‘WAGING GUERILLA WARFARE AGAINST THE NEW YORK TIMES TRAVEL SECTION’

Bee Yin Low is a wonderful person no doubt.  She started a great website several years ago called RasaMalaysia.  Take a look at it sometime.  It’s a great source of info.  In 2009 Bee and I emailed back and forth.  I was planning on going to Penang to take Nyonya cooking lessons.  She was very helpful in her emails.  Unfortunately my trip got cancelled for some reason I can’t recall.

So I emailed Bee a week or so ago and asked for her insights into cooking classes and where to eat.  I got the equivalent of a robo-email that said, sorry, Bee doesn’t have time to answer individual emails.  Hey, so she does have over 42,000 likes on Facebook compared to my 6.  But consider the fact that you are dealing with a self-centered bumbling foodophIle (yes, I just made that word up) who thinks everyone and anyone 

should take a little time out to help him.

And even Pearly Kee, the Godmother teacher of classic Nyonya cuisine, who taught at home before the Times touted Penang as the world center for foodies in 2009, now only works one day a week at Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School.  You can pay $65 bucks (probably half that price before the NYT article) there for a 4 hour class to learn how to make three dishes. 

That may be fine for the happy honeymooners who want to take a culinary memory home with them to Sheboygan.  But for a government pensioner who will slave over a stove to try and make interesting dishes for his sweetheart and friends?  Give me a break.

I just re-read the above paragraphs.  Sometimes I think I am channeling Andy Rooney.

Now the Times has done it again.  Read what they said today:

“NY Times Travel Guide – February 25^th 2013

Frommer's Review of Mama’s Restaurant

Those who crave Penang's most famous culinary style of Nyonya food (or Peranakan) have to visit this cozy family-run restaurant in Abu Siti Lane. Ruby, one of the four sisters who run the place, learned her cooking from her mama, hence the name. It's authentic, as Mama keeps a watchful eye on her protégés, although she no longer cooks. You'll see her there every day, though, lending a helping hand with all the painstaking detail required for this kind of food. You might encounter some of her famous clients, including Malaysia's own international shoemaker, Datuk Jimmy Choo, or Hong Kong director Ang Lee. All the favorite Nyonya dishes are on the menu -- try tau eu bak, purut ikan, Nyonya fish head curry, and otak otak. Look like a tourist, and someone will help you negotiate the menu.”

I figure I have about 10 days to eat at Mama’s before a horde of Americans descend on the restaurant trying to get a glimpse of Ang Lee or some guy wearing fancy shoes.

I tell you it is the New York Times and ‘Go to Argentina’ all over again, except now it is Penang.  Hey, guys, you already did it to Penang in 2009.  Why not give the place a break?

So, here are my guerilla tactics.  Pearly and the Tropical Spice Cooking School can do without my attendance.  I’m going to Mama’s to eat every chance I get.  I’ll note what I eat and then look up the recipe.  (I’ve already checked and located many recipes for specialty Nyonya dishes.)

The Tropical Spice Garden lists its class menus for a three month period.  I’ll take each of the dishes Pearly teaches and find the recipe for it.  By the way, Pearly cites three restaurants that serve authentic Nyonya cuisine in Penang, and Mama’s is one of them.  I plan to make my eating rounds to all three.

As I eat over the next week and a half, I’ll compile a recipe book of the foods I have eaten (plus some more to boot).  Hey, I’ll even buy a copy of Pearly’s cookbook just to show you that I’m a sport.

Right now, I have to start putting some of that camouflage paint on my face and head to Mama’s.