About

Is Life a Recipe – A strange title? Perhaps. But it is the title of my Singapore food blog nonetheless.

Food is such a major part of our life, and I think we sometimes take that for granted with everything available 24×7 – pre-cooked, fast food, open all hours restaurants etc.

We just eat, with no real thought to what we’re eating, when we’re eating, where we’re eating, who we’re eating with – we miss the origins, the culture, the history, the nuances associated to the dish.

We “fast-food” it, or we Western-dine, completely ignoring what’s available on the door-step, the local food-court, the local street vendor, or the hawker. Or are we just too scared to try the local, uncertain of cleanliness, not wanting to experiment, not liking the look of the food, not wanting to sit with the local people. And God forbid we even to try to cook from scratch. That truly does seem to be a bit of a dying art.

But thanks to my Mum and my Nan for giving me that capability and confidence, thanks to Da’s Thai Restaurant in England, my first experience of Asian cooking, thanks to my Mary and my kids for allowing me to continually experiment with them, thanks to EXMag Singapore for the chance to write, thanks to my friends (you know who you are), and most importantly thank you to the purveyors of the food that I love – you have all made me realise the importance of food and the importance of cooking.

So I created this blog, a blog about my Asian travel, Asian life and of course Asian food experiences. When I visit a country I eat local. I want to eat the generations-old recipes, “hand me downs” if you will, I want to meet the people that are cooking it – themselves generations old. I ask for recipes, which, 99% of the time are never forthcoming as it is their great great grandmother’s.  So I write the experience in my note book, come home to Kitchen Kennett and try to recreate it. When in the kitchen get the nick-name of “The Semi-Naked Chef”. Why? Well try living on the equator and standing in a boiling hot kitchen for a few hours in 80% humidity– yep I truly don’t wear a great deal of clothes when I am cooking. blog contains those recipes for your pleasure, and reviews of some of my food experiences from my travels.

What do I want you to do is this;

• Eat locally, get away from the Clark Quays, and the Boat Quays and get to your local food court – try it, it is the best food at the best prices,
• If you won’t or if you can’t, please please please use my recipes and have a go at cooking them – it is fun and rewarding, you’ll be surprised.

Food is the focus of some of the most important moments of our lives. Eating and dining is a communal activity that is central to our social lives, both within the family and beyond. To close, I want to leave you with this poem – NUFF SAID!!! Semi-Naked Chef over and out, I hope you enjoy the blog.

It is over the dinner table that memories are made,

Deals are conducted,

Pain is shared ….

We romance,

We bond,

We fight,

We celebrate ….

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