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ABOUT SPERM WHALE, PROLIFIC MOTHERS AND SAUERKRAUT BALLS

Rummaging through some of my old and dusty files the other morning, I came across one called “Culinary Correspondence”. It contains mail and other writings on the subject of food during the years when I was writing a food column for the Bangkok papers. The earliest letter in the file is dated September 19, 1967. It was written by a gentleman who was terribly enthusiastic about Mexican food “which,” he wrote, “is the food of my country.” He came from Tucson, Arizona and spent - according to him - “ a goodly amount of time either in Mexico or among Mexican friends.”

Previous letters to the one above have sadly gone astray. I did not realise at the time that they make such amusing reading almost thirty years later. One of those missing, I recall, was by a lady who signed with “Just call me Rose” and another was from “Sperm Whale” who wanted to prepare squid or Plah Muk in different ways. Sperm Whale became a frequent correspondent who also wrote under the names of “Ton Din”, “Ah Yoo” and “Saucerer’s Apprentice”. The latter are kept for posterity as they were of a later date and present in my file. It is easy to see that they were written by the same person from the sprawling handwriting and the crisp style. In later years Sperm Whale divulged his real identity which turned out to be an Australian scientist, then working for the Applied Scientific Research Institute on Paholyotin Road and I met him in person on several occasions. Sperm Whale and his other aliases had a keen interest in matters of the table and his queries covered such varied subjects as wine made from Rosella buds (Hibiscus Sabdariffa, related to the jute family), applesauce made from local fruits, roast pork and smoked eel.
One of the most curious letters came in a response of an article I wrote about the food of the Minahassa, the northern tip of Sulawesi, home to the so called Menadonese. An engineer on board of a Chinese vessel anchored in the Chao Phya River, who originated from that country, wrote me in 1968 that it would be prudent to teach the American Rangers in the Vietnam War how to prepare and eat snakes, dogs, cats, bats, rats, lizards and monkeys, as it would give them more strength to combat the Vietcong. He was probably right but unfortunately I was not able to convince the American military brass and consequently the war was lost. About the monkeys my correspondent wrote further that they were not only delicious but monkey meat was beneficial for one’s health. Sadly enough, he added, in the Minahassa, where they were considered a great delicacy, monkeys had become a rarity. That, of course, is not surprising.
In 1969, when I had moved to Pattaya, I received a letter from a lady who said that she had enjoyed our conversation the previous Saturday when she visited Charlie’s Hide-a-way Restaurant where I was the Maitre d’ for a few months before I started my own “eatery”. I can’t recall the lady but she proceeded to give me a recipe for…..….Sauer Kraut Balls, an American delicacy it seems.
From “Prolific Mother” I have a letter dated February 16, 1972, in which she asked me to give her some ideas on how to feed her six, ever hungry off-springs without going bankrupt in the process. I believe I advised her to put them on a diet of sweet potatoes and sticky rice as these foodstuffs were inexpensive and filling.
“Cymbeline Frit” was and still is an old pen-pal of mine. In a letter dated November 17, 1972, he suggests the use of oriental condiments and spices for the preparation of European “Haut Cuisine” and vice versa. A noble idea indeed and to encourage me to start experimenting he came up with some dillies like “Kanom Chin Au Gratin” (rice noodles with cheese oven baked), “Steak with Nam Prik Meangdah” (chilli, shrimp paste and water beetle sauce), “Tom Yam de Jambon,” and some other not very practical ideas, mostly having to do with cheese and cheese sauces. With all respect to Cymbeline who is in reality a renowned historian and a staunch friend of mine for about thirty five years, he does better concerning himself with early migrations of the Isarn people and the origins of the “Pakoama” before venturing into the world of gastronomy.
In 1975 I received a letter from a German gentleman who was greatly bemused by pepper corns and wondered what they could be. He wrote: “What are peppercorns? As I recall there is a British company, Blackwell?, that sells this ‘spice’ in a little bottle. These soft kernels seem to be soaked in plain water. I ask, because someone informs me that they are papaya seeds. When I look at papaya seeds, there seems to be some resemblance.” He finishes by suggesting that papaya seeds may have great medical properties and there is an age old medical use for the fruit and the seeds. He appreciated a response from me on his question. I believe that I enlightened the gentleman at the time but also wondered if he was putting me on.
It was in those years that I met His Excellence Alan Davidson, Ambassador of Britain to Laos as well as the author of several standard works on seafood like “Seafood of South-East Asia” and “Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos”. Because of his keen interest in aquatic and marine creatures many referred to him as the “Fish Ambassador”. After he resigned from the British Foreign Service he founded a publishing company in London called Prospect Books which specializes in publication of cookbooks and related literature. The file contains many of his letters as well as my answers.
After I wrote an article for the United States Army’s “Off Duty” magazine about chillies, I receieved a letter from the late Walter S. McIlhenny, the President of the McIlhenny Company, the concern which produces the famous Tabasco Sauce. This was the start of a long and most interesting friendship by mail which unfortunately ended when Walter died in the early nineteen eighties.
I was going to give you Mrs. Ethel Hillmar’s (that was the name of the lady) recipe for “Sauer Kraut Balls” but decided against it, as it is two pages of handwriting long. Instead here is what I made for myself for lunch the other day when everybody had deserted me and I felt quite dejected.