1.
“I am living in a landscape that marks the clock
Where heat is the brief midsummer play
Of jasmine on the slated roofs.”
It is the season of the coming and going of friends.
A brief weekend of girlish giggles over insightful, whimsical, intellectual, playful Readings at Seksan’s, where she read her poems to an attentive crowd, shortly after he read his lovestruck lovelorn writings.
“I’ve lost that endless season
Of sun and rain
Where I eked out existence like a
Lizard on a rock
Quick to run and fix my beady eye
Upon the blazing sun.
Recall, the sudden squall
The gust of wind
The towering rumble from canyons of air
Beating on my pedaling schoolgirl frame
Lonely, toiling uphill past the house
of love lost and friends betrayed.”
He brought a delicious butter cake that sang of sunshine and laughter. It was warm and rich, kissed with rosemary syrup and a hint of sea salt. We ate it after Readings, under the trees, under the setting sun.
2.
We dined at Chiaroscuro. Not to be confused with churrascaria (a brazilian steakhouse), this is an Italian tratorria which means light and dark, referring mostly to the decor, with simply done up walls in grey and tableware in white in muted lighting all around. We were served thick cut bread to dip into little bowls of sundried tomatoes in olive oil.
Greek salad (RM22)
The key to a good salad is fresh and good quality ingredients. The greek style salad with capsicum, onion, cucumber, fresh tomatoes and fennel with the most wonderful fluffy feta cheese was delicious.
Whitebait polpette with balsamic reduction (RM26), Bresaola (RM28)
The fresh whitebait polpette had the appearance of fritters rather than meatballs. The balsamic reduction with its lovely syrupy consistency elevated this dish to higher level. The thinly sliced bresaola, with its salty taste from the curing of the meat, tasted lovely with the grilled mushroom, mixed salad and smoked cheese. The dish was drizzled with lemon olive oil.
“I’ve lost the peculiar awareness burning
At the timid nape of my neck
At tender junctions of elbow and knees
The brown peel chafing away to new skin.”
Clockwise from top left: Beef carpaccio served with rocket cress salad, shaved parmesan & truffle oil dressing (RM28), Pan roasted pork tenderloin with potato, spinach and balsamic vinegar reduction (RM46), Spring chicken with mediterranean style vegetables (RM34), Homemade fettuccine pasta with crab meat and baby spinach (RM28)
“Sudden morning incense makes me long
For my grandmother’s red altar
And the Jungle Book,
Hiding from afternoon times tables
My mother makes me chant from a sheet.
Trailing after her at the market
The loud,”CHOP” of steel parting meat
The bag of chicken feet, or nangka
Or petai, pigs liver, roses and chat
To the Aunties of the street
With their curious eyes lingering
Between my shoulderblades.”
Other than the balsamic vinegar reduction, nothing masked the robust flavour of the pork tenderloin. The spring chicken was roasted well, but lacked saltiness, an easily rectifiable deficiency. The carpaccio was matched with rather strong ingredients, but they complemented each other rather well.
“Here the kinetic buds foretell
The rain of blossom on the black tar road
Endless patter of water at midnight
Fills me with cool relief
Seasons come and
Leave my past to another country.”
From a poem entitled “Lost Seasons of the Sun and Rain” by Pey Colborne, read at Readings at Seksan’s on May 24, 2008.
Chiaroscuro
Ground Floor, 38 Bidara, (Behind Istana Hotel)
30 Jalan Bedara,
50200 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2144 8006
Also see The Zest of Life.