Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Bovril and Me

Fellas around my age wouldn't find the word foreign at all. How many of us have actually gone through that childhood phase of actually dipping our fingers in the thick tangy beef sauce for a quick taste earning a reproof from our stern-eyed mothers? No doubt following the example of our colonial forefathers.

Usually mixed it with the broth I used to take for hasty lunches way back then. Far from being the adventurous sort then, it took me a while to even try it as a savoury drink. Haven't had the opportunity to down some Bovril in recent years though. Not only have I grown out of my finicky childhood eating habits, I've also gotten just a tad more sophisticated in my culinary tastes. Plain and simple Bovril broth just isn't gonna cut it.

And my maid sucks at boiling broth, usually succeeding in achieving either extreme. Either too thin or too thick. Goldilocks wouldn't have been pleased with her.

Prodigal
Waitaminute, this isn't Bovril, the beefstock of champions!

So when Dashing Dan off-handedly evinced a fetish for Bovril just today - and claimed that it was nigh impossible to find, I obviously scoffed at such a ludicrous notion. Turned out it was true. Seriously hard to find Bovril in the marketplaces of today. I half imagined it'd been involved in spreading mad cow disease and had been taken off our shelves.

Thankfully that wasn't the case. Took a while to find it and when we did, Dan almost broke down in joyful tears hugging the ( surprisingly pricey! ) treasure to his chest. Seriously. Kodak moment. We did yell while jumping around waving the bottle victoriously though - no doubt garnering the stares of the astonished shoppers.

Of course I didn't then know what Dan intended to do with it.

Paul : What are you gonna do with it?
Dan : Usually eat it mixed with instant noodles.
Paul : Eew. Was that during the World War II?
Dan : No, it's an old family recipe! My mom makes it all the time.
Paul : What's next? Mashed potatoes with chilli sauce? Chilled coleslaw with wasabi? Cocoa puffs with yoghurt?
Dan : Sounds good.

Bovril with noodles. That's a first. And I thought I've heard all the odd family hand-me-downs already.

Certainly beats my boring yu tiao and steaming black coffee.

12 comments:

Bradley Hyunckel said...

i love the smell of bovril but hate the taste...

rice with maggi,sound goog too...hmm Dan loves strange mixed-up foods dont he?me too :D

V said...

we are vegetarian~

dunno what bovril until just now! LOL ;P

Bs said...

Hi, I thought Bovril has gone vegetarian like Marmite. I am dying for the original with real beef and if that was what you got, I would appreciate it if you could tell me whare you got it. Thanks:)

Janvier said...

Dashing Dan going for Bovril? For some reason we thought he was a Vegemite fellow.

We'll stick to iNdomee Goreng rather than iNdomee Bovril!

Chickalodeon said...

Mom's ol' recipe: Bovril mixed with minced beed porridge. For days she couldn't be bothered to make anything else.

Anonymous said...

i hate tat smell so much when i was young, but nowadays i have developed my passion for marmite crab etc... :P

Kenny Mah said...

Me, I'm a Marmite guy since I was a kid... Guess I won't get a chance at the real beef flava now that it's gone vegetarian... :(

@Janvier: Ooh, Indomie Goreng...Yums!

RPMnut said...

Bovril on toast, dipped in half-boiled eggs heavily seasoned with pepper and soy sauce...hmmm...yum :D

Reszurrecdito M. d'Saintner said...

Come to think of those times when we naughtily dipped our fingers into those black thick sauce, reminds me of our childhood days. Bovril and Marmite drinks? We used to make them soup together with our little lunches and dinners. Yummy!

savante said...

Oh yes he does, brad. Curious what other weird stuff he has in the menu.

B, you're vegetarian?!

They did go vege for a lil while but the incessant complaints from their clients drove them back, Bs.

Same here, janvier. Prefer them plain.

Minced beef. That sounds pretty good, chickelodeon.

Haven't taken crabs in ages. The peculiarities of an allergic boyfriend, happy :)

Think they changed it back to pure beef, life.

On toast with eggs. This I gotta try, nut!

Same here. Miss them, saint.

P

Dashing Dan said...

Bovril with instant noodles = bliss...

(Artistic license with the details again? Cis!)

mstpbound said...

YOU TIAO!!! omggggg...yeah I used to love it as a kid with soy milk (so asian, i know)...but now even looking at fried dough makes me want to keel over and have a heart attack. also, T minus 12 days until step 1 of my boards!!! :/