Friday, June 17, 2005

the Kyuri protocol

I'm in one of my cooking moods now, and yesterday I went grocery shopping. I've always liked grocery shopping, with due emphasis on freshness, of course. Stale produce makes for dull dishes. As I only had limited time I really have to rush for most of my shopping since most of the time is needed for preparations. It was there that there was a Kyuri promoter, a somewhat elderly lady promoting fresh produce.

Kyuri is a Japanese cucumber, its much smaller, dark green in color, and has a creamy taste that is very unique, and great for salads, since it has a soft, crunchy texture. So the promoter said, 'Do you want to try some Kyuri?' referring to the samples on the pedestal. I said, 'No thanks, I already bought some,' in Cantonese.

I don't know if she saw it in my basket or not, but she went on and on about the goodness of Kyuri, and I basically said, 'Yeah, I know. It has a crunchy, creamy texture, its very good.'

Then she asked in Cantonese, 'Uh, are you a chef?'

I suppose I am, since I'm cooking. But my culinary skills are just because I happen to be in front of the stove at that particular point of time. Just as how if you get behind the wheel, and somebody asks you, 'Are you a driver?' yes, I suppose I am. But my guess was that there weren't many, well, any males for that matter, of my age doing grocery shopping at that time, or at any time for that matter, now that it's been brought to light.

So I stood there for a few seconds pondering about the paradox of that question, and replied, 'Nah, I'm just cooking for myself.' She replied with a slightly amused, 'Well, that's a good practise.'

But I should have replied, 'Someday, I will be.'