Malaysians in Italy - Lunch in Milan

When you're far from home, no matter how much fun you're having, sometimes you just can't help but feel a little homesick.   And that's what drove me one day last year to google 'Malaysians in Italy', thinking surely there must be others in my shoes.  My Google search didn't turn up anything, but a search on Facebook did.

I first met the Milan members of the group at an aperitivo late last summer.  Since then, we've gotten together a couple times.  It's such an interesting diverse group.  We have among us students, housewives, people working in the fashion industry, travel industry, people from the consulate and government agencies, even a model!

There was a lunch gathering on Easter weekend a couple weeks ago.  The setting was Mei Lin Restaurant right in downtown Milan just a few minutes walk from Castello Sforzesco.  It is mostly a Chinese restaurant however the owner Mr Lau is Malaysian and so some Malayian dishes offered.  I spied on the regular menu on the window dishes like roti canai and mee goreng.

Our group that day however had a special buffet menu prepared for us and it was quite the spread.  Most were executed pretty well, considering.  Well, some of my favorites are missing but beggars can't be choosers here.

- Curry Puff
- Poh Piah or Tipo Involtini Primavera
- Cucur Udang or Frittelle di Gamberi
- Baked Chicken Wings or Ali di Pollo al forno
- Asam Fish or Pesche al tamarindo
- Cereal Prawns or Gamberi impannata di cereali
- Cantonese Fried Rice or Riso alla cantonese
- Fried Mee Hun or Spaghetti di Riso
- Vegetable Curry or Verdure al curry

We spent a couple hours meeting old and new friends.  It's always interesting to find out what brings people here.  We met a E who has been in Milan for 27 years, N who's Australian but is moving to Milan from KL with his Malaysian wife and kids, and several others who came from as far as Genova.  There aren't that many Malaysians in this country so this was a wonderful opportunity to meet each other. 

Thanks to Linda for organizing this.  Until the next time!

Mei Lin Restaurant

Via San Giovanni Sul Muro, 13 Milan

Full Moon at Tana Del Grillo

Spring has definitely arrived, warm sun and flower-filled meadows and all, so let's make this the last snow-themed post of the season.  This actually happened back in January but I never got a chance to blog about it.  Just like in the winter of the previous year, our friends in Valtellina organized a dinner at Tana del Grillo, a mountain lodge in Valmalenco that specializes in wild meat.  They also make sure it falls on a weekend where there is a full moon so we can also enjoy the winter wonderland effect created by the brilliant full moon reflecting off the snow.  And because the lodge is set pretty high up in the mountains, it cannot be reached by car, but on foot or with a snowmobile or snowcat ride provided by the lodge. 

This year we invited also some of our friends from Milan to join us for the unique experience.  We decided to to drive up in the late afternoon so we could have a nice walk to the restaurant.  We figured it would be nice to get some fresh air and exercise while enjoying the scenery before the big dinner.

It was cold, as cold as it looks in the pictures, maybe even more!  We wrapped ourselves warmly and set out for the 6 km or 3.7 mile walk.

Some of us had backpacks.  The restaurant also offers affordable rooms for lodging and our friends from Milan were going to stay overnight that night to complete the winter wonderland experience. 

It was a nice walk although at one point the wind was really frosty.  My face was frozen and I wondered at that point why we opted to walk rather than take the snowmobile ride.  But it was worth it.  I knew what was in store for us at dinner (mountain food isn't exactly low calorie cuisine) and the walk definitely helped build up an appetite and assuage some of the guilt.

Plus there were some snowballs thrown and silly pictures to be taken. 

When we arrived, we had some time to kill while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive so we hung out in a sitting room upstairs and had some drinks.  We ended up being a group of twenty.  A hungry group of twenty.

First came a selection of appetizers.  I was too busy eating and failed to take pictures of everything.  This is the cotechino con vellutata di porri or cotechino in a leek cream sauce.  Cotechino is a fresh sausage made of pork with lots of pork fat.  Not exactly light, but very good with the leek sauce.   We also had vitello tonnato or veal in a tuna and caper sauce (sounds strange but it's good and you can't really taste the tuna), pate di lepre or wild rabbit pate, and affetati misti or mixed cold cuts of prociutto, salami and the like.  Let me say that it was all good and we were almost full at that point.

I don't have any pictures of the first dishes but everyone in our group pretty much ordered one of the following:  
 - ravioli di capriolo or ravioli with roe deer filling
- tagliatelle con ragu di cervo or tagliatelle with venison sauce
- pizzoccheri, the typical Valtelinese pasta dish
- risotto con la pernice rossa or risotto with red partridge

And because we were a large group, in addition to our own individual servings, they also offered us tastings of all the other dishes so we could taste the other ones as well.  Even the 'tastings' were generous, and it felt like we had eaten four first dishes!

And then it was time for the second dish.  I ordered the sella di capriolo or roe deer (not sure the technical term of the deer's back).  I'd had it before and it was as perfectly tender as I remembered.  Some others ordered the bistecca di cervo or steak of deer.  Ok, I can't even begin to explain the difference between capriolo and cervo; the dictionary is not very descriptive.  Does anyone know?

Lastly, dessert... I had a molten chocolate cake that was great.  I was really stuffed by then.  I don't remember what everyone else had.  Finally coffee and a selection of grappa and digestif liquors including the local Braulio.

We ended the night with a snowcat ride back to our car.  Our friends who stayed for the night took a short walk near the lodge, illuminated only by the moonlight.  The next morning after breakfast, they got to ride out on a snowmobile.  It was a fun mountain experience in the snow.


Tano del Grillo
Pian del Lupo
23023 Chiesa in Valmalenco (SO)

Company 10 Year Anniversary Dinner

A couple weeks ago our Milan office reached its 10 year anniversary.  To celebrate, our CEO visited and hosted an employee dinner at Bar Peck, a restaurant in downtown Milan.  I must admit, there was some grumbling because of the inconvenient location (far from the office, no parking) and it being a week night.  But despite that, most everyone made it to the restaurant at the appointed hour and in true Italian fashion, we were all smartly dressed.  Suits and ties are definitely not the normal office attire for us engineers.

Unfortunately, our CEO's flight was delayed an hour so we passed the time mingling and eating way too many appetizers.  There were all kinds of delicious finger food, cheese, breadsticks, meat balls... and the waiters were way too generous with the flow of prosecco sparkling wine.  It was hard to resist the appetizers, as much as I wanted to save room for dinner.  And my friend T ended up having 6-7 glasses of wine before dinner even started.

Finally our guest of honor arrived and we all proceeded to sit down for dinner.  We had special menus for the event and the dishes were translated in English.  Notice the wines served on the left. 

For the sit-down appetizer, a primosale fresh cheese wrapped with grilled zucchini and bell peppers, with artichoke chips on the side.  I liked the vegetables and the chips.  The cheese was to me rather bland tasting.

The first dish was a risotto with zuchinni flowers and parmesan cheese crisp.  It was good, and this is coming from someone who doesn't love eating rice in general.

For the second dish, we were served veal wrapped with speck, a ham from the Tyrol region of Italy near Austria.  It looked fancy, but I found the meat a tad salty.  This was served with a really good red wine - a Morellino di Scansano.  It was the first time I had it and although I'm no wine expert, I can definitely recognize a good wine.  It's too bad I'm such a light drinker!

The dessert creation was delicious.  The presentation was lovely and I really enjoyed it, even though I was bursting at the seams at that moment.  This was served with a dessert wine and followed with a selection of digestive liquors.

It turned out to be a very fun night out with our colleagues.  This was a rare social event where none of the other halves were present.  I think that along with the free-flowing alcohol all night helped everyone let loose a little.  Can you tell which pictures were from the end of the night? 

New Year's Day Lunch in Palo del Colle

Back to our trip to Puglia.

It was the first day of the New Year and we had just visited Santo Spirito and Giovinazzo. Now it was time for lunch with M's family again. This time his older brother E, his wife F, as well as V's mother joined us.

source: DB

We again had lots to eat. I don't know how his mother does it. We were just there till way past midnight the night before and the very next day she had managed to prepare another huge feast for over ten people.

We started eating around 2.30pm.  D commented that he'd never eaten lunch that late.  Not that we were hungry... we were still full from last night's meal.  There was a fresh cheese selection, olives and smoked salmon to start. Then homemade oriecchiete pasta with the tomato sauce of the famous Pugliese braciole or meat roll dish. First we had the pasta with the sauce that the meat rolls are cooked in, then the meat rolls themselves are served. If you recall, we had it once in Milan prepared by V herself. Now this was her future mother-in-law's version.

source: DB

This was a dish made with years and years of experience and tradition. It seemed like every family has their own 'trade secret'... that little tweak to the recipe or an addition of a special ingredient to make theirs better. It was delicious of course!

Then we had some sausages made from veal from a local macelleria or butcher. These were cooked on a grill right in the camino or fireplace in the corner of their kitchen.

source: DB

They were really really good. And that's coming from me who's not a huge fan of sausages in general.

For dessert, there was a cake, sort of the local version of the St Honore, and this traditional dessert which I absolutely cannot remember the name of. Anyone? Basically it is a pastry topped with a warm sugary syrup.  And of course, another bottle of spumante was opened to toast the New Year.


By the time we finished all that, it was almost 6pm.  The 'kids' decided to go for a walk and get coffee at a neighborhood bar. We got a walking tour of their lovely town, Palo del Colle. I was impressed with the many beautiful churches and historical buildings in this relatively unknown town of 20k inhabitants.

When we got back, the family dog, Laika, was there to greet us. Isn't she the sweetest thing?


I really enjoyed the warm welcome and hospitality of M's family and the peek into the local life. Thank you so much and we hope to be back for a visit soon!

Santo Spirito, Puglia

After the festivities the night before, we woke up and had a leisure breakfast at the hotel before driving over to Santo Spirito, a town just a few minutes away from where we were staying. Santo Spirito is a fishing village, and there were a number of colorful fishing boats in the harbor.


The first day of the new year was another beautiful and sunny day in Puglia. We walked to the main piazza where there were many locals enjoying the day.


We knew that this was the hometown of one of our coworkers, R, and that he was home for the holidays. Stef decided to surprise him and gave him a call. He was surprised alright and it took him only a few minutes for him to leave his house to join us.


We also got to meet his dad. His father is a fisherman and happened to be nearby in the piazza. He was smartly dressed in his Sunday best, in a suit, tie and hat, as were the other gentlemen meeting in the piazza.


It was really nice seeing R in his own hometown.

Capodanno in Puglia

Now where did we leave off? Yes, it was capodanno or New Year's Eve and we were in Puglia. Most of the restaurants were offering il cenone or 'big dinner' for the occasion, which usually meant big crowds, mediocre food, silly hats, entertainment and well, high prices. We weren't really interested. Instead, M invited us to his family home for dinner. We were honored and thrilled.

His parents and younger brother warmly welcomed us to their beautiful home. His mother in typical Pugliese tradition really outdid herself in the kitchen.

We started off with homemade foccaccia with tomatoes and a Pugliese torta filled with olives, onions and anchovies.


An assortment of local fresh cheeses: mozarella, ricotta, stracciatella and I can't remember what else.


Oriecchiete con cime di rape, or 'little ears' pasta with rapa, a local vegetable. This pasta dish is synonymous with the region of Puglia. The pasta was handmade by mum herself.


Dario could not resist a second helping.


Too.much.food...


A second primo or first dish of spaghetti with scampi. Really good. I was already full from the appetizer but this was impossible to resist. Plus, I wouldn't want to offend our hosts!


We were so lucky to be there!


Picture with the family. The stove and sink is actually in a little corner behind the wall on the right of the warm fireplace. It's tiny but obviously works as M's mom kept bringing out delicious food.


We looked up at the clock and realized it was almost midnight! M jumped to action bringing out the firecrackers.


The last couple minutes was a frenzy as the guys tried to figure out how the firecrackers worked while running around trying to decide which terrace to set them off from. The volume on the TV was turned up high so we could hear the countdown.


At the stroke of midnight, the explosion of fireworks went off all around us. It seemed like every family had their own set of fireworks. Some were really LOUD and others quite elaborate and colorful exploding high up in the sky. In the distance we could see the fireworks going off in the neighboring town of Bitonto. I was quite amazed by the display and noise. This went on for quite a bit. Buon anno! Auguri!


We also all had a plate of lenticche or lentils, an Italian tradition to usher in good luck in the new year. Their round shape is reminiscent of coins, so bring in the wealth!


A champagne toast for the new year!


And last but not least, M pulled out his stash of cigars and for a celebratory puff. What a night!

December Birthdays

Is it just me or are there alot of birthdays in the December time frame? We've been surrounded with friends' birthdays in this past two weeks. Mine included!

Yesterday we celebrated M's birthday. He's also my next door cubicle neighbor at work. Since I was in the holiday baking mood, I decided to whip up a batch of chocolate cupcakes the night before. For some reason, cupcakes are not that well-known here. Strange! They were very well received even if esthetically, there was much room for improvement. The reason for that being it was getting late, and between dinner, washing up, a long work day, and more washing up... well, I was getting a little tired and grumpy. S can attest to that. At the end of the night, I was ready to throw the chocolate icing on the wall. But luckily he was sweet enough to offer to wash the last bowl so the wall was spared. Phew.

I used chocolate cupcake recipe from Dorie Greenspan's cookbook (thanks YL!) and they turned out exactly as described: a chocolatey, closed-crumb cupcake that was just delicious. I want to try one of her cakes next.

M had invited us for aperitivo to celebrate that evening. Now I must have mentioned this before, but in Italy, birthday celebrations are done a little differently. Everywhere else I've lived the birthday day boy/girl is treated to yummy meals/dessert/cakes/etc on their special day. And why not?! It's your birthday, and it only happens once a year. In Italy however, the birthday celebrant is expected to treat his friends to the yummy meals/cakes/etc. Huh? Yes, that right, the person pulling out his wallet is the birthday boy/girl. How wrong is that?!

(I'm still not totally on board with this by the way... I made S pay for my birthday dinner, haha) In return said friends usually bring a gift for the celebrant, so all's well that ends well. But I think this custom tends to make people shy away from announcing their birthdays. And where's the fun in that?

Anyway, back to aperitivo. We had a blast as usual. The place was hopping and I enjoyed the Christmas deco. I got to see V, whom I've not seen for over a year.

And I think M secretly enjoyed our gift, even if his reaction might have suggested otherwise. Tanti auguri, M!

Goodbye dear girl

Today I heard the shocking news. The details are vague but she was in Africa on vacation and there was an accident. I did not know her well, but I will always remember her as the daring and adventurous girl who always lived life to the fullest. She was always off exploring exotic places. One day Tibet, another Alaska. My heart goes out to her parents, her family and her loved ones.

A life so full of promise cut short. We're only a month apart in age, and I'm reminded that our time here doesn't last forever. Must cut out the negativity, and be thankful for and cherish all the things I have. Live each day to the fullest.

Goodbye dear HN. You are an inspiration to many of us.

Friday Night

Kicked off the long weekend with Friday night aperitivo with some friends at Cafe Milano.




Things started to get a little wild towards the end of the night. hahaha


:)

PJ: Unique Seafood

We had just arrived in KL the day before and had dinner plans with two of my best friends, YF and WP. They had agreed to be our MCs for our wedding dinner (you're the best, girls!!) so we were supposed to go over the proceedings. But first, FOOD.

We hop into YF's car and she announces SEAFOOD tonight! We are thrilled! :-0 Next thing we know, we're staring at a whole wall of tanks filled with an assortment of live shrimp, fish, crabs, shellfish...


It doesn't get any fresher than this!


The guys go over to inspect dinner...


YF expertly does the ordering and soon we were digging in. Butter prawns!


Crab done two ways: salted yolk and chili, really yummy and meaty.



Then the surprise dish of the evening - snails!


Yeah, we were a little horrified but YF assured us they were yummy.


Here's WP and J playing with their food - the insides of the snails.


Actually they tasted pretty decent once you ignored the fact they were snails. We had so much food - also veggies, fried noodles and fried rice, and it was all very good. The waitress actually had to tell YF 'enough' when she was ordering.

And there was a lot of laughing. Not sure what was in the food but we were really rolling with infectious laughter that night. We didn't even have any wine, just chinese tea. The other tables were looking at us funny but heck, we were having so much fun! And somehow WP and YF managed to get the bill too (bad girls!). Oh, and we did spend about 5 whole minutes in the 'working' part of the dinner, where YF pulled out prewritten scripts from past MC-ing duties.

When can we do this again? ;-o