This book marks the end of my literary journey through the harsh terrains of North Korea. The next time I touch on anything dictatorial (or communistic, for a better choice of words), it’s got to be more visual than this – and more physical; I still hope for a day when I could finally travel to this supposedly ‘pariah’ nation, to witness all that is (left) of this autocratic regime.
This book was a gift from a friend… well, sort of. Just by looking at the cover, one would not be too wrong about it being a very traditionally English and European-based cookbook. And it is, indeed, given the wide range of strange looking tools (or what they identify as kitchen utensils) used in their kitchens. My assumption is: one has got to have a copiously-spaced kitchen to be able to own and keep all of these utensils at home!
A brinjal is a type of plant in many disguises, simply because it can also be called an eggplant (English/American), an aubergine (European), a melongene or a guinea squash. Asians usually identify them as brinjals, which in turn usually refers to the longer, slimmer breed.
Plain but flavourful, this delicacy is much favoured by many Asians within the region – a common breed found in many neighbourhood bakeries and supermarkets. Here’s my very own version of the heartland favourite – golden little buns sprinkled with copious servings of cheddar cheese!
This book was a souvenir from a photography course that I took up several years ago, while I was still a teacher. I cannot remember much of the course – aperture size, white balance etc – but I do remember feeling very happy about receiving this book as part of the course materials.