This handpicked collection from Hishamuddin Rais's column Tapai in Off The Edge magazine presents a way of looking at the world beyond our food fetish and its lifestyle trappings. Rais' grand unified theory of everything links his life on the lam with more recent encounters: a seedy caf�� in Pudu, Christmas in Bangladesh, stalking Akira Kurosawa (posthumously), working in soup kitchens, and discovering a place that sells diamonds and nouvelle cuisine. Naturally, lusty food marks this ageless hippie's quest: mutton and duck stew Acehnese-style, Ramly burgers, foie gras, truffles, oysters, caviar....Rais takes the reader on a life-affirming trip that nourishes the soul, like the best tapai in ferment.