The price of gluttony

Thursday, 16 August 2007

I was invited by the Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management staff to examine the student’s practical examination. I accepted invitation gladly without second thoughts. Hey, how often do you get free food tasting?

I was required to examine three aspects of their food preparation – flavour, texture and food presentation. Each examiner was given 2 complete meals prepared by 2 different students to evaluate – entrée (salad garnished with olive oil and vinegar), main course (chicken chop with brown mushroom sauce) and dessert (pudding with caramel sauce).

We were advised to taste one complete meal first, and rinsed our mouth with mineral water after each taste. I started with the meal on my left. Firstly, I compared the food presentation, and awarded a mark. Then, I had my first bite of the salad – chewed it slowly and savoured the taste. Secondly, I tried the chicken chop – sliced it to examine the texture, tasted it first without the sauce, then added the sauce to taste again. (Hmm… I sound like an experienced food taster. Hahaha). Of course, I evaluated the food presentation first before mutating it. Lastly, I assessed the dessert – my favourite part of the meal.

I shall not disclose the marks awarded. Anyway, overall, the preparation on my left was better. To be fair, I completed the entrée on my left and the dessert on my right. I didn’t finish the main course because I had my lunch already before that. Initially, I thought I was there to judge, and just taste a bit of here and there. I didn’t know that we were also invited to complete the meal that we preferred. Well, you could also finish both meals.

I felt kind of pressurized because the students were actually outside looking through the glass door and checking whose meal you completed. Then, they would know which one of them did better. So, I tried to please both by completing a course from each. Hehehe.

Overall, it was an interesting experience. I would be delighted to accept their invitation again.


Dinner
I had 2 meals for lunch. Suddenly, Seng Chor suggested that we have durian for dinner – an invitation that is hard to resist. We ordered more than our first durian meal – 4 durians, 7 Kgs in total! This is gluttony. I should have stopped at the 3rd.

After dinner, I went to the Ladies’ Discipleship Cell. Lai Leng served us with Barley with Fu Chuk. I was extremely full after that. My stomach was beginning to feel uncomfortable. It was almost 10:30 pm.

Before bed, I felt like throwing up. My stomach was bloated. I ignored it and slept. In the middle of the night, I thought I was better but then I vomited – I think at least one durian was spewed out. I felt more comfortable after that, and I was okay in the morning.

What was the price of the gluttony?
The answer is 7 Kgs * RM 12 = RM 84!!!