Philo - KatyS Culinary Kitchen: Authentic Traditional Flavours at Its Best

Copyright 2017 Kathrine Philo. All rights reserved.

ISBN

978-1-4828-8127-1 (sc)

978-1-4828-8128-8 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

1/19/2017

Katys
Culinary Kitchen

Authentic Traditional Flavours at its Best

Kathrine Philo

Contents

WELL, that is one box ticked as writing this cookbook is one off my bucket list. I hope that by sharing my culinary secrets, I will inspire in some way the many who give up because they feel they are failures in the kitchen.

I had to balance my career as an educationist with that of being a homemaker for more than 40 years. I realised very early on that to provide wholesome meals for the family I had to put on an apron and get into the kitchen. And who was my mentor and inspiration in those days? Well, none other than the Singaporean cookbook writer Ellice Handy. Her easy-to-follow recipes were a boon to aspiring cooks like me. I learnt the hard way how to cook simple meals and then proceeded to more complicated ones.

I want to share all the bittersweet memories of my experiences as a young cook and the several helpful tips and short cuts I acquired over the years. (This I have explained in another section.) Believe me when I say what I share in this cookbook are real-life experiences.

I have shed many tears in the kitchen - some due to frustration and at other times because I never seemed to get any recipe totally right. But after much effort I found to my delight and amazement that with a little imagination, thought, some inspiration (and of course a lot of sweat), I could actually transform a mediocre dish into an extraordinary one.

Positive remarks and words of encouragement too helped boost my confidence and morale. Most importantly, I started believing in myself. I started finding any excuse to invite family and friends for meals. Many of the dishes would be so enjoyed that I would get rave feedback. I was on cloud nine as I was almost there.

I adhere to the premise that cooking and food are the soul of mankind. Food has been the cornerstone of virtually most human activities. Banquets are thrown to show not only opulence but also to celebrate and honour dignitaries and the like. Parties are held for camaraderie and good fun. There are birthday functions, weddings, bachelor/bachelorette parties and the list goes on. Dinners are given to sign mega buck deals.

The one common denominator in all of the above is FOOD. It just boils down to that! It is an essential in our everyday routine. Thus it is highly important that each and every one of us knows how to cook a decent meal for ourselves and probably our own survival! We can then progress to more elaborate cooking and entertaining. Whatever said and done, cooking is an individual achievement.

A word of advice though never give up if you are unable to recreate a particular recipe. Time and passion will help you improve. A passionate cook can produce wondrous dishes with just a little imagination.

My final reminder to all is that cooking is about flavour and tasting all the time. Never stop tasting till you switch off your stove! You get opportunities to enhance or even salvage an otherwise failure of a dish if you are constantly tasting.

I have endeavoured to give as clear a picture as I can as to how to cook my dishes. No secret is held back. Every single recipe here has a story behind it - some are traditional ones handed down the generations whilst the rest are family favourites.

If you believe that dinner is family bonding time over a good meal then try out any of these dishes. The results may surprise many people - you especially! Always let your personality shine through in the meals you place on the table. There is no greater satisfaction than watching someone eat what you have cooked and say it was top notch!

Let me conclude with a quote from well-known Aussie restaurant owner and Masterchef judge George Calombaris: Food is family. Family is life. Life is everything.

MY journey with this book would not have been possible without the help, guidance, and inspiration of so many people. Believe me, every single input helped keep me on track. My sincere thanks to those who have contributed in any way big or small.

To my family, my daughter Sheila for her advice and tips on just being me, telling it my own way and giving me the push to get started; my son Allen for being my food guinea pig and giving me excellent feedback (on a side note: he has taken to cooking some of these dishes); my grandsons Conall for teaching me to be tech-savvy and all the useful tips on computer technology and Luke for the chirpy delight he provided in reducing the stress of seeing this book through; and Cormac for his Irish input.

To my friend Katherine O Sullivan who set me straight on many aspects and was willing to brainstorm and for trying out my recipes and giving valuable feedback.

To other friends who have tried out my recipes and found them workable - Datuk Seri Anne Teo, Darren Yuen, Theresa Chin, Dina Abdullah and Datin Dr. Viji to name a few.

My heartfelt thanks to my editor who had the headache of guiding me and for his patience. Thank you so much.

To all my other friends, especially my Convent class of 65, for their vote of confidence and encouragement when I mooted the idea of writing a cookbook.

To my readers for picking this cookbook off the shelf and trying my recipes, I say a big THANK YOU.

If there are any errors please remember to err is human and to forgiveis from ones heart.

A MUST-DO for all cooks is to always get the ingredients ready first. Preparation is essential before starting to cook as it saves time and energy and helps towards serving a well-planned meal.

Read through your menu and its recipes. Do a trial run of any new recipe before exposing it to guests. Practice makes perfect.

I share here some tips with you.

Preparations before cooking a busy cooks alternatives and emergency meas ures

Most condiments like spices, ginger, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and others can be prepared and refrigerated for later use. Invest in small containers for storing and keeping for daily use. Label and date these.

If a particular condiment is unavailable then check if it can be replaced with something else, like lemon can be substituted with lime/vinegar, fresh coconut milk can be replaced with those that come in cartons/ packets.
Chicken powder/stock cubes can be used as enhancers.

Coconut milk in cartons can be kept for emergency use. Alternatively, freeze fresh coconut milk in ice cube trays. Keep the frozen cubes in a zip-lock bag.

Soak dried chillies in boiling water for at least one to two hours before blending to get a really smooth paste. This can be kept frozen for future use too.

Lime and lemon juice can be kept in the freezer for times of necessity.

Other useful tips

If you want to reduce the pungency or spiciness of a curry, some extra coconut milk, tomato pure or a teaspoon of chicken powder will do the trick. You can even use sugar - not my personal favourite though.