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Hi there
Just thinking of the Eurasian food just brings back the flood of memories that mark the passage of my life. I can still see my grandmother standing at the stove, holding a piece of Belacan over the flame as burning it removes the smell that turns some appetites upside down, while it whet mine as I wondered why. That same belacan would later be cooked and then served as a condiment with rice and her rich stews.`I remember the mango curry she cooked as well, using small unripened mangoes. However for me the food represented a part of my life that cloaked me and the cultural history brewing in my veins, something that my kids share too. My grandmother is getting older and I guess her cooking will be all I have left of her, so it is funny writing of the cuisine, and thinking of her cooking them I can still taste the salted fish, the squid dish she cooked for me everytime I visited.
The Portuguese were sailors who established their colony in Melaka after the Dutch. The Portuguese settlement still stands and many of them still share their ancestors affinity with sea as they are now mainly fishermen. I have both Portuguese and Dutch blood in my veins amongst the other genetic mixes, to give that Eurasian heritage. Funnily enough because my grandmoher married an Indian and Singapore had the system that recognised the father's heritage over the mother's, I am not classed as Eurasian, even though by the very definition, I am. Still though what does a legal recognition matter when the proof is in my blood anyway. Most Indians there take one look at me and call me that Eurasian girl, due to the Portuguese hue I have. Most Eurasians look at me and know I am sort of mix and then I open my mouth about the food and they know hahhahahahah
However, I do have a painful assosciation with a particular salad unique to Eurasians.
posted by
MonishaJador
on June 10, 2011 at 8:31 AM
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It's the spices in Eurasian food that make it such a tasty contrast to American recipes.
posted by
reasons
on June 10, 2011 at 8:02 AM
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