Of feeling good and happy

Published on: Sunday, September 15, 2019

By: Sylvia Howe

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I WAS thinking the other day about different cultures. And how manners differ. I wondered what manners were for, and came to the conclusion that they are to make other people feel good, and to make yourself feel smug – not really, just secure in the knowledge that you have done the right thing.

But what is the right thing? Well, thanking people properly, for one thing.

When I was young I was told that no present was really mine until I had written and thanked the giver. I brought my children up like that too, and they keep to it, more or less, although we are now in the wifi world and they text or email instead. That’s fine – it’s the thought that counts. The only people they had to write to were to people of their grandparents generation, and they were no worse off for it. Hmph.

Seriously though, I do think thank you is important. If you are let in front of someone in a traffic queue. If someone kind helps you with a heavy bag or holds a door open (quite rare in Sabah). For a pleasant evening, a delicious dinner, a jolly outing. It does no harm and makes everyone feel good.

I’ve got lots more to say about this, so watch this space if you are interested!

I went to a film at Sutera Harbour, and was a)interested to learn of a comfortable small space that shows films, and b) enjoyed the film, about two chefs who started their own restaurants.

It was interesting, because at the beginning nobody knew if they would be successful, least of all the film maker. I asked him at the end if he had learnt what made a good restaurant, one most likely to succeed, in the face of all the naysayers who tell you how difficult it is.

I can see it is not a holiday at the seaside, but I wondered what, if any, was the trick. He said projects always took longer and cost more than planned but we all know that, don’t we? He said the chefs in his film had built a strong following over several years before they took the plunge. They worked their socks off, for months and months before they opened, and all the time afterwards, making delicious food and lots of it.

They kept their prices not cheap, but within reasonable limits. But what struck him, and me, most was that both chefs thought that they weren’t in the food business, they were in the people business. The business of keeping people happy, and that includes staff.

Happy staff, good service. Good service, happy guests. Makes sense. If people are happy with your food, the atmosphere, the staff, the way they are treated, they’re going to come again and again. That is something that restaurants should consider in KK. Everywhere, come to that.

The mantra should always be ‘Keep your clients happy’. Easy to say, not so easy to do, although if you are passionate about your products it becomes less hard.

And one last thing I thought about this week. Real cooking. A while a go I learnt how to make baguettes from a French woman. Hers were wonderful, but took time and love, and knowledge and experience. This is what makes good cooking.

It doesn’t need to be chivvied up with chilli every time. Portions don’t need to be huge.

I tried two cheese-based dishes, one a croque monsieur (grated cheese grilled on toast, with ham, in this case – not needed) and one macaroni cheese (with, to my mind, completely unnecessary smoked chicken in this case). People should have the courage of their convictions. Use the best cheese, not the cheapest. Charge a bit more if you have to.

Cheese with a bite to it, and possible mixed with a bit of Colman’s mustard. If people want meat and stuff, offer it, but allow purists like to me to enjoy their nursery food (because this, halleluya, is what it is) unsullied by extras. A really good macaroni or cauliflower cheese (with a proper crust, and a lot of flavour, although no chilli, please) is the food of the gods, and a croque monsieur comes a close second, again, made with care and a bit of oomph.

Fact 1: you can call cheese grilled on toast croque monsieur, but it’s not unless it’s good cheese, good bread and perhaps a little mustard in the mix - you can put a slice of ham, but that isn’t going to make the difference between a delicious slice of yumminess and a floppy thing that could do a good job keeping the door from banging. Have faith, mes braves.

Fact 2: macaroni cheese is called macaroni cheese for a reason. The clue is in the name. It’s not macaroni and fiddly extras with a twist of beef bacon and some pieces of left over chicken and perhaps some sweetcorn bits. It really isn’t. Try it and see. I am available for advice, any time.