Cross-Cultural Conversations

Observations by a Malaysian studying in Australia

The Food Press ( And Where Are They?)

Deepavali was celebrated last Friday, and I regret not being able to join in the celebrations and get a taste of those sinfully sweet and colourful Indian candies they serve at Deepavali open houses back in Malaysia. The temptation was further heightened when The Age, through their culinary supplement Epicure, ran an article on Indian desserts a few weeks ago.

If the contents of Epicure are anything to go by, Victorians, and especially Melburnians, are extremely passionate about food. And it's not limited to taste, but extends further to physical appearance and presentation, captured in excellent photography, and the process that goes into creating the food itself.

Malaysians, like Melburnians, are very passionate about their food. My father goes to great lengths advocating the merits of buying nasi campur, nasi dagang and all other types of nasi (rice) at that "restoran mak cik Kelantan" (Kelantanese lady's restaurant), and how the nasi lemak bought at the make-shift hawker stalls are better than those served at 5-star hotels in Kuala Lumpur, though this may be an exaggeration. Everyone in my family will cringe in agony if we had the misfortune of buying a whole jarful of rock-hard kuih semperit ( a type of traditional shortbread), ill-prepared by someone who obviously thinks butter is too good for us.

Unfortunately, this passion does not seem to translate into expansive culinary journalism. Most of the time, the only articles that involve food are health write-ups warning you to eat more fibre, less fat and, at the more positive end, restaurant reviews. Of course, there is nothing wrong with reviews- they come in handy when choosing which place to eat- but there is that slightly dreaded commercial attachment that comes with them. Food journalism should be more than just which outlet serves the best pisang goreng (fried bananas). It should be about the best batter for the pisang goreng and the best bananas to make that pisang goreng, and the best accompaniments to your potentially most-talked-about pisang goreng.

Occasionally there comes along an article or two about the eclectic cuisine of the Baba-Nyonyas (Straits Chinese), or the traditions of ketupat-making and rendang-cooking, but these are only featured as an aside, when there is an exhibition on Baba-Nyonyas in Kuala Lumpur, or during major celebrations such as Hari Raya when these foods are part of the festivities.

Malaysia is just so extremely rich in culinary fare and it's a great pity if we don't promote and share the experience of tasting these most flavoursome of food. And at the end of the day it's not just the food that we need to cherish but most importantly the ingredients themselves. We need to appreciate things like the sinfully creamy santan, the wondrous aroma emitted from ketumbar, bawang putih, cili merah, saffron, the heavenly daun pandan and all other rempah ratus (spices) available and the merits of ayam kampung (chicken reared in the village), bawal putih (white pomfret) and fresh udang harimau (tiger prawns). Or at least I know I do.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 02:05 | link | comments (1) |

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#1  27 October 2003 - 10:33

 

Nora here and you're making me hungry Akhdur! In addition to that, it's puasa time now! =P Hehe ...

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