Thursday May 10, 2007
Idiomania
By OH TEIK THEAM
The Ice Ball Man
THE Ice Ball Man was a warm-hearted fellow who concocted magical ice balls from a simple recipe that gave the neighbourhood youngsters much slurping joy many years ago.
His food stall was a stone’s throw from our corrugated iron-roofed, wooden house, which was beside the sawmill where my father worked as a sales clerk.
Besides ice balls, which were always in demand, the Ice Ball Man also sold sliced fruits such as pineapple and papaya, snacks such as prawn crackers and dried melon seeds, and cigarettes. He kept the fruits on a few ice blocks in a rectangular plastic box with a slidable lid.
To make an ice ball, the Ice Ball Man used an ice scraper – a wooden slab with a serrated blade in its middle. As he scraped the ice block over the blade, a bowl placed under the scraper collected the ice shavings.
After scooping some of the shavings from the bowl so that they formed a crude half ball in his palm, he added a teaspoonful each of red beans and maize grains in the centre of the half ball. Using more ice shavings, he skilfully fashioned an ice ball in his hands.
He then poured lashings of red syrup over the ice ball, adroitly twisting the ball so that about 90% of its surface was covered with the sweet stuff.
One afternoon, the Ice Ball Man said to me, “For you, I make the ice ball special with extra red beans and maize grains. I always get free sawdust from your father.” (He used the sawdust to preserve his ice blocks in a wooden crate.)
I grinned from ear to ear, for he had made my day. “Thank you,” I said.
When I got home, my mother, on seeing the ice ball, gave me a piece of her mind. “Don’t eat the ice ball inside the house – the drippings will only attract ants!” she shrieked, her arms akimbo. “I know you have a sweet tooth, but do you have to eat ice balls so often? Soon my purse will lose weight faster than the ice balls!”
I did not say anything, for I was busy making short work of the ice ball, slurping it as I repeatedly transferred it from one hand to the other.
Happily, my mother’s heart melted when she saw that I was enjoying the ice ball so much.
A stone’s throw: A short distance.
In demand: Sought after; popular.
From ear to ear: Widely.
Make someone’s day: To make someone extremely happy.
Give someone a piece of one’s mind: To reprimand someone.
Sweet tooth: A liking for sweet foods.
Make short work of: To consume, defeat, etc., quickly and easily.
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