Taste the Rainbow!

Occasionally, when I'm hungry and bored and have no means of securing immediate food and entertainment, I start to fantasise about food. And I'm not talking about your standard gustatory fantasies, starring visions of doughnuts and fried chicken (as palatable as they are). What I'm envisioning is an epic sequence of feasts, in which every food is the same colour.

It's an idea I first happened to see in Hakim Bey's TAZ: Temporary Autonomous Zone, again referred to in a modern-day fairy tale in the anthology Snow White, Blood Red, and most recently spied again in Steven Leavitt's The Lost Language of Cranes.

People all over the world are having this fantasy. But if I were the head chef, what would I feature? Here goes:

Menu for a violet meal.

Appetiser: Boiled red octopus with beetroot.

Main course: Raw liver with raw red onions with a side of purple cabbage and kohlrabi. Unpolished purple rice porridge with red dates. Roasted eggplant.

Dessert: Yam pudding with red grapes, figs and purple dragonfruit. Violet creams. Lavender drops.

Drink: Purple carrot juice and burgundy wine.

Menu for a blue brunch.

Appetiser: Blue potato chips and blue corn, with a side of blue cheese.

Main course: Nasi kerabu dyed with blue pea blossoms. Flower crab, river shrimp and oysters, all to be eaten uncooked.

Dessert: Blueberries, huckleberries and elderberries.

Drink: Curacao liqueur.

Menu for a green dinner.

Appetiser: Edamame with nori strips and arugula salad. Green cheese with chopped green olives, green chili and fried green tomatoes.

Main course: Green turtle stewed in green curry with cilantro. Spinach tagliatelle with pesto sauce, garden peas, asparagus spears and broccoli florets. Green mango with wasabi. Sliced cucumber and celery.

Kale chips with guacamole. Boiled kailan.

Cornichons.

Dessert: Green tea ice cream, topped with organic mint leaf, pistachio nuts, gooseberries. Pandan chiffon cake with kaya. Green bean soup. Key lime pie topped with kiwifruit.

Drink: Sugarcane juice with absinthe.

Menu for a yellow tea.

Appetiser: Buttered corn on the cob.

Egg drop soup.

Yellow peppers au gratin. Garlic bread without the crusts.

Main course: Poached chicken in turmeric curry with saffron-infused briyani, garnished with golden sultanas and bits of quince. Battered dory with french fries and baked yellow squash, dijon mustard on the side. Elbow macaroni and cheese. Omelette. Polenta and farofa with ginkgo nuts. One saucer of dhal and another of applesauce.

Dessert: Durian custard gateau with slices of starfruit, golden kiwifruit and ripe mango. Portuguese egg tarts. A chunk of raw honeycomb. Mysore pak.

Drink: Calamansi-banana-pineapple smoothie with a twist of lemon. Earl Grey tea strewn with chrysanthemum petals. Sparkling champagne.

Tiger beer.

Menu for an orange tiffin.

Appetiser: Pumpkin soup with diced carrots and orange peppers.

Main course: Deep-fried chicken, chili crab, drunken prawns, mussels in laksa soup, otak-otak and fish fingers. Paired with mee goreng, sweet potato mash, dried apricots and baked beans. All sprinkled with shrimp roe and crumbled salted duck yolks.

Dessert: Medley of tangerine and persimmon wedges with diced papaya and honeydew meat and candied orange peel. Mooncakes. Cheezels.

Drink: Orange crush.

Menu for a red banquet.

Appetiser: Selection of char siew pork slices, tandoori chicken bites, buffalo wings, lak cheong and tuna sashimi.

Main course: Rare beefsteak with lingonberry sauce and ketchup. Red rice, fried in red palm oil. Roasted red peppers and chili salsa on the side.

Dessert: Red velvet cake garnished with fresh strawberries, redcurrants, blood orange pips, craisins, pomegranate arils and maraschino cherries. Haw flakes and ba kwa. Ang ku kueh stuffed with azuki beans.

Drink: Claret, Shirley Temple and hibiscus tea.

Menu for a pink picnic.

Appetiser: Prosciutto and smoked salmon with grapefruit flesh, rhubarb stems and pink ginger.

Main course: Steamed red snapper with jambu and ama ebi garnish. Alaskan king crab legs. Honey-baked ham, corned beef and seared spam on beet bread.

Dessert: Candy floss and slices of peach. Watermelon sorbet. Beng kueh.

Drink: Raspberry soda, guava juice, pink lemonade, rosé wine and bandung.

Menu for a white buffet.

Appetiser: Calamari and boiled fishballs with slices of raw white onion and white truffles. Clam chowder with croutons of unbuttered popcorn.

Main course: Grilled cod seasoned with white pepper and kosher salt. Mantou, white rice, oatmeal and udon. Egg white omelette stuffed with tofu, daikon, taugeh, bamboo shoots, bonito flakes, blanched asparagus, cauliflower and paneer. Sour cream and lotus nuts on the side.

Dessert: Almond jelly with longans, lychees, white fungus, custard apple, segments of mangosteen and dessicated coconut. White chocolate meringues topped with whipped cream, mini marshmallows and minced macadamias.

Drink: Whole milk or s

oursop juice.

Menu for a transparent repast.

Appetiser: Bird's nest in clear fish broth.

Main course: Lobster sashimi with glass beehoon, wrapped in Vietnamese spring roll skins.

Dessert: Aloe vera, attap chee, konnyaku and agar-agar on shaved ice.

Drink: Soda water and vodka. 7-Up on the rocks.

Menu for a brown luncheon.

Appetiser: Lotus root soup with pork ribs and ground nuts.

Main course: Roast beef with caramelized onions. Duck stewed with chestnuts and button mushrooms. Teriyaki eel. Roasted jacket potatoes. Lamb korma. Tempeh. Seitan with mole sauce.

Toasted whole wheat bread with a choice of spreads, including peanut butter, seared goose liver and pork pate and Nutella.

Dessert: Belgian chocolate gelato with walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, dried longans, chopped dates and wafers, powdered with cinnamon. Pecan pie drizzled with gula melaka.

Drink: Milo dinosaur and teh tarik.

Menu for a black supper.

Appetiser: Miniature squid ink pizza, topped with black olives, black garlic and beluga caviar.

Main course: Blood pudding and black chicken with buah keluak, served with black rice and dark soya sauce. Frijoles negros, century eggs and shitake mushrooms boiled in port with star anise and black truffle oil. Black hair fungus and fried scorpions.

Dessert: Compote of dark plums, blackberries, black cherries, black raspberries and blackcurrants, drizzled with dark chocolate and sprinkled with crumbled vanilla pods, Oreo cookies and bits of liquorice sticks.

Drink: Soyabean milk coloured with black sesame seeds. Guinness stout. Root beer. Coca-cola. Black coffee.