Delicious meals for those tired for eating out

Delicious meals for those tired for eating out

Cash Cow Burgers; By Julia Philipp; Times Book International,
Singapore, 2000; 128 pages; US$9.5

JAKARTA (JP): Julia Philipp may hold a MBA from top school
Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania, but that does not make
her compromise when it comes to meals.

The lady may have studied business management but her attitude
toward food is rather philosophical. Philipp believes that
consuming too much fast food is like living on borrowed time.
Instead she finds that cooking her own meals is a pleasant way to
unwind.

She also does not want to deprive her weary brain of essential
nutrients or to raise either her cholesterol level and eventually
her medical bills to astronomical heights by being a regular
consumer of fast food. Neither does she fancy eating stress for
lunch every day.

"Put some music on and get cooking. Soon everything else will
become irrelevant," is the formula Philipp has followed since her
days on campus. It was then that countless hours of reading case
studies and cramming for exams often made her feel that MBA life
was getting her down.

"I needed to take a break. Since I also had to eat, cooking
MBA-style seemed like the perfect solution," Philipp wrote in the
introduction to the cookbook recently published by Times Books
International.

The slim volume, which has sold like hot cakes since its
release early this year as the official MBA food file for
executives on the go, contains 60 yummy recipes for all those
tired of eating out. None of the recipes takes longer than a few
minutes to whip up.

The author's love for adventure has led her to reinvent
herself as an international management consultant, making
frequent trips to Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe from where she
brings back good business, of course, but also exotic recipes. As
a partner in the influential Arthur Andersen in Indonesia, a job
which without doubt affords her a string of household help in
Jakarta, she swears that she still regularly indulges her passion
for coconut rice and satay with an occasional Philadelphia cheese
steak.

What is most exceptional about this particular cookbook is
that each recipe is accompanied by rib-tickling humor. There are
also tips on how to convert all the frustrations of the day into
creative energy to produce a mouth-watering meal.

For example, the Power Play Pepper Steak is allowed as many
good whacks as possible with a mallet before anything else is
done to it. While preparing for the Index Option Omelette, the
eggs are expected to be struck into a bowl and the contents
beaten vigorously with a fork according to level of salary
frustration.

The recipe for the SpA Spaghetti Sauce is dedicated to
globetrotting MBAs seeking fame, fortune and frequent flyer
miles, with the secret ingredient being the Italian sausage.
Before you start to heat, fry and chop, you are asked to put on
an Italian language tape and pour a glass of Chianti as you wait
for the sauce to simmer uncovered over low heat for about 15
minutes.

Assuming that you have not forgotten the ancient social ritual
of a romantic dinner for two, the Contango Chicken in Wine Sauce
is suggested along with a salad of fresh mixed greens, French
bread and a good bottle of white wine. This meal prepared in just
35 minutes is to be served only after the lights are dimmed.

My own pick from the treasure house of culinary secrets is the
Just-In-Time Poached Salmon that takes two minutes to prepare and
five minutes to cook and tastes great.

However, I do not ever plan to try the Performance-Based Pasta
with Pesto, as just reading the recipe gave me indigestion over
the thought that I would be trying to suck up to the boss.

A special feature is the life-giving recipes for aspiring
investment managers and emergency meals for MBAs in the throes of
a fast approaching deadline. It is followed by a precious list of
the 20 quickest MBA recipes, and those that need just five
ingredients or less.

After all this if you are still struggling with the question
whether to cook or not to cook, then your fate, I am afraid, is
expected to be worse than that of the indecisive Hamlet. Unless,
of course, you pick up a copy of Philipp's book that is now
available at all Times bookstores in Jakarta, and do nothing more
than wait, to be drowned as if in a thick, creamy sauce of
inspiration that will take you less minutes to prepare than to
order a meal wrapped in plastic from a strange kitchen far away.

-- Mehru Jaffer