!). It had a layer of crust (not hard, not soft) on top that the cakes in Chicago don't have. However, the flavor was spot-on and was perfect with a cup of strong latte.


And guess what?!?!? I was in Cali during the cherry season! When I saw a fresh shipment of cherries in C-town, I couldn't resist! Don't worry, I didn't buy all these (though I wish I did)!


On the last day of my trip, I was lucky enough to catch a farmer's market outside the Ferry Terminal building. I mean, how much more Californian can it be than a farmer's market? There were plenty of fresh fruit (cherries, peaches and berries were in season) and to my delight, there was no shortage of samples!




I was particularly struck by the impressive size of some figs and decided to try one. The fig was so big it covered the palm of my hand! Not only was it gigantic, it was actually quite delicious. It wasn't as juicy as some figs I had, but it was very seedy and not too terribly sweet. I enjoyed the subtle flavors and devoured it, skin and all.


As if all this fresh fruits and veggies wasn't enough, there were more gourmet stores in the Ferry Terminal building itself. The one that caught my eye first was Acme Bread Company. I've heard of the legendary Berkeley-based bakery and lucky me! They had a branch in SF! I mean, seriously, this place is so good that there were a couple of folks who made their pilgrimage here either first thing from the airport, or on their way to the airport. What better endorsement is there?



Although I was tempted by the baguette, I decided to stick with a classic: the butter croissant, which went perfectly with a piping hot cup of latte. The croissant was as croissants should be: flaky layers of buttery richness. I enjoyed it immensely, but it would've been infinitely better had it been warm, if only slightly (I know, I know, I'm so demanding!).


There was another bakery (or as they advertise, patissier) in the Ferry Terminal Building named Miette. Their delicate decor and beautiful pastries drew me to this store. In particular, I was enchanted by their macaroon offering.


Suddenly hankering for them, I bought one of each flavor: pistachio, rose, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Tha packaging was totally adorable, with the little cookies swaddled in pretty pink tissue paper within a mini Chinese take-out box with a handle.



Although I enjoyed the flavors of the macaroons, I was a tad disappointed by the texture. Unlike the crisp yet chewy macaroons I had in Paris, these Miette macaroons were just soft. It might've had something to do with having them all stacked up in the large cookie jars, instead of having them lined up in a single layer to be kept as dry as possible. Still, I liked the flavors of the macs, particularly the rose macaroon.

I'm really very happy with the trip to SF. There are still some places I would love to visit or eat at in the Bay Area. Fortunately, I won't have to wait long for that chance because I'm returning there in July for a friend's last hurrah of sorts :) Ciao!

Thanh Long
4101 Judah Street
on the corner of 46th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
415.665.1146

In-n-Out Burger
333 Jefferson St
San Francisco, CA 94133

AA Bakery & Cafe
1068 Stockton St
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 981-0123

Acme Bread Company
One Ferry Building
Marketplace Shop #15
San Francisco, California 94111

Miette
One Ferry Building
Marketplace Shop #10
San Francisco, CA 94111

Ups and Downs

It's been nothing short of hectic in recent times, with many ups and downs. The "Ups" include having my friends and my dear sister visit, a sojourn to America's best restaurant, Alinea, seeing my cousin graduate and catching up with her family in Boston, running along the magnificent Charles River and having my business plan enter the final round of competition at Northwestern University. Unfortunately, the "Downs" were plentiful also. My camera died when I was at Alinea, resulting in no pictures from a wonderful evening of Chef Achatz's degustation. My business plan didn't place at all in the competition. And I think I'm hit the hardest by the fact that a lab technique that I've been working on the last year or so is just not working. This means that I will probably have to use the service of a core facility to develop it for me. Now, why didn't we do that in the first place? That's another long story that boils down to economics.

I'm sorry for being such a downer. I think I feel so down just because I haven't been spending as much time in the kitchen as I would like to. Oftentime (maybe too often), I question my career decision again and again. Maybe I should've gone into something simpler or more structured, like medicine or business. I admire those who instead of fretting about the challenges of science, actually relish and enjoy it, saying that the things that are worth doing are the most difficult ones. It's just difficult for me to have that point of view when graduate school has just been beating me down for the past few years. Is it too much to ask for a little bit of success in my experiments? Is it?

Where on Earth is the Foodiva?

It has been a crazy month or so to say the least. Let's recount what has been going on during the past month or so:

1) A hop across the Atlantic for a whirlwind weekend Parisian trip with my dearest sis. I don't think I ever regained my normal footing after that; it's been insane since then. And I still have one more post on this trip!

2) Two different sets of college friends visiting over two different weekends. This was a total treat for me and I tried my best to minimize my work time during the weekends they were here. But that left me quite guilt-ridden for not working enough!

3) A departmental retreat at Wisconsin; just another excuse for grad students to party/get drunk/bond on the university's wallet. Another fun, boisterous weekend with no work getting done.

4) The incorporation of my business idea. My partner was actually the one who did most of the paperwork for our business and I'm so so so excited about this!!! I will definitely show off the website to you guys once it's up and running. Also, on this thread, I'm finally certified by the federal government and the Illinois state to handle food for sale! Yippee! The food sanitation class basically took two whole Saturdays of my life and I'm just so thankful it's done!

5) Training for the Soldier Field 10-mile. As if there's not enough on my plate, I have to be crazy enough to sign up for a 10-mile race with my friend. Actually, I'm kind of glad I did because now I have to get my butt of the couch and exercise!

6) Regular work. There's nothing regular about what I fondly refer to as "work" because even though my official title of grad student sounds all distringuished and noble and intellectual, nothing could be further from the truth. We're really just lab slaves in disguise. Paying us a meagre stipend that we have to pay taxes on (!), we easily spend 60 hours per week in lab. And then, when we get home, we'll be all guilt-ridden if we didn't spend some more time actually reading up and keeping up on the current research.

It's been crazy busy, but you know what? It's been fun too :)

Yippee!

I just returned from a whirlwind weekend trip with my sister and although I enjoyed it thoroughly, I am glad to be back. "What?!?" you say, "Another trip?"

Yes, I know, I know. I also just recently returned from a two-week-long homecoming to Asia for Chinese New Year and I shouldn't be taking time off again so soon! But anyway, my sister and I have planned it for some time and we get so little time to spend together, just the two of us, that we just did it! So, watch out for that post soon.

But anyway, my dear fellow Hyde Park blogger Coco, was so very sweet to give me this prize. I feel so undeserving but am so very honored *blush*



Like Coco, I'd like to pass on this prize to fellow food bloggers I admire and respect. It's a tough one because there are so many great food bloggers out there, but here goes...

First, I'd like to recognize Christina of She Runs, She Eats, a fellow Midwestern foodie and runner. It's quite fun to find foodie bloggers out there who are also training for races.

Then there's Sylvie, an absolutely adorable German lady living across the pond popularly known as the Atlantic Ocean, who makes a lot of awesome British-style food. Like her, I think there's nothing that a freshly-brewed pot of tea can't solve *winks*

Jess is a wonderful SAHM and fellow knitter who recently started her blog.

So, those are just a few of the deserving bloggers of this prize! Yippee!

Anyway, I recently encountered an absolutely rad music video during my travels. The music is super funky, by Martin Solveig, a French electronica musician. I found the dancers in this video quite "sick" (in a good way) and uber cool. It's also quite appropriate for Easter as it features a rather large egg prominently. Check it out and towards the end, an adorable little prize emerges out of the egg! Happy Easter to one and all!

What a difference a day (or two) makes...

It's Tuesday in Chicago and winter has returned. Not that it went away for that long. This past Sunday was gloriously beautiful! Think mid-50ish Fahrentheit weather, little wind, partly sunny (or partly cloudy, depending on how you look at it). Even though I had to trek in to work for a few hours, I made sure I came home early enough so there's a few hours of daylight left. I surprised myself by hauling my lazy butt out of the apartment for a 3+ mile run along the lake, something that I sorely needed. The fresh, brisk air felt so good on my face and I miss having a hard ground underneath me to run on.

But come Monday, old man winter's back. How cruel of him to tease us with a taste of spring, only to return howling down on us the next day! Well, at least it's sunny ... sort of.

I'm baaack!

Imagine the horror that washed over me as I stepped out of Chicago's O'Hare airport this past frigid Monday with no coat on me. Yes, you read that right. NO COAT IN THE HEART OF THE MIDWESTERN WINTER!

After all, I just returned from a luxuriously warm 2-week holiday visiting my family in Jakarta and Singapore for Chinese New Year. I didn't have space in my luggage for a damn winter coat! Not with all the goodies I was planning to bring back from home!

Ok, ok, so it is partially my fault for not thinking ahead, but what do you think? If you were in my position, would you prioritize a stupid coat or the wondrous Asian goodies? Now you tell me!

Ten things...

Seems like random lists of all kinds are popping up left and right thesedays. There's the perennial Dave Letterman's Top Ten List on his Late Show. Men's magazines never fail to have a top 100 or so hottest/sexiest women every year. NBC's Today show just finished showing their top ten list of America's most beautiful places today. There are also bestselling books listing the things to do and places to go before you die (how morbid!!!). I suppose it's the obsessive-compulsive side of us that keeps us coming back for more lists. As sloppy as I can be, even I write up to-do lists on occasion. Imagine that!

With my graduation looming around the corner (I hope), I've been evaluating (and re-evaluating) what I want to do or achieve in life. Unlike my more efficient friends, I don't have a five-year plan, let alone a 1.5-year one! But I do have an idea of some things I'd like to attempt before the turn of my third decade in this world. Of course, achieving them is another argument altogether, but anyways, here they are!

Ten things I'd like to (attempt to) do before I'm three decades young:

10. Play 18 holes
9. Set up business plan for a biotech (to take over the world!!!)
8. Have kids
7. Backpack in France (or Spain, or Russia, or Brazil, or Vietnam ... you get the idea)
6. Host a real dinner party
5. Complete a half-marathon
4. Bake a wedding cake
3. Re-read "Crime and Punishment"
2. Drive (or a get a ride in) a Lamborghini/Ferrari/Porsche (manual transmission please)
1. Taste fugu