food of her childhood

oftentimes she'd crave for the food of her childhood. traditional Malay kuehs and delicacies.

her grandma was a terrific cook. so was her mum. tepung talam, kueh lompang, seri muka (fragrant brown top), putu kacang, putu pulut, pulut kacau/wajik, dodol, bahulu, kueh sepit, bahulu betawi (steamed), kueh lapis, the different types of lempeng (banana, coconut, plain), lepat manis/ liat, lepat pisang, the different types of bengkang..... they never bought breakfast in those days.

early in the morning after subuh prayers her grandma would start cooking the kuehs. home made with love, the kuehs tasted divine. incomparable.

weeks before hari raya, her mum and grandma would be busy making dodol, wajik, bahulu, kueh sepit etc. they would use firewood to cook these. they'd prepare lemang, ketupat pulut to be eaten with thick beef curry. pure heaven.

then the everyday food ...her grandma's pajeri nenas, fish curry, prawn, egg sambal, beef kurma, kerabu kadok, ikan masak cuka, pais ikan, acar buah, ayam goreng jintan, turmeric squids, the different types of bubur... she loved them all. sweet sour bawal, fish head soup, butter cake, samperit cooked by her mum remained her all time favourites. even the cendol was home made! and the koay teow too. her mum also made savoury keropok ubi kayu, crunchy and yummy. her mum used to teach cooking to the villagers.

her grandma had this talent no one else had then - making or creating bunga gula or sugar flower. not the modern fondant kind. but sugar boiled and then pulled/stretched and folded while hot by hand! her grandma and mum would form petals, leaves, ducks, birds or hens from this concoction. sometimes her brother and she helped too. (hmmm... now she realised that as a family they were all artistic, talented with their hands!)

the end result was a huge lotus flower with a diameter of about 12 - 15 inches. or huge ducks. doves, hens. leaves. sometimes in pink. these were commisioned by people from as far away as the capital city for hantaran.

her grandma gained fame throughout the country through the bunga gula!