FD's New Mascot

The Latest FD Mascot : The CHilli CRAB

I've selected a new mascot for his Blog - The Chilli Crab. TCC will start a food column on FD's Blog. I sure hope TCC will live up to its reputation as a food connoisseur... or else ( *evil laughter... muahahahaha*).. someone's going into the wok!

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I was fretting the other day because I could not think of a single dish that was uniquely Singapore. I thought that was rather odd, afterall, Singapore does have a reputation of being a haven for foodies*. Then a friend brought my attention to TCC, exclaiming with exuberant conviction that TCC was indeed a dish that was uniquely Singapore.

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I had my fair share of history lessons once upon a time, so I know that Singapore back then had no Singaporeans, most of its inhabitants were immigrants and they did not take ownership of this island until it gained independence in 9th August 1965.

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Singapore's food culture was stemmed from these people, so in effect, we cannot say - for example - that Hainanese Chicken Rice is uniquely Singapore because that dish originated from Hainan Island ( China ) and its recipie was brought over when chinese people from Hainan Island decided to build a life here, in Singapore. Since the bulk of Singapore's history was build from the likes of these immigrants, we cannot say that any cullinary cuisine they brought over is uniquely Singapore, based on the above reasoning.

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I've been eating Chilli Crabs all my life but it never occured to me that this dish was uniquely Singapore. I could not fathom, why no one else in the world had thought of putting these 2 complementing ingredients together. Well, I can rest easy tonight, knowing that TCC will come up with some excellent food recommendations and recipes, in days to come. If TCC cannot deliver, it will not be fired but it will be fried. ( *evil laughter... muahahahaha* )

*Foodie : A person who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a gourmet