July 7, 2010

Fish Head Curry and More of Singapore!

Last week I blogged about visiting Baba House, http://www.themarthablog.com/2010/07/visiting-the-baba-house-in-singapore.html where we learned about the unique Peranakan culture.  We also took a stroll through Singapore’s Little India and paid a visit to Muthu’s, an Indian restaurant famous for their fish head curry, a type of curry unique to Singapore.  It’s actually a blend of ideas and ingredients from the various cultures found there.  Visvanaath Ayyakkannu’s father, Muthu, began selling Fish Head Curry from his father’s food cart before opening his own restaurant in 1969. Visvanaath inherited this restaurant in 1994 and continues to make the secret spice blend that makes the curry so popular.  I joined Visvanaath and his wife, Veshali, in the kitchen to see how their signature dish is made before enjoying the Fish Head Curry and other specialties with Sophie and Memrie.

Our next stop was the lovely Singapore Botanic Gardens Singapore is often referred to as “The Garden City” and the Singapore Botanic Gardens is its crown jewel.  The gardens are 157-acres and feature 10,000 types of tropical plants – including 60,000 orchids, Singapore’s national flower.  As you know, I never grow tired looking at plants and these gardens were a real treat.  Our very busy day ended with a fabulous dinner at Jaan Par André, located on the 71th floor of the Swissôtel.  It was fantastic!