You would think I would know something about this popular Singaporean / Malaysian breakfast by now. But I did not till I sat at a little cafe chain called Toast Box after hours of walking through Bugis Junction Mall in Singapore and watched a young couple dip toast in half boiled eggs. They seemed like they had poured soya sauce and pepper in their eggs and the toast was thickly laden with butter and a jam. I was intrigued to the point I was unashamedly staring at them eat their snack. Seemingly breakfast food, people were ordering this late into the evening. Who says breakfast should only be eaten in the morning.
So the next morning I got my own Kaya Toast and coffee from Toast Box. I did not venture the half boiled eggs yet. And then that afternoon I stopped by another local cafe and bought the set breakfast for lunch. Yes and this time with the boiled eggs and soya sauce and pepper and all. It was quite interesting. The coffee in Singapore was outstanding. The best filter coffee I have had yet.
So what is Kaya toast. Well its a jam like spread made of coconut, eggs and sugar. Its got that warm curstardy taste to it. Its offset by a generous helping of salty butter on freshly toasted bread. Its like a bite of heaven in your mouth. It goes perfectly well with coffee.
Kaya toast became a popular breakfast in Singapore and Malaysia when local Hainanese people who worked on British ships serving jam and toast for breakfast adapted it into their own diet. So instead of serving toast with fruit preserves they made their own local version of coconut jam called Kaya.
I have to say, I loved this breakfast so much I had a Kaya toast almost every morning with my cuppa joe. At Toast Box, they several different kinds of toasts - I tried something called a Floss toast which is basically pork shavings on the Kaya served on a thick slice of bread. Yes you heard me right- pork shavings. Its an interesting combination - think bacon and syrup. They had a peanut butter too that seemed very popular but I did not try. I wish I had more time and more mornings in Singapore to lap it all up.
freshly baked bread, coffee and lots of eggs
Superb coffee
A slab of butter sandwiched between Kaya slathered toast
True to their word, the coffee was outstanding and so was the toast
the half boiled egg
Half boiled egg, soya and pepper. Not a bad combination
More Kaya toast
Delightful cup of coffee
Floss on toast and coffee and eggs
Oh yes! Half boiled goodness. Getting a hang of this breakfast
Floss toast: light shredded pork on Kaya toast- sweet and salty
He promised it would be better than sex. Each bite would
explode and tantalize every part of the tongue. I believed him because Anand is
a tremendous cook and everything he has made for me in the past has been
stellar. I also know Anand would not talk lightly about sex and even though
food and porn and sex are some of the most over used clichés, I had a feeling this
pie would be mind blowing.
If any of you have wandered the streets of Colaba Causeway
and into Café Churchill or found yourself in a bakery in the far ends of
Jaiselmer or on the beaches of Goa, Banoffee pie is no stranger to you.
Personally I am a chocolate girl but once in a while I crave a creamy fresh
fruit delight. What makes Banoffee
a little over the top special is the layer of toffee along with bananas. Of the
entire flavor pairing in the world this one is just delightful. Imagine it-
banana and toffee- they just flow into each, clinging and blending, wrapping
their arms and legs around each other. Their sweetness combined with their smooth
gooey textures. In fact the name
Banoffee is a portmanteau of the two words- banana and toffee.
As the legend goes – a Mister Ian Dowding and a Nigel
Mackenzie of the Hungry Monk restaurant in East Sussex are responsible for
creating this beauty in the early 70’s. It was inspired by the American Blum’s
Coffee Toffee pie, which is a layer of toffee with coffee flavored whipped
cream. In the English version, developed by Dowding, the toffee was made by
boiling the can of condensed milk to create a soft gooey toffee and further add
a layer of bananas – a contribution attributed to Mackenzie. This pie was an
instant success. Many restaurants adopted the Banoffee and later supermarkets
sold it as American Pie something the duo disputed over.
Dowding is very particular about his recipe- hates biscuit
bases and whipped cream that comes in aerosol containers. Dowding has found a
perfect follower in Anand who very carefully worked on various layers of this
pie following the very pedantic recipe by Mr. Dowding.
When I got to Anand’s the piecrust was ready. It was a
beautiful golden brown perfectly shaped looking crust. I had wanted to photograph him making
the piecrust but he said he worked on it in the middle of the night as the
temperatures are cooler and allows the butter to not melt too fast. In a way I
am glad I missed how much butter is used to make the piecrust so perfect and
crispy.
He was boiling the can of condensed milk in a pressure
cooker with the right amount of water (perfectly dunking the cans in water- he
boils three cans together as toffee does not get spoilt). On opening the can,
the condensed milk is a toffee brown color thick, gooey liquid, the kind of
stuff little kids would love to lick clean. He poured the toffee on the crust and evened it out.
Anand used 8 small sized bananas which he split in half,
length wise and carefully laid in concentric circles. And on that he applied a
layer of the double whipped cream- whipped with some instant coffee. In a previous post,
I have posted pictures of how the heavy cream is whipped into stiff peaks. He applied the cream on the bananas and
created a beautiful rosette form. Sprinkled some cinnamon and hazelnut
chocolate shavings and voila.
As a treat on the side Anand made us a delightful Dulce de Leche Coffee with Old Monk- instant
coffee and a dollop of toffee stirred in, topped with some of the cream and
sprinkled some chocolate shavings to go as a side with this incredible piece of
pie. He attributes this creation to his goddess The Pioneer Woman.
Let me tell you about this pie. The first bite, it takes a
few seconds to decipher and discern all the flavours and understand the joy
that is taking place in your mouth. You close your eyes and your eyelashes flutter in delight. The
softness of the whipped cream, the gooey texture bite of the banana and toffee
blending into one heavenly sweet bite and finally the crunch of the perfect
biscuity piecrust. It was unimaginably good. Delicious. It was orgasmic- yes
and better than sex!
This article has also been published on Bon Vivant's website- which has a collection of some serious good food articles. Check it out and more
And now for the delightful pics:
Natasha was the other friend who got to participate in this beautiful pie orgy. Her sunny dress made a lovely backdrop to the pie photos. She also provided us with non stop giggles throughout this photoshoot.
