The Scoop: Spicing It Up!

Whoever said there was no such thing as a free lunch? One crucial facet of our month community events rollout has been The Scoop – a complimentary lunch that introduced new members and partners of our space. The most recent edition had a little local twist to it. Let us explain!

We’re supporters of Singapore’s hawker culture, right? Its origins can be traced back to the mid 1800s, when our first street hawkers would set up shop on the streets, selling varieties of food offerings. It required little capital, and therefore was a popular occupation as a means for these hawkers to earn a livelihood.

Forward the time to the late 60’s and early 70’s, the Government licensed and resettled these street hawkers into purpose-built hawker centres and markets with proper sanitation and amenities. Extensive as these constructions were, we saw hawker centres form an integral part of the heartlands as they made their way into housing and industrial areas.

Cheap and delicious food – that’s Singapore’s pride and joy! So what better way to (re)introduce these flavours, than The Scoop! We thought it was a great way to show them off to our members, the bulk of who are expats, and also a way to show even our local members some of our favourite, off-the-menu dishes.

For last week, we chose to go with local Indian flavours. The staff of The Working Capitol have got a favourite Indian hawker that we often visit at Everton Park, and we requested them to get a spread ready for our members.

Plain pratas, egg pratas, murtabaks, mutton briyanis, chicken briyanis, mee gorengs, and fried bee hoons – not all completely Indian dishes that can be divided into North or South, but that’s what makes our food so special – the element of fusion where we invite influences of our friends and compatriots!

We were smiling throughout as we witnessed some members struggle with the spice of the curries, and some going through them with absolute ease, but the real joy was in describing our hawker culture and dishes to them.

Next up next month? Local Chinese flavours! It’ll be exciting to see how else we could tantalise some taste buds, but it’s a challenge we’ll always gladly take on!