Going Bananas!

Last Saturday morning, I made 2 mugs of milo and called Miss Cockroach to join me for breakfast. She obliged. I opened up a container full of sugar coated cracker biscuits. We dipped the biscuits in the hot milo and ate. Hmmmm...glorious.

Then I started telling Miss Cockroach when I was growing up living with my grandparents food was not luxurious as what we enjoy today. I recalled eating 'biskut lulut'. It is as big and as hard as your knee. Hence, it's called 'biskut lutut'. She laughed. "Are you serious?" she said. The best way to eat it is to dip in a cup of coffee and when it softens you just bite into it.

Credit to jassnani.blogspot

Miss Cockroach sat and listen and somehow I felt pity that my children these days do not get to experience like my childhood. Partly I am to blame too. I have been very protective of my children. I am always nervous when they are out of my sight. Kalau my son nak keluar naik basikal pun I risau, takut kena langgar kereta ke, jatuh masuk longkang ke,...ya memang pernah pun jatuh masuk longkang....hihihi....It's every parent's nightmare.

Anyway since she was so into my stories I continued about my grandmother's kebun pisang (banana orchard?) Ala, kebun yang sekangkang kera belakang sekolah Sultan Mahmud Shah, Kampung Padang Bola je.....My grandmother loves to plant banana trees and cassava trees. Normally she will walk across the football field in front of our house to get to her kebun. She brought along snacks and parang in her basket. One afternoon, I saw her dragged a whole bunch of bananas from across the football field. My sister and I  ran to her and helped her carry the fruits of her labor.

I tell you....that one whole week we ate banana. She prepared gulai pisang muda with anchovies, kek pisang, lempeng pisang, cekodok pisang, pengat pisang, lepat pisang,...basically it was banana week. Then she would steam the cassava or ubi kayu and cicah with kelapa parut and sugar either for breakfast or afternoon  tea. Maaf ye,...dulu kelapa kita parut sendiri tau! Da Bomb!

Credit to surihidupmama.blogspot.com

Sekarang ada versi ubi kayu cicah dengan sambal tumis ikan bilis. Yes, memang sedap. Then we have the pucuk ubi masak gulai lemak cili padi, pucuk ubi rebus cicah dengan sambal belacan,...ya Allah rindunya dengan my grandmother. Sekarang susah nak cari masakan yang betul-betul trandisional sebab dah diversified to cater modern taste bud.

Adakala tu sebak jugak masa cerita kat Miss Cockroach. But I would have not experienced the kampung life if I've not stayed with my grandparents then. Personally, it was kind of a hard life for me. But I treasure the memories.

Sekarang my kampung dah tak macam kampung....