Potatoes, Beans and Chicken

Strange Combination

I am a first-class food lover and has undergone many gastronomic endeavours. I have had many different types of food from all parts of the world, be they from my own resourcefulness of trying recipes from different countries or during my study in the UK and travel in France. I have seen many different types of food combined with other types of food, some of which may not have seemed palatable at first glance but worked deliciously well once savoured.

However, not all food go hand in hand with each other as I have unpleasantly experienced during my stay at a local hotel recently. I was really looking forward to the breakfast buffet spread after missing supper the night before. As usual, during stays like this, I always prefer to have baked beans, mashed potatoes (or potato wedges) with sausages for breakfast if only to avoid from the mundane fare that we Malaysians usually have in the morning.

Well, I did have mashed potatoes; I did have baked beans; but there were no sausages in sight even after circling the buffet table vainly twice! When I asked the waitress what would go well with the mashed potatoes and beans, she happily pointed to the Chicken Rendang, which incidentally was for the Nasi Lemak. I cringed at her suggestion that a local dish could possibly marry well with something with a western flavour! I think not dear waitress! I mean, this is not a marriage between a local and a foreigner which would be happily united with the saying 'I do'. For this combination of food, I am happy to say 'I don't!'.