The world's best secret food is the Peranakan cuisine. It is, at once, sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy and rich in oil. Peranakan food started as the Chinese food brought by merchants from the coastal regions of China, when they married into the local Malay coastal families, who had a cuisine of fresh fish and fresh vegetables. The mixing of the two cuisines was the Peranakan food, that was consumed by the families of the rich and the powerful, and who could afford to ask that the best fish that were caught, the best pigs that were slaughtered and the best fruits and vegetables picked were offered to them.
This book marks the fact that food catering has gone mainstream. At one time associated with organizers of seminars and conferences as a means of bonding the attendees of the event or to provide convenience so that each person who attended did not have to look for his own food. The food catering business is very closely connected with the industrial economic development of the Asian economies that underwent transformation in the late 1940's and continues up to today. The food provided at the seminars were arranged in three groups. A coffee break was held in the morning with a range of light snacks that included a major starch like fried rice or fried noodles. The lunch menu was clearly more extensive with a soup, a vegetable dish, a meat dish, a fish dish and a dessert. Care had to be taken to avoid offending anyone. Pork was not allowed nor was beef. The only meat served was chicken and it came in different forms: fried, roasted, boiled, with sweet and sour sauce, or with black pepper sauce or simply hot and spicy. The last meal was the tea break. In a way this meal was a milestone because the people of the Asian economies never had an afternoon break as they were expected to go home at 5 pm and have a meal at home at 6 pm. With the tea break it became a custom to have dinner or the evening meal later at 7 pm. The food provided at seminars went beyond the training room because it was convenient to have meals provided for, cooked by someone else. The idea that developed was called parties brought to you. Today sixty years after the introduction of the first seminar catered meal food catering is the norm for people wanting a party at home to celebrate a major feast or a personal milestone event like the birth of a baby or a wedding. Food catering has also become an event related to hospitality and appreciation. The mourners at a funeral wake are grateful to those who come to pay their respects and food is now catered to provide for these guests. In this book the author takes the approach that food catering must grow beyond its present roots and move out to become more mainstream in the form of a meal for a social gathering like that around a steamboat. Food catering has also the responsibility to maintain the health of a community by observing the rules of being: Less salty Less oily Less sweet Free of transfats Free of gluten Free of MSG And other Chemicals. Food catering becomes a mainstream food by being available and by being healthy.
The sale of food by the chinese Eateries has undergone the full cycle in North America, Europe and Australia. When the first Chinese workers came over the Chinese Eatery served to bring to the hungry men what they would eat if they were home. The basic noodle dish with a little bit of meat sustained many for a long time. The noodle captured the attention of foreigners and soon they discovered the subtle taste of Chinese cooking and became addicted, leading to the place of Chinese food as one of the most popular items in the taste of non-Chinese. In time the food became more and more what the non-Chinese customer wanted. The rise of the wealthy Chinese tourist has revived the standard of Chinese working outside of China. This book serves the purpose of teaching the non-Chinese how to please the Chinese diner and to please him with that unique blend of Chinese cooking styles, using non-Chinese ingredients, in a non-Chinese kitchen and serving Chinese customers from China. It has been a long learning journey to come so far but the end of the chinese Eatery bringing everything edible to the world has been reached.
There are so many views on street food with regard to its future. Some fear that soon street food will be replaced by other types of eateries. They want to preserve street food, like old buildings, as something quaint for the tourists. Others want street food to become Modern Singapore Cuisine with great tastes based on great ingredients. Others want street food to be affordable enough for the elderly poor, living on welfare. Still others want street food to represent the heritage of the country, like the museums, nice to have but seldom visited. Whatever the reason, You have for keeping street food, the objectives of this book is to get you started on street food as one of the most interesting ways to start and to stay in a business that is viable.
The Bakery Eatery marks the biggest change in the Asian diet. Five years ago, Asians ate rice only and bread was considered the food of the foreigners. The French introduced the baguette, the Portuguese the tart to Macau, the Spanish introduced the Pandesal to the Philippines, the Dutch the King's cake that became the Kueh Lapis. All these introductions have been important but suddenly: * Asian affluence * Need for variety in food * Need for some food less starchy than rice have caused rich communities in the cities of Asia like Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai and the Arab Middle East to demand Western style bakery products. There was a time when the common supermarket bread, the tinned fruitcake, was considered chic but not now. You have this grand opportunity to use your baking skills and tap into this market. I have taken the path of least resistance by introducing bread as the main item of breakfast and the Bakery Eatery as the place for all day breakfast. I have also gone one little step forward by going into sandwiches, pizzas, savoury buns and others because this will be the direction you move to grow the bakery eatery into a wide spread food offering in Asia. The potential for growth in bakery products is limitless, as Asians become more globalized consumers. They have been introduced to burgers, to waffles, to pancakes and sandwiches and they are asking for more. What is needed is a creative baker with ideas to tempt the taste buds. Asia has much contribute. Asian spices have tickled the taste buds in the rice dishes. With a little experimentation these spices can be applied to bread. Asian beer and wine have been paired with rice dishes. With some trial they can be paired with the bakery products. Asian ways of preparing meat and fish and vegetables in curry, soy sauce or roast or tandoors can produce items that can go with bakery products. The curry puff is one simple example. I wish you every SUCCESS on your bakery adventures and I know that the diet of Asia would be more varied because of you.
One of the most important aspects of food history has been the internationalisation of halal eateries. The affluence of the local Muslim market has attracted sellers from the Middle East, Pakistan and the Islamic communities to put up their food products. If this trend goes on, Singapore can acquire the hub status of being the Halal Eatery of the world with a focus on the untapped market of China and the central Asian oil-rich republics. My hope is that reading this book will inspire you to introduce halal eateries into yet untapped areas. Of all the F&B opportunities the halal food business, is currently, one of the best opportunities, not only in Singapore but also in China, and the oil-rich states of Central Asia. As my title indicates: "Welcome World", and I hope you will taste Success soon. An ideal guide for those who wants to setup a halal food business in Singapore.
I am sure Success in the Seafood Eateries, will encourage more people to get into the seafood retail business. This is not my intention. Already the limits to the seafood eateries have been reached: Too many areas have been over-fished The fish, at the top of the food chain are being driven out of their usual feeding grounds because of over-fishing. Far too much consumption on particular types of seafood like reef fish, sharks. abalone and tuna have not been good for the environment The solution lies in fish and prawn cultivation. China is leading the world in this aspect but more needs to be done: Fish is an extremely rich source of needed protein. The fishermen who used to live on in-shore and reef fishing have to be provided with jobs at these new fish farms. Fish from farms should give the ocean a chance to recover the effects of over-fishing. Fresh-water fish farming should be pushed harder and the great rivers, the small rivers, the lakes and the ponds should be re-stocked. Re-stocking is like re-forestation. Today half the paper used in the world is from sustainable forest and the same can be done with sustainable fishery. When this book helps to restore the balance between fishing and fish-life, then I will consider this Seafood Eateries: Success a real success.
If you are starting an enrichment program for kids and students, then this is the guide for you. In this handy guide, the author shares with you the tips and tricks of running an enrichment education business. Topics covered include: - Importance of Enrichment Education - Understanding Consumer Behaviour - Knowing Yourself - Pricing Your Enrichment Programme - Location As A Success Factor - Instructors As Stars - Entry Strategies - Marketing And Promoting Enrichment - Building Service And Products
The Barbeque Eatery is the institution that the locals find as the defining mark of the expatriate Australian and American communities in their own country. If there is one expatriate, he sends home letters and postcards. If there are two expatriates they set up a Sunday service. If there are three expatriates then after the worship service, they set up the barbeque. In a way the Barbeque represents the stage when the expats consider the foreign country no more foreign than their home. They have been accepted by the local community and they can gather to enjoy themselves in a way that is special to them. This book takes the approach of expats introducing the barbeque to the locals. Many local communities have the barbeque but none has developed such a rich food culture related to the barbeque. The food culture would be less rich if not for the addition of the barbeque and the social life that grows around as locals and the expats mingle over good food.
If you think that most Peranakans live to eat, you may be correct. After all, good Peranakan cousine isn't a matter of tossing just anything edible into the cooking pot. It is a carefully nurtured craft, perfected through decades and possibly centuries of trial and error. Yet, Peranakan cuisine is more than just about good food. It encompasses the customs and traditions of the Peranakans, their culture and history. This book showcases the various aspects of their cuisine, and illustrates how food has become an essential part of Peranakan life.
