Kuih Lapis Ego Bruised!

Funny how this might sound, but yes .. It’s a kuih lapis ego bruised I would call it. Not sure if it’s my ego, or the other parties’! Let the story begin..

A friend of mine introduced me to one cafe outlet that caters food and kuih to a large chain of hotels here in the central region (KL, Malacca & Negeri Sembilan). When we had a meeting, the Operations Manager was asking me, whether I wanted to work with them and do the kuih from the outlet itself or do it at home and distribute it to them. Knowing that I want to own this food business (too tired of working for people), I said that I would like to take the 2nd option. After some negotiations, I agreed to do some samples for the taste test. I went home with the hope that I can pull this through, because we’re talking about umpteen thousands of kuih a week.

The day came and I made 2 types of kuih for the samples. I was so excited that at 6.30am, the kuih was already at the cafe. I went home anxiously waiting for the comments to come in. A day passed without feedback, even email was left un-replied. Something just wasn’t right. The 2nd day, I met the friend who introduced me to the Operations Manager and ask him to find out for me. We were having lunch at LRT corner with my cousin and his friend.

Guess what the feedback was? Here’s what the chefs said :-
I might have been using ‘tepung lama’ because the kuih lapis didn’t taste right.
They suggested me to use Anchor or Key Brand so that the kuih lapis will taste nice.
The color of my kuih seri muka was off, I should increase that green color so that it’ll become darker.

I couldn’t help smiling when I heard those comments. It’s funny, I mean, those were the last comments that I would expect from well known hotel chefs. If they commented on the texture of my Kuih, or probably the presentation and such, I would have appreciated their advice. Then, I started to question their integrity in my head. If they really knew how to do the tasting... wouldn’t they be able to differentiate the taste of my kuih lapis whether it is made of ‘tepung beras’ (rice flour) or ‘tepung gandum’(wheatflour)? Or the mixture of it? Some tips for you guys, if you make kuih lapis using tepung gandum, the texture will be firmer but not that bouncy!

Telling me to use Anchor Brand or Key Brand is suggesting that I used different type of flour? It’s quite cliché for them to even suggest it that way. Did they know that whatever brand the flour might be doesn’t make much difference except for the pricing because of the Brands? People always think that Anchor Brands would make the best kuih because it’s the most expensive flour, thus it’s the best compared to the rest? Do they know that the only difference is because they add and enchance the vitamins in the flour that makes it more expensive than the rest, but didn’t enhance the taste of the flour? Ok, enough of that, but my ego was bruised because they think my kuih lapis is ‘tak sedap’ hahaha

As for kuih seri muka, they said the taste is fine, but the colour should be darker, as if the colour of the old pandanus leaves. If you all read this, the photo on the top pages of my blog is the colour of my kuih seri muka. I know it’s some sort of apple green, but do you think making it dark will make people think it’s nicer even though there was too much food colouring in the kuih itself? I guess hotels should know better about the ‘healthy food’ that they’ve been campaigning for the past years?

According to my friend, there might not be anything wrong with my kuih, but by not letting me get into the business easily or probably beating them in the kuih making department they were ensuring that their ego was not bruised. Or probably because they are the ones wearing a top hat, thus they must say something about someone else’s cooking so that to let other people know that they are better. Maybe.

I guess, that’s all for now, for that kuih lapis ramblings.. and my ego that was bruised.. or was it theirs? Haha

Here are the pictures of the kuih lapis ... and as usual, if you want to order the price is RM 0.30 per piece. Minimum order is 50 pieces (Self-collect) and free delivery for 100 pieces and above within Klang Valley Area.