Antsy about Antipasti

I eat appetizers when I feel like not eating at all. I just want to be polite and instead of ordering some big entrée and not be able to finish it, I’ll just go for their antipasti. But I just don’t eat any ordinary antipasti. Of course it has to be good too.

I try to go to gourmet groceries so that I can buy my favorite antipasti. It’s too expensive to always dine out. And sometimes, I don’t like some restaurant’s list of their antipasti. I think only Italian restaurants really know how to make a good antipasti list. Not sounding, bias of course.

My favorite antipasti are those cured meats. Don’t you just love having a bite of melon wrapped in prosciutto? Or maybe you’ll go for the thin slices of pepperoni and salami, and some assortment of olives.

I love a plate of fresh Insalata Caprese. Thick slices of mozzarella cheese with basil and tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar. That alone is a meal in itself. Plus an order of Bruschetta with just lemon juice, olive oil and parmesan on top, I’m already in bliss land.

Italian food is basic. They rely on the quality that’s why Italian food is simple. They let the ingredients speak for themselves. Almost all Italian restaurants serve Focaccia bread on their tables. They don’t accompany it with jams or jelly, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar will do. Why, because the bread itself can stand alone.

In American restaurants they’re often referred to as Cheese sticks, but if you’re going Italian, you’ll have to order Fried Mozzarella sticks. I know fried food’s not good for the body, but I don’t eat it every day and if ever I order it, I don’t finish the whole thing, even though I can.

It feels like all I do is talk about food, I’m not hungry all the time. I just think that I would rather talk about food, than something foolish.

Passion for Pasta

My friend’s birthday is coming up and she asked me to cook for her instead of buying her a gift.  I didn’t even know that she was planning a party.  I thought we’re just going for dinner.  Her theme is Italian night.  She even thought of a theme.  

I’m thinking of making Pasta Puttanesca.  I can use either angel hair or regular spaghetti then probably just put shrimps on it just to have a variation.  But my friend said the pasta should have a wow-factor.  What does she mean by that, I’ll put fireworks in it? Kidding aside, I get what she means.  She’s a show-off, so she wants her guests to enjoy their food.

I once had this pasta in Chili crab sauce.  Actually, it was Singaporean Chili Crab with spaghetti in it. I should try making a little bit before the party, so that I can taste it and make my adjustments to it.  

I bought some mud crabs in the market and had to ask around for their chili crab sauce recipe.  I want authentic Singaporean local recipe, but I also searched the internet just to make sure I have the best recipe.  

Living in Singapore has taught me one thing that you don’t mess with traditional recipes.  They are very proud of their food and you should honor that. On the other hand, I know my pasta too.  There are certain sauces that don’t really mix well with any pasta, and I’m afraid that the chili sauce is just too overpowering.

I only ate that pasta dish once, and I wasn’t really sure if I liked it because it was my first time or because it was really good?  It’s not exactly your typical marinara sauce, and I’m afraid that I’m butchering a Singaporean famous dish by making it Italian.  

I did it anyway and have my friends taste it.  They said it was good.  It was something new and something old at the same time.  They thought I should make my chili sauce a little bit runny next time.  It was too thick that it was heavy on the angel hair pasta.  

I sure hope it’ll be a hit when I serve it to her guests or else we can always dial Pizza hut or Dominos for some deliveries.

Italian food in Singapore

I love food in Singapore.  I grew up eating it.  It’s always a staple of family dinners.  But if there’s one that I crave most of the time, it’s Italian food.  If it’s my last day here on earth, I would go to the nearest pizza hut and buy myself a pizza.

It’s not rare to have Italian food in Singapore.  Singapore is a mecca for international and local cuisine.  You can find anything and everything you want.  If you’re in the mood for some Italian food, there are high end restaurants around Singapore, but if you’re on a tight budget like me, but can’t stop thinking about food, then, there are always your ever reliable fast foods and casual dine-in restaurants.

Pizza hut is always my go to place whenever I want something fast and something Italian.  I get it that it’s not exactly Italian, since it’s American made pizza, but here’s where I get my weekly fix of pizza, fried mozzarella and pasta in an affordable price.  It’s not mind blowing greatness, but its close enough that you wouldn’t mind sitting in a corner with your friends and family enjoying a stuffed crust pizza.

I know it’s not what you consider to be one of the best places to eat in Singapore since you can find Pizza hut in literally any country in the world, but you can’t deny that it’s one of the best joints that make good pizzas.
And the pasta here isn’t bad too.  I ate there a couple of days ago, and I wanted pasta so bad.  I ordered one of their specialties.  I think it’s their homage to the famous Singaporean dish the Chili Crab.  The chili crab sauce mixed well with the pasta.  Though the chili sauce isn’t as good as the one they sell on the famous Singaporean hawkers.

Maybe next time, I’ll look at our family recipe for the Singaporean Chili crab and make my own pasta dish out of it.

Love for Cheese

I don’t know how long I’ve had my fascination with cheese.  I’m lactose intolerant but my body’s immune to cheese.  I have my favorites of course, like the gruyere, gorgonzola, mascarpone, and goat’s cheese.  I try to include them in as many dishes if I could.  When I eat out, I try to persuade my friends to go Italian so that I can have my cheese fix.

That’s why even though I’m a sucker for my Singaporean Chili Crab and Hainanese Chicken rice, I still go out and have my Italian as much as I can.  Pizza’s always on top of my list.  The four-cheese pizza is what I usually order.  My friends think that it’s too simple for their palate, because it’s just a combination of four cheeses, nothing really special.  But for me, a simple dish is not always simple.  To create a combination of four cheeses and blend well with one another, that’s something.

In Singapore, there are many pizza places to go to.  Actually, many Italian restaurants have cropped up around the busy streets of Singapore.  Wherever you are, you can always find a good place to eat your pizza or even your pasta for that matter.

I was doing errands yesterday and I decided to grab a quick bite since its past 12nn already.  I wanted to dine al fresco but I was just by myself so I decided to eat inside.  I ordered seafood pizza and a salad.  I didn’t want to eat heavy because I wasn’t done with my errands.

Don’t you just love restaurants when they give you unlimited parmesan cheese for your salad?  I drowned mine with parmesan cheese and it was really good.  Even though there were big chunks of avocado and it was swimming in parmesan, I didn’t feel that my salad was too rich.  Advice, you can always ask your waiter to put the dressing on the side.  Therefore, you have control of how much dressing you put in your salad.

The pizza was good, nothing spectacular about it.  I had better.  The cheese totally melted on the sauce. Maybe because the cheese wasn’t the star of the dish, but the assortment of seafood they put on it.  Nevertheless, I ate it because I was already satisfied with the salad.
Italian food in Singapore is here to stay.  I just hope that on my next meal, I won’t have to eat some average tasting pizza.