The Daily Life Of A Foodie In The Office 57 Ch57: Her Mother's Recipe

- Michael Pollan

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It was six o'clock on a Friday morning. Delilah had just gotten up from bed. She yawned as she stretched her arms up above her head.

Six o'clock was the usual time for her to get up from bed. She immediately went for a shower and did a little facial care; where she used cleansing foam and lotion.

Once she felt fresh and ready to face the world, she went to her wardrobe where all her clothes were. Opening the door of the wardrobe in just a towel, she looked around, thinking what to wear.

Few minutes later, she was still looking for clothes to wear but unfortunately, she could not find any. She does not want to wear her fancy clothes because she only wore those for dinner out. And she did not want to wear the other clothes left in her wardrobe because they were too casual.

She quickly went to her laundry bag where she placed all her dirty clothes. She groaned when she saw that most of the clothes she wore for work were still inside. It seems like she had forgotten to do the laundry last week.

She sighed. Luckily, her undergarments were still clean.

Without any choice, she decided to wear her abaya [1]. It was a long and simple over-garment where it was black in colour with a few sequins on the arms and body of the garment. She can wear her casual clothes underneath the abaya since it was a bit loose and kind of thin.

She put it on and went down the stairs, straight to the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, her father was cooking his breakfast. He usually just steamed his 'Roti Kuning', using the steamer.

While waiting for her father to finish cooking, Delilah went on to make her coffee. She poured instant coffee powder inside her tumbler and poured hot water over it. She stirred the drink so that it was mixed well and closed the lid.

Once her father was done packing his breakfast in his food container, he looked over and raised his eyebrows towards the clothes that Delilah was wearing. But he did not say a word. Instead, after he had packed, he immediately left the kitchen to grab his briefcase.

Noticing her father was about to leave home for work, Delilah rushed out of the kitchen and asked for blessing from her father.

She then returned to the kitchen where she reheated some aglio olio to bring to work. She quickly stir-fried them and packed them in her food container. Once everything was done, she grabbed her work bag, handbag and lunch bag and went straight to her car.

In less than an hour, she arrived at the office.

At the lobby, Bella was already at her desk. She looked up when she saw Delilah coming into the office. She c.o.c.ked an eyebrow when she saw the clothes that Delilah was wearing. It was not that it wasn't allowed to wear abaya to the office but it was rather unconventional.

When Delilah arrived at her cubicle, she placed her bags on her table, ignoring the stares she received from her other colleagues.

Shortly after, Aubree came knocking on her cubicle wall.

Delilah looked up and smiled. "Hey Aubree. What's up?"

Aubree studied Delilah from top to bottom and said, "Why are you wearing an abaya?"

Delilah sighed. "I forgot to do my laundry," she mumbled in a soft voice.

Aubree squinted her eyes and leaned closer to Delilah. "You what?" she asked. "I can't hear you."

"I forgot to do my laundry!" Delilah said loudly, her face red from embarra.s.sment.

At first, Aubree was quiet as she stared at Delilah in surprise. Suddenly, she laughed out loud. "Haha! Seriously??" she said.

Delilah dropped down on her seat and sighed. "Yeah, I was looking for my clean clothes and apparently, I don't have any. So, left with no choice, I had to wear these," she explained, pointing at her clothes. "It's still okay, right?" she asked, looking up at Aubree.

Aubree shrugged. "Sure, I don't really mind anyway. It doesn't go against the clothing policy. I just find it funny that you had to wear these. For me, abaya is like my lazy but formal dress."

Delilah giggled. "True," she agreed. She then tugged on her abaya and continued, "It's not over the top as well, right?" referring to the sequins on the cloth.

Her supervisor shook her head. "Nah, it should be fine. It is supposed to be 'Casual Friday'." She looked around the office and continued, "Though, it baffles me as to why no one would wear something casual to the office."

Delilah raised her eyebrows. "Probably because you don't even wear casual clothes," gesturing at Aubree's cream blouse with a navy blazer and pants.

Aubree laughed softly as she looked down at her clothes. "Oh well, I'm used to wearing these so…"

Delilah gave her a thumbs-up. "It's alright! Let me start the trend then!"

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Delilah had just packed her things, dumping them all inside her office bag and handbag when she received a text from her father. She frowned. She hardly received any text from her father unless it was from a forwarded message or telling her to do an errand.

Swiping left to open the message, she reads. Apparently, her father had asked her whether she will be coming home early that evening. She quickly replied with a 'Yes, why?'.

Her father then ended the conversation with a 'Alright.'

Frowning, she scratched her head, feeling confused as to why her father had asked. It was not as if she always went out after work. And even if she does, she usually texted in the family chat group before going out.

Shortly after, she arrived home to find her father busy in the kitchen. She tilted her head in confusion as she watched her father cook. "Evening, Dad," she greeted as she walked inside the kitchen.

"Evening," her father greeted back. "Come over here and have a taste," he said, his eyes still on the pot where he was stirring some broth.

Coming closer, she saw that her father was cooking a 'Beef Rendang' [2]. "Beef Rendang?" she inquired, turning to look at him.

Her father nodded. "Yes, it was your late mother's recipe. You know her rendang best so I want to get your opinion on what's lacking and whatnot," he said.

Delilah grabbed a spoon and spooned out a bit of the rendang sauce, together with a beef piece. She tasted it and licked her lips.

The beef was cooked to perfection. It was soft, tender and juicy as she could easily eat it without having to chew too much. The sauce of the rendang felt thick yet it was smooth, with a deep taste of beef. The smell of the sauce was aromatic as it was mixed with many ingredients of spices, herbs and coconut milk. The flavour of the rendang sauce tasted sweet, spicy, rich and creamy, all at the same time. She liked how it tasted in her mouth. If she could have a bowl of rice at that time, she would 'drown' the rice with the sauce.

While she was concentrating on the taste, closing her eyes in bliss, her father's question pulled her out of the haze and asked, "How was it?"

Delilah gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Great!" Then she continued on asking her father whether he had added this and that because she remembered that her mother used to cook with those ingredients.

Her father shook his head. "I don't think so. Your mother used that?" he asked.

She nodded. She then told him that her late mother usually bought a certain kind of ingredient and she would blend it.

"I see," her father said, rubbing his chin with his hand. "I'll try that one next time then."

The 'Beef Rendang' was one of Delilah's mother's popular recipes among their circles of families and friends. During Eid, people would call her mother to order one huge container of her beef rendang. These days, her mother's recipe of Beef Rendang was made popular in her restaurant, which was now managed by one of the family's trusted employees.

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[1] abaya - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaya [To see and know what's an abaya looks like]

[2] Rendang - Rendang is an Indonesian spicy meat dish originating from the Minangkabau region in West Sumatra, Indonesia. It has spread across Indonesia to the cuisines of neighbouring Southeast Asian countries [From Wikipedia]