Experimental cuisine

This is kind of a followup to my quick Peanut butter, banana, and Nutella sandwich post. Those who know me well would know that I like to experiment with food. Not in a creepy smother-spagetti-over-my-body-like-that-guy-on-Jerry-Springer sort of way though; I like trying to come up with new recipes. It can be pretty hit or miss… with a lot of misses.

Here’s a quick recap of a few prior experiments. I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of them at the moment.

Deep-fried jok balls

Day-old jok (Thai congee, savoury rice porridge) that has been kept in the fridge is incredibly gelatinous. So much so that I figured I could roll it into balls, coat these balls with flour, and deep fry them… and that’s what I did. It turned out very well (taste-wise, probably not health-wise).

When eating jok I usually add soy sauce, deep-fried red onion, and vinegar chilli. This makes a great dipping sauce for jok balls! Conclusion: Victory!

Frozen spider

Probably more often called a float, a spider consists of a soft-drink (normally Coke) and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. When mixed together, the result is a sweet, bubbly, opaque, milky masterpiece of dessert beverageness. Like many other things, I wondered if it could be improved by freezing. Apparantly not.

The ice-cream seems to suck all the flavour out of the soft-drink and leaves a layer of water which then becomes ice. So you end up with: ice-cream, ice, super-sweet pockets of syrup. Mixing the drink furiously before freezing helps a bit, but I don’t really like the well-mixed spider. Conclusion: Failure…

Spaghetti pie

Everyone know that spaghetti jaffles (toasted sandwiches) are the bomb. Jaffles are really like little pies with bread as pastry. So, what about a spaghetti pie? Short answer: it’s great! Conclusion: Victory!

Update: Clearly the use of the word “cuisine” in the post title is tenuous at best!

The true cost of a lowest price guarantee

It seems to me that when most people shop for everyday items, the primary discerning factor (on whether to buy a particular item) is price. People will overlook poor service, questionable supply (“it fell of the back of a truck”), and pretty much anything else in order to get the best price. Is this necessary? Is this wise?

Is it necessary?

For some people, every dollar counts and they simply do not have the luxury of spending more money. For most people I know, this is absolutely not the case. Life for most people in Australia is pretty good; and my immediate peer group is fairly affluent.

There is little reason to spend 20c less on a carton of milk; particularly when you may spend $15 eating out or $30 on a CD you won’t really listen to. You don’t need to shop around. Curbing those “impulse buys” (that later just gather dust) can most likely more than compensate.

Is it wise?

In order to provide the lowest price, a number of other areas have to be sacrificed; not just at the retail store, but all the way through the manufacturer and supply chain. If this chain reflects whatever is required to deliver the lowest price, everything else comes second: service, wages, job security, the environment, … everything else.

When buying something from a store you are communicating that they have their priorities in order to secure your business. Don’t tell them that you can live with poor service and socio-economic problems (resulting from extensive use of cheap overseas labour) provided they can keep the price down. That’s exactly what you’ll get.

What world do you want to pay for?

It’s not all doom and gloom. For many people, price is no longer the main consideration in some areas. For example, many people buy free range (or RSPCA approved) eggs, and reuseable green bags (instead of using free plastic bags). I’d encourage people to add more to that list: recycled toilet paper, phosphate free washing powder, etc.

It’s a matter of deciding what is important to you and working towards that goal. Buying something from a store isn’t just an economic exchange; it’s participation in directing how business is run.