14/11/2015
There was Ellice Handy, the ex-principal of MGS. There was Mrs Lee Chin Koon, the mommy of LKY. And there is Violet Oon, known by Western media as the Julia Child of Singapore cooking (and I read that she even made a tiny appearance on an episode of The Simpsons). All three are the matriarch of Peranakan cooking and the original celebrity chefs of Singapore.
Recently, I had the privilege of shooting Ms Oon at work. She mentioned that she's recovering from a stroke and I could see she was a little feeble with her walking stick, but her passion and conviction for food and home cooking were ever poignant. And once she started cooking, the smells, oh if only they made computers with scratch and sniff. All I can say is that the chicken and beef were succulent and melt in your mouth tender.
It was delicious and all that but I was a little disappointed that she didn't cook any local dishes. However, It was still a treat. I guess if I wanted to try her Peranakan recipes, I could get her cookbook and toil in the kitchen or choose the easy way and skip to her restaurant that my friends have raved about.
