Aug 23, 2012

The magic that comes from simplicity

Tonight I finally succeeded in making the perfect plate of Spaghetti Alfredo. It  was so simple I'm surprised it took me this long to get it right.

I can remember the moment I first tasted the dish. It was sometime in 2001 when my dad received his MBA. We were at tha banquet following the graduation ceremony and I decided to try this peculiar, pale-looking pasta dish. I was smitten from the first mouthful.

The sauce was creamy but not heavy. There was a hint of some kind of cheese but not overwhelming enough for me to pinpoint. Interestingly enough, it reminded me of Laksa Kelantan, a popular laksa dish from my hometown.

Ever since then I had been trying to recreate this pasta dish. The bolognaise sauce was a breeze to me by then but the alfredo eluded me. I must have tried at least a dozen different recipes and reluctantly swallowed half a dozen failed concoctions. I've used fresh milk and powedered milk, margerine and olive oil, chicken stock and beef boullion, crumbled and grated Parmesan. But tonight, finally, I got it right. And it was surprisingly simple.

All it took was some butter, heavy cream and *Parmigiano in the right proportions. It also took keeping myself calm when the butter initially separated from the cream or when the Romano initially refused to dissolve. When I finally stirred the pasta in and sprinkled some fresh chopped parsley from the backyard, the dish looked, smelled and tasted like the one I first had over ten years ago. And where did the recipe come from? An old cookbook I got from a thrifstore for 50 cents.

Magic, isn't it?

Bon appetit.

*I used Romano cheese instead because I didn't have any Parmigiano at hand. The result was the same as far as I could taste.


Feb 1, 2012

Canadian economy off to a lackluster start in 2012

Prime Minister Stephen Harper once again reaffirmed his goal of whipping the Canadian economy into shape by implementing more austerity measures, but economists worry that this may lead to further decline in the country's GDP. The energy sector is to blame for November 2012's sharp drop in GDP. The drop followed a pattern of no growth in October.