Ok, so the story is kinda confusing. I was in Paris for only 4 days, then jumped on a flight to Singapore to hang with the Puffin on her home turf. So, no Paris posts, straight to the Singapore posts. Well, not exactly straight to them - first I spent a day battling jetlag and losing.... Today, however, I awoke excited to get some Roti Prata for breakfast (also spelled Roti Parata) which is an Indian bread served with curry sauce and sugar to dip. We kept it local, as in we walked about 5 minutes from home to one of the 3 trillion "coffee shops" nearby. The term "coffee shop" is misleading - it refers to a food court, usually outdoors, with a variety of foods to pick from. We tried a place recommended by Puffin's aunt. They make the pratas when you order them - check out the technique, it's pretty amazing.
Here is the final product, with a side of sauce. You break off a piece and dip it in the curry sauce and then into a pile of sugar. I ate it with my fingers, not with the fork and spoon that accompanied it. That drew a comment of "hey, you are eating it Indian-style." Derrrr - it's an Indian dish. Very excellent taste - my two main breakfast food groups are covered - sweet and bread. The curry sauce brings a bit of heat to help you cope with the heat, which makes sense only if you've spent some time in a tropical locale. Just to set the scene - it was about 90 degrees with 99 percent humidity at 8am.
The coffee is pretty good here too. It is called Kopi Tarik, which is coffee sweetened with condensed milk, frothed up by a vigorous pouring of it back and forth from one cup to another at maximum arm length. I had a cup with my prata and then got another to go. I learned you had to say "Kopi Tarik packet" to let them know you were taking it with you. The packing method is unlike anything I've ever seen - in a plastic bag with carry strings and a straw.
Serangoon
Singapore
wow, very cool ! when i first saw the video before reading anything, i was like, "what?! where in new york (or paris) is that, i'm going!!" but alas...
ReplyDeleteum, could he have gone a little bit faster i wonder ?! holy cow.
and i am totally with you, sweet and bread for my two breakfast food groups! what else is there?! besides coffee in a bag with a straw - weird!
great post !!
Kerrin - you got to see it live, the guy just keeps making them one after the other at a blistering pace. Truly amazing to watch.
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds totally cool ! No luck on seeing it live anytime soon, but thanks to you I got that taste ! Thanks !!
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