Traditional Food Cooking Demonstration 2019
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| Source : Former General Manager of Melaka Gallery & Museum, Datuk Hj Khamis |
“I am on an Asian Summer Tour this June through July and Melaka
is listed as one of my destinations” … this is what I am thinking and this is
what I discover from checking the places of interests with this blog post, “I
am going to schedule my dates in Melaka from 5 to 7 July to see to believe
whether the Melaka Traditional Food Festival showcase the craft of preparing
food hold water”
“I never knew Melaka has held this festival for ten years
but for this coming 11 th time, I am lucky to take note of it early”
“The Melaka Traditional Food Festival is a #MustSee #MustTaste
for me and I am going to share the festival with my friend”
You hit the bull eye if what you are thinking right now is similar to the above three
paragraphs.
By applying and adjusting heat level, cooking is an art and
advances in cooking techniques is only going to kill its traditional tastes. For
sure, there are a lot of new cooking utensils available but none has been put
to use ever since the food festival began.
First few plates of Portuguese food cooked in Melaka after 15 August
1511 must be spicy and their love for spiciness did not just ended in the
Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir, Melaka but had reached Canton, China by
1513.
While most Chinese conversation in Kuala Lumpur is termed
Cantonese, common Melaka Chinese speak Hokkien. For example, they prefer to say
Holland Huan Zi instead of Huan Zi (potato), my mum too preferred, and potato
was a staple food by 1800. I think the Dutch influences ended after my mum generation.
Fruits preserves in glass jam jars, butter and bread became
a usual sight on my table before I set for school accustomed to the British
teaching standards. Somehow, Kaya also joined the table, to paste with butter
to greet the morning with a greasy milky eggy sugary pandan-fragrance taste.
As British, Dutch and Portuguese introduced their
home-cooked food to Melaka, Chinese shared their Sichuan food, Shandong dishes,
Cantonese cuisine, Fujian dishes … while the world’s largest archipelago
exported their Betawi cuisine, Sundanese cuisine, Javanese cuisine, Minangkabau
cuisine, Balinese cuisine … to Melaka.
Very funny, to come to aware in his book, Kenangan Sepanjang
Jalan, that a former Director of Education who was afraid to eat tempeh during
his childhood though he was born in Indonesia. I confronted him in an annual
gathering and asked him, ‘ Why? ’
You may not be a food-ranger, or he may not be a chef, but
both you, can not deny the rich and distinctive flavours of the Melaka Traditional
Food, Melaka Gallery & Museum is going to share with you from 9 o’clock in
the morning to 6 o’clock in the afternoon from Friday 5 July to Sunday 7 July
this year, 2019.
What can you gain from this festival?
01 You can compare how Melaka organizes a food festival with
other parts of the world.
02 You can review whether you or your business friend could
commercialize Melaka’s traditional cuisines in your country.
03 You can analyze whether Melaka’s traditional food cooking
is adaptable to international food-servicing standards.
04 Hoteliers can evaluate whether Melaka’ traditional food
could be star in their monthly menu to make a surprising appeal.
05 You can examine how well the presentation of Melaka’s
traditional food takes the serving table.
06 Is the ingredient used for the preparations of Melaka’s traditional
food environmental-friendly.
07 Could Melaka’s traditional food provide a nutritious and
well-balanced diet.
08 The menu planning of certain traditional food is unique and
it is unbelievable if it is going to depend on the weather condition of the
day. Believe or not? (Example : Acar Nyonya)
09 Watching at the same location and the same time, methods
of cooking; namely, boiling, poaching, simmering, steaming, stewing, broiling,
frying and other sorts. You could think of more than nine identifying points on
your visit to this festival, wouldn’t you?
I understand, long before me, the girls have to learn how to
cook from their mother, or else she might not be selected as a wife. Of course,
there are girls who is super good in cooking yet she does not want to get marry.
Why, ask her.
Because of the ‘Turun-Menurun’ (or Carried Down) traditions in
Melaka from one generation to another, I have tasted the Apam baked by the 7 th
generation of a Baba-Nyonya family and isn’t funny if today you still see the
man has to learn poetry to get her hands like the one below in Malay Language.
Berkokok ayam di pagi hari
Putus Tali dari tambatan
Jika sudah menerima sudi
Kecil tapak tangan saya tadahkan
… the man
Perbuatan ini zaman dahulu kala
Turun-menurun kepada kita
Lazimnya diperbuat orang tua-tua
Adat bertunang mahulah tanda
… the girl
Get your camcorder with you to this festival, seize the
moments and share with your family and friend in your country, unless you are
prepared to visit this festival every year.
Everyone eats and drinks, yet only few appreciate the taste of food ~ Confucius
No one can predict with total accuracy how cuisines will evolve
!
See me there ! Jalan Kota, Banda Hilir, Melaka
NOTE : To avoid being stuck in traffic-congestion, walk to
Jalan Kota and stay in a hotel within walking-distance :
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