Gochugaru Girl’s first introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes was via The Hound of the Baskervilles. Mr Gochugaru’s family lives in Devon, so they often visit Dartmoor for walks which happily are always uneventful.
Closer to home, and though I passed by it every week, I had no inclination to visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221b Baker Street. It was always a mystery to me why the queue was perpetually long.
Gochugaru Girl loves savoury pastries. This harks back to her childhood in Kuala Lumpur, when her parents shopped at Cold Storage or as it was also known, the Weld Supermarket. As a treat for the children, they stopped by the bakery and picked up such delights as sausage rolls, beef pies and chicken pies.
The Weld still exists, in grown-up form and in a city that I now hardly recognise. The existence of a very high crime rate and never ending construction projects makes KL a sort of Gotham City meets Legoland.
Gochugaru Girl co-leads a women’s Fellowship Group. In some countries, this is called a Cell Group. For anyone unfamiliar with these terms, it is not what you think. No one is obsessed with The Ring or is My Precious. Neither has it anything to do with Biology or imprisonment.
Our group meets weekly to study certain passages from the Bible and to pray for each other. Once a term, we have an extended session ending with lunch. The only way to manage the catering without getting hysterical is to do some of the preparation ahead of time.
Gochugaru Girl often accompanies her parents to the Wild West. That is to say, the wild West End of London, starting with their favourite department store on Oxford Street.
As shopping can be tiring, it is best that a simple lunch is ready and waiting for when we return from the foray into town.
Gochugaru Girl is going to the airport this afternoon to receive her parents, who are travelling in from the Far East. For their light supper, after a long flight, she has prepared the one dish that sends chills down the spine of Mr Gochugaru, who did not grow up eating it.
I am, of course, referring to porridge or congee. This is very unlike the porridge you get from oats, rather it is made with rice. It is the one dish we Orientals instinctively turn to when under the weather. Indeed, congee is so easy to digest that it is ideal for everyone from toddlers to the elderly.
Gochugaru Girl has guests tonight and the pressure is on because they are French, and they know and love their food. Since she does not like to repeat menus she has to think extra hard.
I have a strategy, though, sitting in the refrigerator, in the form of champagne and some Montagny from Burgundy. If the whole show gets off to a good start, then the conversation and laughter will flow.
Gochugaru Girl is not much of a gardener. This is because there is not much of a garden where she lives, close to the centre of London. About the only thing which can be accommodated in the tiny patio is a large tub of herbs. Even then she has to worry about voracious insects that attack the tender leaves with impunity.
If God had put me in the Garden of Eden with the task of working it and keeping it, I wonder if I would have risen to the challenge. I suspect I would have said to Adam that, actually, God had asked him to manage the horticultural side of things. Remember, I am merely his helper*.
Gochugaru Girl loves baking cakes, but the nature of city life means that there is often not enough time to fuss about with complicated recipes. Neither does she want to give in to instant but inferior-tasting cake mixes.
One of my favourite cakes is banana cake, owing to its accommodating nature. It is possible to make a plain banana cake, or to add one or several complementing ingredients into the batter before baking. An additional advantage is that all the overripe bananas hanging around the fruit bowl, attracting interest only from fruit flies, can be put to good use.
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Gochugaru Girl is always on the lookout for marmalade, as this is Mr Gochugaru’s favourite thing to spread on toast. It is almost certain that he rates how civilized a country is simply by its ability to produce jam made with oranges.
The World Cup starts today I am wondering which team to support. Since I am not a football fan, I might as well choose on the basis of a jam tasting. At the moment we have three types of marmalade on the go – from Korea, France and England, although one is technically a tea.
Gochugaru Girl is not easily frightened by cakes. An exception is the Red Velvet Cupcake, which she and Mr Gochugaru first came across whilst shopping for plates in Notting Hill. The shop assistant, taking a quick break, bit into the reddest cake we have ever seen.
This kind of cake poses many questions.
How does a cake get to be so red?
Does it taste of cake?
If I eat it, will my tongue be stained?
Worse, would my wee look red?