Culture Blog Entry 1: Food and Costumes

It was a wonderful Saturday lunch experience, where I indulged in some authentic Peranakan delights in one of the finest Peranakan restaurant in Singapore, the True Blue Cuisine (shown in Figure 1) located at Armenian Street.

Figure 1: True Blue Cuisine at Armenian Street

Upon my arrival, I was warmly greeted and seated by a Peranakan waitress, Dorothy who decked out in the traditional sarong kebaya (shown in Figure 2). She was being very hospitable and served me some Peranakan red date tea upon seated to start it off. The hospitable service and atmosphere totally makes you feels like you’re dining at a Peranakan friend’s home!

Figure 2: Dorothy in her sarong kebaya

Describing the Peranakan cultural expressions through the cultural windows of food, one of the must-try Peranakan dish I ordered was the Ayam buah keluak (shown in Figure 3). The symbolic meaning of it being such a classic Peranakan dish is the cooking principle and strong tradition of Ayam buah keluak, that resulted in its recipe been passed down from generation to generation, making it a truly authentic Peranakan dish. In fact, it is a norm for such classic Peranakan dishes’ recipe to be passed down from generation to generation. The chef of True Blue Cuisine, Baba Ben, culinary skills was also passed down by his mother.

In addition, as part of the Peranakan culture, true Peranakan cuisines are very elaborative and require many hours of preparation.

Figure 3: Ayam buah keluak

Apart from the classic Ayam buah keluak, some of the other Peranakan dishes I’ve tried are (shown in Figure 4, from top to bottom and bottom left and right): Chap chye (mixed vegetables), Itek sio (duck braised with sweet coriander powder), Ayam buah keluak (chicken stewed with black nuts), Jantong pisang (banana blossom with cucumber), Otak otak (spicy fish paste wrapped in banana leaf) and Udang ketak (haypoh) cha sambal (slipper lobsters in spicy taste).

Figure 4: Various Peranankan dishes

Moving on to the cultural windows of costumes, I made a visit to True Blue Shoppe that is also owned by True Blue Cuisine, located just a few steps away from the restaurant after my lunch. True Blue Shoppe sells various types of books to develop one’s knowledge and keenness to discover Peranakan culture, retailing items from books to food goodies and sarong kabayas to jewelries (shown in Figure 5 and 6)

Figure 5: Sarong kebaya in glass display at True Blue Shoppe

Figure 6: Jewelries in cabinet display at True Blue Shoppe

A sarong kebaya is a translucent and embroidered blouse worn with batik sarong by Peranakan ladies. The symbolic meaning of a sarong kebaya is a work of art, showing the labour of love, heritage and timeless. Its elegant and feminine design makes its attire for the Nonya to wear for all occasions and ages. Jewelries can often be worn with the sarong kebaya as it complements the overall look of a Peranakan lady with a social status of wealth, artistocracy and nobility.

Apart from food and costumes, some of the other visible features I observed were those exquisite Peranakan ornaments, paraphernalia and lamps displayed in the restaurant. The different types of porcelain and ceremonial wares (shown in Figure 7) actually has a symbolic meaning too. Peranakans maintained different types of porcelain and ceremonial ware for use in dining occasion such as for every day meals and for offerings to ancestors and deities.

Figure 7: Restaurant's porcelain and ceremonial wares

The lanterns placed side by side of the doors (as shown in Figure 1 earlier) is believed that it symbolizes good fortune and prosperity that are supposed to bring much luck and wealth to Peranakan members. Such symbolic meaning actually also brings in to the restaurant’s business context.

From the lectures I have attended, some key learning points that helped me to better understand the significance of these expressions of cultural practices are the cultural evolution – which I have understood that it is essential to preserve and promote heritage and appreciate it. For instances, I’d thought Peranakans would have stopped wearing their traditional sarong kebaya in today’s era. But it was the otherwise. Such cultivated behavior could stop the evolution and pass from generation to generation, preserving their real cultural significance.

Furthermore, the learning points of food includes the rationale for the Peranakans to actually take hours to prepare their food and ways of preparing, as every single attention was closely paid for the preparation to bring out its’ dish authentic taste and consumption significance. Lastly for the costumes, some learning points adopted are what all the embroideries on the sarong kebaya are, along with the actual interesting meaning for people to make and wear it, what do costumes reveal about culture and cultural identities such as adornment.