Day 30 ‘Get Your Jelly On’: Picnic at Cremorne Point with Kuih Malaysia

* This post is part of  the Royal Selangor Jellyriffic Competition where ten bloggers from around the world compete by posting recipes each day for 30 days in the month of October 2011 to raise awareness and support for breast cancer. *

Follow our progress and download our recipes in the “Cuisines of the World” by clicking the image below:

 

 

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Breast cancer awareness and support

This video was specially created by ChopinandMysaucepan to spread the awareness of breast cancer and as a prayer for women who are affected by this illness.

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Today is the final day of the 30-day Jellyriffic challenge and this day seemed like eternity when we embarked on our very first recipe using the Royal Selangor jelly mould.

It is a bitter-sweet feeling as we come to the end of this challenge. We were a little daunted with the jelly mould during the first few recipes but as the challenge progressed, we became more confident and started to really enjoy experimenting with our recipes.

The jelly mould has challenged us to think beyond the traditional and usual way popular recipes are made and presented. In so doing, we have suprised even ourselves as to how beautiful some of the creations have turned out to be.

Here is a summary of our 30 recipes in this Jellyriffic 30-day challenge:

• Thirty recipes which make up ten international 3-course meals consisting an entree, main and dessert.
• Five 3-course Asian cuisines – Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian and Malaysian.
• Five 3-course Western cuisines – Italian, Spanish, Australian, English and French.
• Both hot and cold entrees which are steamed, baked, chilled, roasted and jellied.
• Main courses that cover popular rice and pasta favourites, a burger, pie and duck dish.
• Ten vastly different and contrasting style of desserts which include a rice pudding, steamed cake, mousse, ice-cream, pannacotta, jelly, pavlova, kulfi, trifle and mille feuille.
• A surprising revelation is that we have used gelatin in only 8 out of the 30 recipes
• We have used over 140 different types of ingredients over the 30 days. For ease of reference and note for food allergies, we have compiled a list of key ingredients used and these include 23 types of vegetables, 18 herbs and spices, 15 types of fruit, 9 types of seafood, 7 types of red meat, 35 different food supplements, 10 diary products, red wine and white wine, 4 types of nuts and 8 types sauces.
• All recipes are halal or kosher except for the fusilli bolognaise, Spanish paella and Shepherd’s pie with blowtorch mashed potatos. These three recipes can be adapted to be halal by substituting pork mince and chorizo sausage. We suggest chicken mince and beef sausage substitute respectively.

As you can see, it is definitely more than just a jelly mould because it can be used as a shaping tool to present food in a unique and interesting way.

With this final entry for a Malaysian dessert, we have brought you around the entire globe with our Cuisines of the World journey.

Day 30: Dessert – Kuih Malaysia

”It is a beautiful day and perhaps we should spend the day outdoors”, I declare as I gaze into the clear blue sky that Sydney has presented to us on this lazy Sunday morning.

”Yaay and perhaps we should have a kuih Malaysia picnic since it’s a special cake that no one has seen before”, Mysaucepan says wide-eyed and obviously snapped up my suggestion in an instant.

So we load up our picnic bag with a freshly baked baguette, some olives, ham, salami, cheese, strawberries, bananas, wine and head out the door.

”Haven’t we forgot something?” I ask.

”Oh, the kuih Malaysia!” Mysaucepan says. “How are we going to bring them down to Cremorne Point?”, she asks as the kuih are still in the Royal Selangor jelly mould.

”We’ll figure it out” I say as we head out the door with jelly moulds in hand among all our food and drinks.

As we arrive at Cremorne Point, we lay out our picnic rug  and unload all the goodies from our bag. We love to have picnics on a beautiful day like this and we are pretty organised with our utensils, plates and glasses.

This is a beautiful spot on the lower north shore of Sydney to have a picnic because the vantage point is slightly elevated from the water.

It has uninterrupted views of Sydney harbour and the harbour bridge and Opera House sit majestically in front of us.

Because of these breath-taking views, this strip of grassland on the peninsula is always completely barraged by revellers during New Year’s Eve, Australia Day and on Boxing Day to witness the amazing fireworks and the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

We are a little suprised as there are not many people out in the open on such a beautiful day.

Strawberries are in season at the moment and they are big, sweet and juicy.

As we tuck into the food, we gaze into the harbour where sailboats drifting in the surf and the cool breeze gently caressing our skin.

Some of our favourite items for a picnic in spring and summer include fresh fruits, cold cut meats, fresh bread, cheese and ham. And, let’s not forget a good drop of chilled white wine on a beautiful day.

Our friend Jamie arrives soon after with a whole roast chicken. His little boy Alistar could hardly wait to get into the water and began collecting sea shells, slugs and  starfish among the rocky edge of the water.

A ferry trumpets its horn as it approaches from Circular Quay to drop off passengers at the wharf nearby. It is merely a ten minute ferry ride from Cremorne Point into the heart of the city.

We made the kuih Malaysia the night before and although I don’t have a sweet tooth, I have been dying to taste this dessert because it is made up of three different cakes that are popular in Malaysia.

We have decided to come up with a unique dessert that combines elements of very popularkuih or cakes in Malaysia – kuih lapis, kuih seri kaya and nasi pulut.

As we work out way towards dessert, it is time to bring out the kuih Malaysia.

We decide this unqiue creation should consist of kuih lapis, seri kaya and nasi pulut because these three cakes combine to give the colours of the Malaysian flag.

I begin to take photos of this beautiful dessert against the backdrop of Sydney harbour.

As I photograph this unique looking dessert, the people sitting next to us on the grass become very curious and I explain to them the concept of this dish where we combined three popular cakes into one. As it turns out, they became fans of kuih Malaysia too after a first taste.

We also brought some delicious soft brie and roasted red capsicum to go with crispy rice crackers as little snacks.

As we continue our picnic, little Alistar is intrigued by all the sea shells and slugs that he has collected along the rocky embankment of Cremorne Point.

All throughout the afternoon, he seemed to be in a world of his own, dotting around the rocks, peering into the nooks in search of more shells and slugs.

The weather becomes warmer and more people come out to enjoy the beautiful day. There are people walking their dogs, skateboarding and jogging along the footpath that runs the length of the Cremorne Point peninsula.

All this while, we take slow bites into the kuih Malaysia, where its sweet gooey texture picks up all the nasi pulut and kaya.

We all agree this is a wonderful way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon with delicious food and desserts.

I walk around the rocks and gaze at the harbour where sailboats dot the horizon and the Opera House in the distance.

As I walk along the footpath, two newly-weds in traditional Indian costume are taking photos with the backdrop of the harbour.

This is a popular spot for wedding couples to take photos because of the beautiful panoramic views that run all along the point.

Throughout the afternoon, more people come to sit by the grassy strip and gaze at the horizon.

We catch up on the news before tucking into the last of our kuih Malaysia.

Our friend Jamie gives this dessert the thumbs up before taking another mouthful.

So dear readers, this brings us to the end of the 30-day Jellyriffic challenge. We have thoroughly enjoyed coming up with all the beautiful recipes and hope you will enjoy them as much as we did.

The recipes are not difficult to replicate and best of all, you can use these recipes to plan a 3-course dinner party using the jelly mould. It is really a beautiful tool to shape and present food in a different and exciting way. Who know what kind of new recipes you will come up with if you put on your thinking cap!

We wish to thank Royal Selangor for organising this event to help raise awareness for breast cancer.

Lastly, we wish to thank you, our dear readers for following this series with all your comments, kind words of encouragement and support.

*Note to readers: You can support and help raise the awareness of breast cancer by the following ways:

• Share our recipes with family and friends on Facebook or Twitter.
• Like chopinandmysaucepan on Facebook.
• Follow chopinandmysaucepan on Twitter.
• Suggest to us any recipe, jelly or otherwise that you may like us to cook using the mould. Recipes do not necessarily need to incorporate gelatin and participants are encouraged to be as creative as possible. We need all the help we can get and would welcome any creative ideas and recipes from our readers.
• Purchase a jelly mould from Royal Selangor. Remember, all sales proceeds will go towards improving the lives of women affected by breast cancer.

Win an Olympus  VG-110 camera

To encourage readers to support the cause for breast cancer awareness, we will give away an Olympus VG-110 camera to one lucky reader.

All you have to do over the next thirty days is to provide your comments, feedback, suggestions or any recipes and you will be in the running to receive this camera. This prize is open to any and all readers.

If you enjoy our daily posts throughout October 2011, do consider helping the cause for breast cancer by participating in any or all the the ways mentioned above

We wish you good health and happy cooking!

Chopinand & Mysaucepan

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