Nutella

I like Nutella and I think probably everyone in all of Singapore knows what Nutella is and if you don't, shame on you. Go find out. It's delicious.

When I first met my boy, and we first went grocery shopping together, he suddenly pounced on a jar of Nutella. He was sooooooo surprised we had it in Singapore - he said this was his favourite and everyone in Italy loves it and he had never before seen it in Singapore. So of course we had to buy it since we both like it.

Only...my boy doesn't like it. He adores it. He loves it. He is a Nutella monster.

You know those enormous jars in the supermarket? They have the big, medium and small jars and the big jars look like they should last a year for a family of four. The jar is bigger than my hand. In fact, the jar's screw lid is as big as the saucer of an espresso cup, which should give you an idea of how big it is.

Ours finished in something like 3 weeks because my boy eats it plain. With a spoon. Straight out of the jar. He eats it on bread too, and on biscuits, and mixed with milk. In other words, he eats it with everything. Until he gets a stomachache. Silly boy.

As soon as that first jar was finished, we headed back to the supermarket. Even today, now that his mad craving has been satiated, it's still the one thing he can't resist buying. Every single time we're at the supermarket. Watch out, makers of Nutella, for you are in big trouble folks. Demand will outstrip supply solely because of this man.

One fine day, he asked me, in his inimitable thickly-accented way, "Baby, make for me the beeeesssst Nutella with bread." He had just come back for his break from work - he works a split shift - and he was very tired, so I agreed and trotted off to the kitchen.

However, when I took the bread out from the fridge, I realised that it was...not fresh to say the least. He eats white bread while I eat brown bread. He eats mostly in the restaurant where he works, not at home. So his bread supply was rather stale, whereas mine is constantly resupplied.

I felt bad for my poor baby, who worked so hard and asked only for bread with Nutella - well, not just bread with Nutella, but you get the drift! So I took out a small pan, heated it on the stove, and did a quick heat-up and crisped the bread faintly brown on both sides. Then I put Nutella on the bread while it was still hot and gave the toast to him.

He asked for some more, after he finished the first two slices. And another two slices. Then he asked for the same the next day. And the day after that. Until the whole bag was finished.

Now whenever he asks for bread with Nutella, I have to toast the damn bread. I knew I shouldn't have done it the first time.

Sidenote: I really like it with creamy peanut butter too. Just think of it: warm toast, just lightly scorched so that it's still soft and steamy inside but crispy on the outside, dripping with Nutella and creamy peanut butter, warmed faintly and melded together by the heat of the bread.

As you bite into it the first time, the gentle fragrance and the crisp crunch of the toast, the smooth sticky mix of Nutella and peanut butter, all chocolatey, nutty, milky goodness, fill your mouth and nose and throat. Oh the tender sensuous delight!