I am no fan of sweets, I never enjoyed sugar high and the sweet after taste, I love desserts with texture, and a tinge of full bodied sour-sweetness.
When I arrived in Houston, I decided to supplement my Baking & Pastry Arts education with a weekly visit to a bakery cafe. I will get to explore areas in Houston, educate my taste buds, and understand the depth and breath of product offering and concepts in these businesses. If I commit to this schedule, I would have visited at least 20 bakery cafe businesses by the end of my 20 week education.
One evening, I chanced upon Houston Dessert Meetup Group while doing a search on cafes. Why not? At least I get to go places I may otherwise miss during this journey. My first date with the group was The Sweet Factory @ Hillcroft on 26 July.
I would usually research on the bus route during the week for my weekend outing. The total journey to my destination would take about an hour and a half. I was engaged throughout the journey and noted many interesting cafes and places along Westheimer and noted on my map. I arrived 2 hours ahead of my meetup time.
~An halal supermarket~
Jerusalem Halal Supermarket? I walked in and found familiarity, eg. milo, among the middle eastern goods. I emerged an hour later with a packet each of chick peas, rice flour, basmati rice and a box of masala tea. I have no plan on how I am going to cook them but I just found the products very Asian and homely. An hour more to go, and with no other shops to venture, I was tempted to have lunch at the only restaurant along the middle eastern stretch.
Guatemala is in Central America, I learnt. I decided on Pollo En Amarillo, the menu stated “chicken in yellow sauce with rice and vegetable”. It tasted like homemade curry, minus the spices and was sweet. I wanted a traditional drink and the wait staff recommended me Atol De Elote, it was under Hot Drink section of the menu. Is it a tea? No. Is it a milk or yogurt? No. What is it? Hot. That was my conversation with her. Okay, I will have one. I wasn’t too sure how I was convinced, I guess because it is an authentic Guatemala drink. A yellow drink came. I took a sip and it tasted good though a little sweet and starchy. Good? I told her I liked it, so What is it? I asked again. Corn. She answered me this time. So I downed sweet curry rice, and a big cup of corn puree for lunch. That makes up 2 full portions of carbohydrates for lunch. Burp!
~The Sweet Factory~
It is interesting how we experience new things when our heart accepts the invitation readily. I wouldn’t have known this middle-eastern town exists, that Guatemala is a place in Central America, that it is a joy making friends with strangers of common passion, that I can accept sweets from a stranger which I was taught never to since a child, and that a cream-filled filo pastry taste so good.
Later in school, Chef Sebastien told me we may make filo pastry in class if we have time. Smile, that is another sweet treat!
