Memories of another meal

Food is a central aspect of all our lives but because of its significance and presence, we may sometimes overlook the details. the food we eat, and even the food we don’t eat,but others don't. Our food changes ever so slightly each time we encounter them.  It is only when we stop for a moment to consider the food of our past that we realize how much they have changed.

The once humble Nasi Lemak has become an iconic Malaysian food. It has even made it onto the international stage by appearing in international cooking shows and competitions but the nasi lemak that we greets us when we open the packet in the morning has changed significantly from my childhood days.  When I was very young, the prepacked nasi lemak had half of an actual boiled egg. Today, you could still get half an egg but these would come with a bigger price tag. The more common cheap ones often come with a sliver of an omelette. The nasi lemak of my childhood years were prepacked affairs that we bought and took with us to work or on trips.  I wasn’t until I was in my late primary school years when the nasi lemak berlauk began to become more popular.  The nasi lemak sellers would pack your nasi lemak and add the condiments and dishes of your choice from the selection that they offer. Of course, the price is also bigger.

The nasi lemak packaging was also different. It is rare to find it today but once, the most common form of nasi lemak packaging was newspaper with banana leaf inner layer. Today they only put in a small piece of banana leaf for its scent but thankfully the newspaper is also gone, mostly, making way for the lined brown paper wrapping. Then there is the irksome polystyrene pack.

A friend told me a story of how local man took a foreign visitor for nasi lemak. It was served on a plate with the rice put on a piece of banana leaf. He had to take a call when the nasi lemak came leaving the visitor to sample the delight by himself. When the man rejoined the table, he asked if the visitor had enjoyed the nasi lemak. The visitor replied, “It was very nice but the salad was rather chewy”.

Back in my childhood days, there was actual meat in the fillings of karipaps. Today, it is not uncommon to find the karipap fillings made almost entirely of either potatoes or sweet potatoes with a hint of the meat of your choice. You often will not find an actual piece of meat in the filling though.

The burger is a predominant favourite among Malay hawkers. You can see these burger stands almost everywhere.  Once upon a time, Ramly burger was the only name you would see because they were the first to make Halal sausages and burgers. Today there are numerous other brands available.  My first experience with this family of foods however was with the hotdog not the burger. It was at the MARA building in Kuala Lumpur which, once upon a time, served as a station for MARA’s long distance busses . So when I accompanied my parents to either pick up or send off relatives from the east coast who travelled on these busses, I would often get to buy a hotdog from the hawker at the corner.  Today, that hawker is gone, the building has been rebuilt and on the spot where the sausage stand once stood now stand a MacDonald’s.  It wasn’t until I was in my later primary school years when the burger became more popular and more readily seen. I did not encounter that monstrosity called the egg banjo until a few years later. I guess it is true that you cherish the first encounter the best because to this day, I still prefer the hotdog to the burger. The term hotdog has also become so commonly used that it has replaced the world sausage in common Malaysian usage. I once went to my local grocer and asked for frankfurters. The man said he did have those. I asked for sausages and he said he didn’t have those either. He then offered me hotdogs if I wanted them. 

 When my parents took me and my siblings to Mamak restaurants, I often ordered mee rebus. Back then it was available at almost every Mamak place we went to. Today however, it seems quite difficult to get mee rebus and much harder to get good mee rebus. This I find strange because the mee rebus is actually not that difficult to make. Certainly it is much easier than some of the dishes they sell at the Mamak places.  

I have memories of eating out with my family but I don’t recollect eating at tomyam places. The tomyam restaurants do not appear in my memories until my early high school years. I wonder when the invasion really began. Today, one’s choices for eating out, of the budget friendly kind, seems to be mostly limited to Mamak restaurants, Tomyam restaurant or Chinese restaurants (halal ones for me). There were times when I found that I had to travel a fair bit to find other fares.

Another fond food memory that I have is of the roti john which I first encountered when I was back on holiday after my first year abroad. It was at a stall in Klebang, Melaka. A few years later, they could be found at almost every night market in the country. 

Alas that was another time, another meal.