The Story of Roti John

The more I walk around streets in Singapore, the more stories I find out about local food and it's origins. Ever heard of Roti John before ? I bet you haven't ! Neither celebrity chefs like Jamie Olivier or Gordon Ramsey ever heard anything like this sort of famous dish called Roti John. The dish itself is not high tech and if you follow the recipe it's actually easy to make. Roti John is a melting dish between Asian flavor and western looking baguette slices.

Let's put it this way, it resembles more a South East Asian Sandwich or Burger.. Well, according to local legend, sometime in the 1960s an Englishman asked a Malay hawker in Sembawang for a hamburger.

Because hamburgers were not available, as a substitute, the ingenious hawker spread minced mutton and onions between slices of French loaf and fried the concoction in egg. The name for the dish is also attributed to this anonymous hawker, who was overheard saying to the customer, “Silakan makan roti, John”, which literally translates as “Please eat this bread, John”, but can also be understood as “Please eat this dish, John’s bread”.

Although roti john is often classified as Malay cuisine, partly because it is usually offered by Malay stalls, its origins, ingredients and taste meld together the diverse flavours of the English, Malay and Indian communities. The dish is sometimes considered as being of Indian origin possibly because Shukor, the hawker who popularised it, was of Indian ancestry. 

In the 1970s, Shukor set up stall at the Taman Serasi hawker centre near the Botanic Gardens serving Eurasians and Caucasians, many of whom frequented the nearby Tanglin Club. Shukor obtained the recipe for roti john from a fellow hawker in Geylang and began offering the dish at his stall in 1976. Shukor’s recipe for the dish contains up to 30 eggs beaten with onions, minced mutton and sambal (minced chilli). Some of the mixture is slathered onto sliced halves of a local bread loaf similar to the French baguette, then pan-fried on a hot griddle. So popular was the dish that Shukor sold up to 800 loaves on weekends and over 100 plates a day at his Taman Serasi stall.

Shukor’s innovation is considered the original roti john by some and his eatery remains the benchmark for the dish. After his death, his wife, Khadijah bt Mohd Salleh, continued running the stall. The stall, Shukor Makanan Istimewa, originally located at Number 9 Taman Serasi Food Centre, made the hawker centre synonymous with roti john. When the hawker centre underwent changes in 2001, the stall moved to the Serangoon Garden Market where roti john is still sold by Shukor's daughter Noriani Shukor.

Today, roti john is served throughout the Malay Peninsula, with variations in Malacca and Penang that use toppings of sardines or ikan bilis (anchovies) rather than meat.

The Dish itself…

Sometimes called Singapore's version of the burger, roti john is made using a local bread loaf similar to the French baguette, but shorter in length and with rounded ends and a softer texture. Good roti john is considered to be crispy on the outside, while the meat and egg mixture remains soft and the onions crunchy. It is usually served in bite-sized slices with green chilies, tomato sauce and sweet chilli sauce on the side. Variations on this dish use chicken, beef or sardines instead of mutton. More recent innovations include adding melted cheese and mushrooms to the topping. The Malaccan version of this dish uses longer bread with a topping mainly of sardines and ikan bilis with onions, eggs and chili.

Raclette, The Cheese That Melts in Your Mouth

Raclette is a piece of wintertime Switzerland that most of the people like to have not only in winter chalets but also at home. If you ask most of the people which they prefer, fondue or raclette, most will reply raclette! The reason why is this so remains a mystery! I am a fondue monster myself, which is not to say that I don't enjoy cheesy raclette with good old friends. 

For those of you who haven't a clue, perhaps I'd better explain what it is. Raclette is essentially melted cheese, served over boiled potatoes with lots of ground black pepper, accompanied by small pickled onions and gherkins. The name comes from the French verb "racler", to scrape, because of the way the melted cheese is scraped off the block.

Like everything with a strong tradition, there are lots of very strict dos and don'ts, which don't actually matter that much. After you've had it a couple of times you'll get to know what you like and what you don't. The only thing that you need is to have a good raclette machine! 

Once you have one of those, and the following ingredients, just invite some friends round and you're all set.

Time: whatever it takes to cook the potatoes, plus as long as you want

Ingredients:

• 200 to 250g raclette cheese per person (in rectangular blocks for the first machine, or half-wheels for the second) - damage $15.00
• small firm potatoes (in Switzerland we use Bintje, Charlotte and the aptly named Raclette varieties) - damage $6.00
• pickled onions - damage $4.00
• a selection of dried meats, prosciutto, parma ham etc. - damage $10.00
• (optional) sliced peppers, tomato, onion, mushrooms
• paprika and fresh black pepper

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until they're done.

2. Set the table with your meats, pickles, vegetables and cheese, the latter cut into thickish slices (too thick for a sandwich).

3. Put the potatoes on the table in their pan, covered, to keep warm while the cheese is cooking.

4. Each diner takes a slice of cheese and pops it into his/her individual cheese tray, tops it with a slice of tomato or other vegetable if he/she so desires and slides it under the grill. This is a good time to eat a few slices of ham and some gherkins. When the cheese is bubbling convincingly and going brown around the edges, remove the tray from under the grill, scrape the contents with a small wooden spatula on top of the potato which you have just placed on your plate, sprinkle with pepper and paprika, and eat. As it can take five minutes or so for each slice of cheese to cook, particularly before the grill has warmed up properly, it's a good idea to put a new slice of cheese in as soon as you've scraped the last one onto your potato. That way you can keep 'em coming.

And to finish off, here's the last word on "Real Raclette", taken from Sue Style's book A Taste of Switzerland: "Light a good fire. Buy yourself a half wheel of real Raclette cheese, preferably from the Valais (Gomser, Bagnes, Orsières etc.), between three and five months old. Scrape off the rind, top and bottom, so that the cheese can melt more easily. Prepare boiled potatoes in their skins and have ready a supply of gherkins or cornichons, pickled onions and black pepper. When the fire has died to a mass of glowing embers, procure yourself a large stone and put it before the fire. Set the half cheese on top, its cut surface exposed to the heat. Nearby have a supply of plates. As the cheese melts, scrape it off on to a plate and serve at once. Continue in this way until everyone is full." 

How To Make A Quick And Easy Parmigiana

The name parmigiana sounds like a dish from Parma, but you be surprised to find out that parmigiana has its origins in the south of the country. They called this dish Parmigiana due to parmigiano reggiano cheese that originates from Parma in the north of the country. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas and new ways to do old things. It can also be a good idea for new year eves or xmast dish. I was intrigued by this version. It’s actually the way my family does it since generations. Not to my surprise, parmigiana is completely unknow to my area in south east asia. It always surprises my guests when I come up with this dish, simply because they have the impression that all western foods are expensive to make. Well, partly true but here I proof them wrong… its easy and cheap to make!

The parmigiana dish is a dish that you could be prepared with spending less and not much time investment and energy. Great dish to make a change every now and then. it actually has lot's of similarities to traditional beef lasagna  parmigiana can be a good alternative solutions for vegetarians. 

Ingredients for up to 3 persons:

3 large aubergines (damage $4.00)
Olive Oil
Garlic, I prefer old garlic (peeled and finely sliced)
1 teaspoon of oregano
800 g tinned plum tomatoes (damage $6.00)
sea salt
ground black pepper
a little wine vinegar
3 large handfuls of parmesan cheese, freshly grated (damage $6.00)
2 handfuls dried breadcrumbs
150g mozzarella, optional (damage $ 5.00)

The first thing to do is to remove the stalks from the aubergines, slice them up into 1cm thick slices, and put to one side. Whether you're using a griddle pan or a barbecue, get it really hot. Meanwhile, put 2 or 3 lugs of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the garlic has a tiny bit of colour. If you're using tinned tomatoes, break them up, and if you're using fresh tomatoes (which will obviously taste sweeter and more delicious, if they're in season), very quickly prick each one and put them into a big pan of boiling water for 40 seconds.

Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put them into a bowl of cold water for 30 seconds, then remove the skins, carefully squeeze out the pips and cut up the flesh. Add the tomato flesh or tinned tomatoes to the onion, garlic and oregano. Give the mixture a good stir, then put a lid on the pan and simmer slowly for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, grill the aubergines on both sides until lightly charred – you may have to do them in batches, as they probably won't all fit into your griddle pan in one go. As each batch is finished, remove them to a tray and carry on grilling the rest until they're all nicely done. When the tomato sauce is reduced and sweet, season it carefully with salt, pepper and a tiny swig of wine vinegar, and add the basil. You can leave the sauce chunky or you can purée it.

Get yourself an earthenware type dish (25 x 12–15cm). Put in a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin scattering of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat these layers until you've used all the ingredients up, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan. I like to toss the breadcrumbs in olive oil with a little freshly chopped oregano and sprinkle them on top of the Parmesan. Sometimes the dish is served with torn-up mozzarella on top, which is nice too.

Place the dish in the oven and bake at 190°C/375°F/gas five for half an hour until golden, crisp and bubbly. It's best eaten straight away, but it can also be served cold.