A list of intriguing foodie things

One: Malaysian culture marks the holy month of Ramadan with gorgeous, ‘thousand layer’ cakes called kek lapis. It is the local take on an Indonesian import called lapis legit—which in turn was a version of Dutch spit cakes. The kek lapis, however, is far more complicated and colourful: 

The cake is created by carefully adding one thin layer of batter after another onto a baking pan every few minutes, broiling (or grilling) each layer in the oven to ensure the lower layers are never burnt. The plain version alternates light and dark strips of cake batter, whereas the coloured cakes have geometric patterns that, depending on the final pattern, can involve 20 or more layers.The final cake is cooled and then cut into strips, with different pieces reassembled using thick jam or condensed milk as adhesive.

As you can see in the lead image—and below—this is serious eye candy. Watch how the cake is prepared here. It's so pretty we couldn’t help but add another image below. (BBC News)

Two: The dreaded karela juice has travelled from our mother’s kitchens to chi-chi bars around the world—where it has found new life as an overpriced cocktail. You can have the Bitter Sweet at Manhattan’s Jade & Clover, Garden Tonic in Kato in LA or Bitter Melon Collins at the COA in Hong Kong. All of these are East Asian restaurants—not the desi kind since no self-respecting Indian would drink karela for fun. 

But trendy mixologists are doing their best to put lipstick on this bitter-tasting pig:

Austin Hennelly, the 35-year-old bar director at Kato… likens tasting bitter melon to “going down the drop of a roller coaster.” Sipping the fruit’s juice — which is the star ingredient in his Garden Tonic, a mocktail he considers the best drink on Kato’s menu — is, he says, “a little bit unpleasant and maybe a little bit scary, but it’s exhilarating, and then you just want to do it again.”

Umm… no. Though we admit this is the prettiest that karela has ever looked (see below). New York Times (splainer gift link) has lots more where that came from. Punch waxes lyrical on the Garden Tonic. 

Three: Barilla teamed up with composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer (of ‘White Lotus’ fame) and experimental psychologist Charles Spence to create a soundtrack for pasta lovers. Each kind of the company’s Al Bronzo pasta—spaghetti, penne, linguine etc.—has its own song. Why? Answer: ‘Sonic seasoning’—a term used to explain how taste affects sound. The music is aimed at “elicit(ing) a distinct visceral reaction with every Al Bronzo bite.” Spence matched “different pasta types and sauces to ‘sonic qualities,’ including matching high-pitched and fast tempos, distorted noise, and ‘bright and loud’ sounds.”

Does it get sillier? Yes, it does. This process took about two and a half months—and included the pasta as percussion instruments—in addition to woodwinds, piano, and strings. You can check out the soundtrack at AlBronzoSoundtrack.com and on Spotify. Or get a taste (literally) of it below. (Food and Wine)