Newbie Nonya (Finally!) Learns To Cook Edible Food
Name: Purnima
Cooking Competency: I watch a lot of Masterchef and I know Gordon Ramsay’s insults by heart, does that count as part of my cooking experience?
If my Nenek could see this she would throw her kwali at me.
…
At family events people reminisce the old days, especially the food which took center stage. Be it prayers, Deepavali or impromptu Sunday gatherings, my Nenek would make it special by whipping up delicious feasts. But she wasn’t the only main ingredient in this recipe.
I grew up on a daily diet of Mother’s stories about how she and Nenek would make elaborate meals — churning out 5 course meals, complete with dessert on a shoestring income! Mind you, these meals had to feed a family of 12 and some surprise guests.
Mother is one of the last few Nonyas in my family who knows recipes handed down from her mother by heart. If you ask me where is the best place to get Ondeh Ondeh and Laut Pindang, it’s home. Actually I have to thank my Grandfather for making her into a brilliant cook. With his appetite for variety, my Nenek and Mother used to cook around the clock.
“Purnima, you must be a good cook, like your Mum!”
Nope.
I stayed away from the kitchen for as long as I could, coming up with excuses like “I need to study”, “I’m practicing for the eating Olympics”, and “I’ll cook if you need food poisoning to get out of school/work”.
The truth was I knew I could never follow in her (and my Nenek’s) footsteps. Plus the expectation for me to learn age-old Peranakan recipes and keep the tradition alive was just unfair. Cooking is a necessary skill and keeping it alive is everyone’s responsibility, not just mine.
So, back to cooking is a life skill. I’m taking my own advice. I need to feed myself (teach a woman to fish and all) at some point so it’s time to learn how to cook from Mother.
*Cue thunder and lightning*
Well, Mother is not a patient teacher and she turns into a Gordon Ramsay-Kraken-Godzilla thing when you enter her kingdom, the kitchen.
Many times after a brutal kueh-making session, I ask myself why I suffer through the scoldings? Oh yes, I love food and I need to learn how to feed myself.
Here’s hoping the tears are worth it.
Glossary
- Nenek — Grandmother
- Kwali — cooking wok
- Nonya — a Peranakan woman. Men are known as Babas
- Ondeh Ondeh — a dessert sent from the gods with melted gula melaka wrapped in a glutinous rice ball. Made right, it is to die for. Made in the wrong way, you might want to clobber the maker
- Gula Melaka — palm sugar
- Laut Pindang — love at first bite. It’s a coconut-spice gravy.
