Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Tell-A-Tale (Part 30): The Black Cat & Bacon Rolls

In Haruki Murakami’s stories, the black cats are wise. They are able to communicate with human as well. There’s something in the eyes of the black cats that makes them somehow haunting, like owls. At times, when I see a black cat, I stare into their eyes and try to communicate. I am a Murakami fan, you see. No luck so far.

I usually meet black cats during the nocturnal hours. Perhaps it’s just me overreacting to these usual encounters, as some friends said. Like how I am always able to catch 4:44 pm on my watch.

Returning from the pasar malam last Sunday night, I was still trying to get rid of the smell of the stinky tofu from my mind when a black cat jumped out of nowhere as I opened my front gate. More angry than shocked, I stamped the cement floor, sending it running for its life. I was very close to flying my slipper at it, even.

It was a really huge black cat, somehow well maintained too. I was not able to catch its eyes though. It also wore bells on its neck, sort of like Doraemon’s. It didn’t occur to me that perhaps the black cat was trying to tell me something or lead me to a place were lost cats can be found. I don’t blame myself as the last time I touched my Kafka On The Shore was like, two years ago?

The incident haunted me for awhile. Not so much on imaging that perhaps the cat was trying to make acquaintance but the stream of bad luck that may follow. Superstition runs in our blood, like it or not. It doesn’t help much if you are a follower of AXN Beyond’s programmes.

In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat, an impulsive act of hanging a sagacious, black feline on the tree by a man has led to a chain of frightening events, including the murder of the man’s wife as she tried to stop him from killing another similar black cat. He was later hung after the police found the decaying body of his wife, hidden behind the new layer of wall. It was that similar black cat, with its cries, that alerted the police as it was walled alive, together with the decomposing wife.

Looking back, I can’t imagine the consequences I’d face had I flew my slipper at that cat. Perhaps it would have appeared in my worst of nightmares, scratching my face with its wolverine-like claws and as I die of excessive bleeding, it says "Don’t you dare mess around with us pussies".

Well, something did happen. I baked a couple of bacon rolls using the dough from the samsa recipe and it turned out quite alright. But when I took a bite the morning after the encounter with the cat, it was surprisingly bad. The texture was harder than I expected and the bacon was tasteless. Perhaps I kneaded too long. Or the quarter cup more of water that was poured into the dough. Or maybe I should have used butter instead of canola oil. And the fatty type of bacon instead as it is more flavourful?

But the biggest question is, how could the rolls have turned from alright to bad overnight?

It’s the cat.

29 comments:

choi yen said...

Haha, don't blame the cat, it's ur recipe or skill too bad.... *no hard feeling ya :P*

PS: The stinky tofu smell make me wanna vomit too~~ =.=''

Selba said...

Aiiiii..... aiii... Poor black cat got blammed....

*purrr.. purrrr...*

Come here, kitty.. kitty... Let me hug and comfort you... Don't be sad, ok... It's not your fault at all that Nic's roll didn't turn out nicely

psssttt... but your bacon rolls look so yummy lor ;) if you are not going to eat it, can send it to me, hehehe...

Precious Pea said...

Hmm..maybe it's a curse from the cat? I guess next time you should finish it up while it is fresh. Afterall, with bacon inside, not advisable to keep overnite. Ahh...maybe can turn it into cat food?

Yin said...

Hmm...only a Hairy Berry can begin with a story of a black cat and then slip in his bacon rolls :P

Anonymous said...

Can't believe you Murakami-ed your bacon rolls. And Poe-ed some more. He'd be turning over his grave. (Poe, I mean. Not the very much alive Murakami.) Your buns look nice. :-P Yes, they do! :-P

Rebecca Saw said...

ahhh..aft soooooo may pics of that delectable rolls, ur tellng me it aint tasting good???. nvrmd, i'll help u to dispose of them ok? ;p

Unknown said...

i saw these buns on Flickr and i had to come and read what you have to write! LOL...


just want to ask, how did you read "Kafka On The Shore", i wonder if i am the only person who skipped every other chapter? then back again to read all the chapters I skipped. :-p


don't blame the cat. you din wash your hands right? bacteria colony multiplied a million times overnight and tada......

minchow said...

Just reading your post gave me the chills (yes, even if it did end with those toasty looking rolls!) They are awfully beautiful creatures, but also bring the shivers in a big way. But it could be just me... to this day, I can't sit through Michael Jackson's Thriller video without squirming big time. Zombies, gahhhh!

Xiu Long Bao said...

When in doubt, blame the cat. The black cat.

-dog lover-

Faye fly said...

tis bacon rolls outlook is 100% but since u said it 2 hard after a day mean inside 20%..mayb dog'l like it ;p

sisterevil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ciki said...

it this a WHO DUNNIT ... ? THE CAT!

hehe.. very cute nic..

btw Edgar Allan P's short stories are my FAVE! Love Poe’s The Black Cat and even the one where the COP eats up the evidence of the woman's murdered husband in the pie..

killer fantastic man (forgive the pun!)

Live2Talk said...

Poor kitteh kena blamed pulak =^..^= but i'm sure with your baking skill improving everyday, no kitteh (black or otherwise) will do any harm to the finished product ~ meow meow

jasmine said...

now i've got cat on my mind.

-_-

J2Kfm said...

bad day, and blame it on the black cat? aiyo ... where's the lurve eh?

the bacon looks uncannily like those bakkwa type.

backStreetGluttons said...

We never have problems with black cats or white. If we have the chance we eat them black & white musangs !
But we never like their purring stares ( almost like some kattie women we are scared )

HairyBerry said...

mimi, haha...actually, you are right. but i still wanna blame the cat for jumping in front of me..hahaha! oh, u go to the pasar malam in kepong often too?

selba, hahaha, everyone's on the cat's side. i'm totally jealous! haha! actually, the rolls are ok. just that they became kinda hard and bland overnight. i oso cant explain why....the cat! lol!

precious pea, oh, thanks for the tip on the bacon! ;) i thought if i can make extra, then the next day dun hafta buy breakfast mah..haha! hmmm, interesting suggestion. do cats eat bread? must google about it...

yin, lol! this rambutan really crazy hor? well, what can i say. i live to eat...ok, a bit exaggerating, that...lol!

lyrical lemongrass, this is not the ultimate murakamization yet..haha! hey, am beginning to discover poe. such a brilliant writer! my buns? are there any to begin with? oh, you talking about my rotis ar? haha!

thenormadGourmand, awwww, so sweet of ya! well, the rolls are not bad but dunno why, turned bad overnight. i blame the cat! lol!

keropokman, lol!!! and what a surprise, right? but it's true lar, about the cat and the rolls.
on kafka, no leh, i read it like any other books lar. but of course, when it got confusing, i re-read the pages lah. woah, u have an interesting way of reading kafka. oh yeah, why din i think of bacterias!!! then again, too many of 'em. cant fight them off. so, i blame the cat..haha!

550ml jar of faith, actually, u hv a point. when i recall that incident and that look on that cat's face, it does remind me of some scary movies (not the comedy) where black cats appear before the ghosts or witches. but i like the thriller mtv! revolutionary! ;)

HairyBerry said...

xiu long bao, yerrrr....why u so cruel one! how can u blame a poor, cute animal liddat? *running away to hide*

faye fly, haha! ok lar, at least got 80% left. next time, i must work 200% harder to get that extra 20%. :)

cumi & ciki, yes, yes, yes! ;) and thanks for the compliment..haha! ooohhh, u like EAP too?? cool! next time i can ask yo ufor recommendations d...ohhh, i lurve stories like human meat in pies!!! will go search for it! thanks!

live2talk, haha! yes, will work harder on my baking and on kitty issues, will consult experts like you! cheers! ;)

jasmine, LOL!!!! so sorry about that. well, a fish lunch today will be nice, perhaps? ;)

j2kfm, the lurve died with the stinky tofu lar, bro..hahaha! oh, i bought 2 types of bacon. the lean ones really resemble bak kwa. actually, bak kwa rolls will be interesting too..hmmm..

backstreetgluttons, the musangs will be an interesting part too! we've heard of the snow mountain flying fox but we want the real musang! curry would be nice, isn't it? ohhh, definitely. perhaps that's why that dont-mess-with-the-pussies dream came about....*scary*

bossacafez said...

u read murakami's books? i'm trying to get my hands on them. afraid they'll be too "cheem" for me hehe.

the bacon rolls look good, no matter!

choi yen said...

Quite often, hunting for food mah :P

Anonymous said...

Hehe, I will just blame the cat for anything and everything. Weeee...

On a different subject, aiyo.. you are so much better-read than I am. Shy shy only. :(

Ciki said...

Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Jason said...

Yalah, poor kitty kena blamed.

Anonymous said...

lol! what does the bacon rolls turning bad have to do with the cats? haha but i like the story on the black cat

Rarebeet said...

Wow I've never blamed my cooking on a pet before. Hahahah! They look yummy tho. Thats how deceiving a picture is eh? I think I go out of my way to dispel superstitious beliefs. I walk under ladders, love the numbers 4 and 13, etc... Yea rebel without a cause, thats me! :-)

My time is 22:22

HairyBerry said...

evan 이벤젤린, i also find his books cheem. sometimes, have to read a few times. but it's part of the fun, i think! thanks for the compliment on the rolls! ;)

mimi, oic! hmmm, next time i go there, i look-look see-see whether can find u or not! ;)

kenny, a black cat hor....hahahaha! actually, that's not how it's supposed to be lar...haha! what better-read? omg, it's just murakami lar...and harlow, u are a writer lar. so, you are wayyyyyyyyy better than me, dude! ;)

cumi & ciki, awesome stuff! it seems like a dream when we want to see it as a dream. dontcha think we can control our dreams sometimes? ;)

jason, hahaha! ya lor...shame on nic. :(

ladyironchef, apparently black cats bring bad luck..haha! yeah, it's just a myth. i should be more sensible than that! haha! yeah, i totally enjoyed poe's black cat story too!

paprika, exactly! i believe pics can be deceiving too! and sometimes, i do go against superstitions but at times when i really wanna do sometime right, i go with it..haha! rebel without a cause? i think it's with a cause la. the anti-superstition cause. cool stuff.

ohhh...22:22? that must be bedtime hor? lol!

Big Boys Oven said...

wow you are baking, looks awesome delicious! hmmm not sure about the black cat ^!%@^*%E! :)

Petite Lass said...

The rolls look very delicious! I was waiting for you to disclose where did you buy from and only to find out you baked them by yourself. What's the recipe?? =D

HairyBerry said...

bigboysoven, awwww..thanks so much for the compliment! ;) i'm sure it's not the black cat lah..hahaha! ;)

petite lass, thanks for dropping by! ;) oh, the recipe for the dough is the samsa post. as for the bacon, i got it from the supermarket. i made a mistake with the dough. i think the bread dough will be better. ohhh, pastries like the croissant type is even better! have fun with the bakes! ;)