Dear LPG readers, 

I thought that I would be offering up a true success story this month. The reason for my confidence was that Malaysia’s prominent day features at the very end of August, unlike my past two recipes, which were designed to make an impact at the beginning of June and July. However, I don’t know why that should have made any difference. 

I think that it made things worse because I got complacent and, having had so much of a gap between taking an initial look at the recipe and going back for a more detailed look at what was needed, left me thinking that I was in control and forgetting the golden rule that I have learned during my independence cooking journey. 

The lesson that I had to re-learn was to do more than scan the ingredients, and I had the whole month to forget that one. As last month’s linked previews will show, there were a few versions of the dish to choose from, and I always go for the one with the ingredient list that I most recognise. 

There was one which, when I got to the end of the list, left me recognising everything, and I decided to go for that before forgetting all about it. 

A couple of days before my attempt, I did the usual thing and went shopping for the things that I did not have at home, and it was only then that I realised that I needed dried anchovies and that they are not the same as the ones I am used to seeing in the tins and jars. A quick tour of the shops of Lewisham realised my suspicions.

But by then it was too late to go online, so I decided to try buying the tinned ones and drying them myself. My Air fryer has a dehydrating mode.  

As you can see, it did not work very well, and when I tried to fry what I had left, everything went a bit pear-shaped. The fish broke into little bits, and the result was not good, but anchovies are relatively expensive, and I bought lots, so I was not going to throw them away.

When my taste team and I get testing, we usually don’t know what the dish in question is supposed to taste like, but as you can see, it did not look the best either. So I have to put my attempt down as a ‘FAIL’ this month.

I have now ordered some dried anchovies and will be having another go. Still, tomorrow is another day (which heralds another month), and my eyes were drawn to Ichlekli, the national dish of Turkmenistan, a country I have to admit to only having discovered when checking my latest Independence Day list. I hope that September 27th brings a little more success… 

CB, Lewisham.

CB offers some recipes for her next attempt in the kitchen, including one to check if you want to cook the authentic alfresco way…

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)