Makan Story
ART IMITATES LIFE.
Malay cuisine is loved by many for its explosive flavours and rich spices. The spices used by the Malays come from many different parts of Southeast Asia and differ in taste and intensity. However, when used together in one dish, these spices blend beautifully together. Similarly, the Malay culture that we know today was formed by many different people from different parts of the Malay Archipelago, such as Brunei and Indonesia. This fusion of diverse people and cultures is very clearly reflected in what ingredients are commonly used in the Malay kitchen.
the origins of the malays
According to historian Zaharah Sulaiman, Malays have the 2nd oldest set of genes in the world. Approximately 60,000 to 75,000 years ago, Africans migrated to Sundaland, now known as Southeast Asia. From there, they split into various different small tribes and ethnicities such as Riau Malays, Javanese, Boyanese, Bugis, Minangkabaus, Banjarese and the Bataks. In Singapore, we had the Orang Lauts.
The Orang Lauts (meaning "sea peoples" or "sea nomads") were largely seafaring people who came from Palembang. They travelled around Southeast Asia in small wooden boats, making a living from fishing. When these nomads sailed from island to island, they brought with them pieces of their own culture as well as pieces of culture from the places they had visited before. This helped to facilitate the trade and integration of the diverse cultures across the Malay Archipelago.
MALAY INGREDIENTS
Many delicious Malay cuisine dishes are incomplete without the use of certain herbs and spices such as gula melaka, kecap manis, cloves, pandan leaves, nutmeg, and many others. The use of these herbs and spices were influenced by various different countries. For example, gula melaka originated in the state of Malacca, Malaysia. Kecap manis originated from Indonesia, and cloves are from Molucca Islands, Indonesia, or better known as the Spice Islands. When the people from the different islands in Southeast Asia interacted, they brought with them their native spices and ingredients. This trade and fusion of cultures is the reason why Malay cuisine today utilises ingredients from all over the Malay Archipelago.
life imitates art.
A pot of beef rendang uses many different spices. The longer it is stewed, the better and richer it tastes. Some people think that the Malay ethnicity, being a product of centuries of hybridisation, lacks a core identity. However, similar to a pot of beef rendang, this is untrue. The beauty of the Malays is that they are a multi-ethnic group of people. The seamless integration of different cultures over centuries into one richer Malay culture is precisely what gives the Malay ethnicity the "core identity" that they have been said to lack. Just like how the ingredients used in Malay cooking are so different but when combined together taste beautiful, the different Southeast Asian ethnicities and their cultures have stewed together over centuries to form one integrated Malay culture.
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