sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bandung (drink), Hainanese curry rice, Malaysian Cantonese, Malaysian cuisine, Malay cuisine

The Sustainability of Heritage Among The Millennials

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shahrim Ab. Karim Suhaila Abdul Ghafar Faculty Of Science And Technology Universiti Putra Malaysia Contents

1. Malaysian Heritage Foods 7. Current Eating Behaviour of The Young Generations In Malaysia 2. Where Do Our Heritage Foods Come From? 8. Eating Outside The Home 3. Common Heritage Foods Enjoyed 9. Factors Contributed To Eating Out By Every Malaysian 10. 4. Malaysian Food Identity 11. Convenience Food 5. Activities In The Past 12. Factors Influencing the Fast Food & 6. What’s ? Convenience Food Consumption Contents

13. The Impact of Young Generation’s Current Eating Habit 14. What Can We Do?? 15. Conclusion Malaysian Heritage Foods

Malaysia is famous for being the home to heterogeneous mix of races and ethnic groups which comprises of , Chinese, and Indian, and some other minority groups. This makes Malaysia as a country that is rich with cultures and traditions which can be seen through its heritage foods. Food heritage is associated with classical and traditional foods that are continuously practiced by all generations without major alteration of the original flavours. It can also be reflected from the environment history, belief, ideology and food technology of society in an era or period of time (Utusan, 2010). Where Do Our Heritage Foods Come From?

The Melaka Empire

Acculturation and assimilation of multiple ethnics

The introduction of herbs and from foreign traders Common Heritage Foods Enjoyed by

Malay Foods . Rich with herbs like lemongrass, , dried and fresh chilies, and . . Malay dishes can be distinguished into a few methods of cooking namely masak merah ( ), masak lemak ( milk), masak asam (sourish tamarind) and masak pedas (spicy). . Popular dishes that cannot be missed are such as ( steamed ), belacan ( paste with pounded chilies), (dried ) and serunding (beef floss). . , or barbequs meat on a stick, is originated from Malay has presence in restaurants all over the world today. MaClahiy nFeoseods

Nasi Lemak Beef Rendang Satay Chinese Foods . Chinese foods has been assimilated with local . . In China itself, Chinese are divided into so many provinces namely the , Hakka, , , Teochew and so forth. . In Malaysian, Cantonese food makes the most presence with its stir fry and method. Chinese dishes such as , sweet and sour dishes, char siew (sweet barbecued pork), (herbal ) are a few popular dishes. . Steamboat or fondue is also widely available and can be a great experience. Chinese Foods

Hainanese Chicken Rice Char Kuey Teow Soup Indian foods . Indian food has very much integrated northern Indian and southern Indian cuisines when they reach Malaysian shores. . Popular for their , leaf rice and such as , and (prata in some countries). . Indian food has also been assimilated with Malay food through their mix marriages of Indian Malay. The result is Mamak food, which cannot be found in India, itself. Indian

Roti Canai Malaysian Food Identity

• Malaysian cuisines is a smorgasbord of cuisines originating from the various ethnic and cultural communities that have lived and live in Malaysia such as the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan, Peranakan, Portuguese, and Kadazan, Dusun, Iban and Indonesian communities. • Although these cultural communities are proud of their traditional cuisines and continue to preserve their culinary heritage and traditions, the food has evolved and adapted to the Malaysian environment – adding new, hybridized, delicious dishes to the existing traditional cuisines of the communities. • Thus, food identity in Malaysia is gradually being formed through acculturation (food knowledge, social interaction and media) of the foodways (preparation and consumption). or Curry shows the perfect example of .  It is a dish consisting of in thick coconut milk based curry broth, flavoured with chilli, spices, lemongrass, and served with meat, , and .  The curry laksa is made of ingredients commonly found in traditional dishes of the three main ethnic groups in .  It is a hybrid dish made through the fusion of elements from different cuisines but the elements and flavours of each cuisine (, Indian curry and Malay herbs) are still discernible in spite of being fused together in the dish.  It is an amalgam of traditional dishes from Thailand, with strong influences from places like and .  One of the characteristics of the traditional Malay food is their distinctive spicy and aromatic flavours.  It is also often described as spicy and flavourful as it utilizes a melting pot of spices and herbs where rice is the , balancing the spicy cuisine of this region.  Hot chilies, sour tamarind, pungent and fragrant coconut milk are common ingredients of Malay cuisine whereby various other ingredients such as , garlic, lemon grass, , and ginger are combined to develop a pounded paste called rempah.  Rich coconut milk is often used to give a creamy texture to Malay cuisine and ingredients normally used to give that irresistible fragrance include gingerbuds, pandan leaves and . Geographical region  The northern states are known for their hot and spicy food (Sharif, et al., 2013).  The Malay cuisine in southern states are known for its rich, hot and sour (Sharif et al., 2012).  Javanese influences – jawa, mee ,satay and (Muhammad, Zahari, Sharif, & Abdullah, 2016; Sharif et al., 2012).  Minangkabau influences – masak lemak cili api is a popular Malay in (Sharif et al., 2012).  The central regions are recognized by its rich gravy.  The eastern states are more associated with sweet yet rich with (Sharif, et al., 2013).  Thailand influences – and were under the influence of Siamese monarchy in the past (Sharif, et al., 2015a). Kitchen Activities In The Past Processing Food Ingredients  The cooking process starts with the washing of all the ingredients and then placing them in the central kitchen area.  The designated tools are used to grind chillies, rasp , pound spices Coconut rasper and cook rice. Some tools require the person to sit on them while working, such as the coconut rasper.  Rice and other dry ingredients are usually stored in the covered Tempayan or Jar while wet ones are used instantly. Tempayan Cooking  Cooking area is the most important area for food preparation. Dapur Kongkong or hearth acts as a stove.  The mixture of soil and salt is poured on the surface as the heat insulator and to prevent the occurrence of Dapur kongkong fungi/mold.  It consists of three parts, a Sabak (furnace) and two Tungku (riser stone with double horizontal rod iron). Women would stand in front of Dapur Kongkong, or sit on Bendul or sill while waiting. Bendul Food Preparation

 The central kitchen area will be cleaned once the cooking is done. Tikar mengkuang  Tikar Mengkuang or mat will be laid while eating.  The dishes and cups are taken out from the Para or shelves. It has two-door leaves and a built-in cantilever protruding through the kitchen wall.

Para Storing  After each , cleaned utensils have to be kept or stored in Para or shelves.  However, larger utensils such as pan, pot or kettle is kept at a store room where they are mounted on the Pemidang dinding and alang Pemidang Dinding (wall stud) and Alang (truss) with nails.  Others are stored in the Peran or Attic. The Peran is a mezzanine floor between kitchen and a roof.

Peran  The remaining of the food is kept in Almari.  Almari is a free-standing shelved cabinet which is supported by four posts and closed by two door leaves, which is covered by micro hollow metal wire for air circulation. Almari What’s Cooking?

• Many heritage food ingredients are no longer available in its traditional form (Sharif et al., 2015a). • Some ingredients come in a different shape while some in a modern packaging. The innovations of heritage food ingredients involve technology development and adoption where modernization extensively shapes the production, processing and the distribution (Sharif, Nor, Zahari, & Muhammad, 2015b). • For instance, today's younger generations can simply use food colouring such as green food colouring to achieve desired colour when making Malay traditional food or while in the past, the older generations have to grind the screw pine using to obtain the green colour extract.

VS • The modern eating utensils such as paper and plastic also has promoted the consumption of convenience food. Nasi impit and (rice or glutinous rice wrapped in leaves) is now easily available in the market as it comes in various packet form and they just need to be boiled before consumption. • The improvisation of traditional cooking equipment like mortar and pestle, and wooden kitchen, to the modern cooking equipment such as gas stoves, oven, mixer, and stainless-steel pot, has facilitate the young generations in preparing and cooking food for their family. Current Eating Behaviour of The Young Generations In Malaysia

Eating outside the home Convenience food

Fast food Eating Outside The Home

• Eating out can be defined as the consumption of all food that takes place outside the home (Pawan, Langgat, & Marzuki, 2014). • Ali and Abdullah (2012) suggested that the practices of young generations’ eating behaviour can be distinguished through dining place, time of eating, type of food and the eateries themselves. Factors Contributed To Eating Out

1.Multiple income • It means higher purchasing power and disposable income to spend on various things that they might households not able to afford before, such as eating out.

• Implies to: 1) People who work away from home and Limited time 2) working women

A trend among urban • They are unable to go home to eat workers, students • There is no food in the house and families 1.It is a common practice for people to dine out

The increasing development of the dining places

1.Conducive ambiance and services are provided for those who want to enjoy foods with friends and family in a jovial or relax manner.

7.Spend time together as a family and eating out on the weekend Large screen that displays sports and movies as well as free Wi-Fi access are provided

1.The presence of 24 hour restaurants is easily accessible – eating time is also no longer restricted to the normal meal time

1.The desire for convenience Fast Food

. According to Lim, Tan, and Tan (2013), fast food refers to food that is processed and prepared using standardized ingredients and production technique. . Restaurants that serve fast food is called fast food restaurants. Fast food restaurant is typically considered as franchised restaurant which offers fast service and the food is served quickly. . The younger generations prefer fast food because it can be prepared in a matter of minutes and ready to be consumed. . Fast food is convenient, reasonably priced, and can save them the trouble of cooking. Convenience Food

. Convenience foods is often defined as any fully or partially prepared foods in which preparation time, knowledge, culinary skills, or energy inputs needed to prepare the food have been transferred from home kitchen to the food processor or any other food distributors (Daniels and Glorieux, 2015). . Convenience does not just comprise of food that is easily available and ready to be consumed. It covers the entire food provisioning. . Convenience consists of three key components which are time, physical energy and mental energy that is spent on purchasing, storing, preparing, cooking and consuming the food. Factors Influencing the Fast Food & Convenience Food Consumption

1. Time-saving 2. Convenient, reasonably priced, and can save them the trouble of cooking 3. Easily accessible 4. Multiple income households & increasing number of women working - they are too tired and/or do have sufficient time to prepare and cook home-made food. 5. Lack of confidence in cooking skills 6. Technological advancements – can be seen through the use of convenience ingredients, modern eating utensils, and modern cooking equipment. The Impact of Young Generation’s Current Eating Habit

• Some ethnics are reported not only facing the deskilling issues related to domestic cooking skills but starting to lost the heritage food culture (Stringer, 2010; Bowen & Devine, 2010). • Chenhall (2011) noted that transition of heritage food practices are less taking among the young generation primarily owing to the increased availability of processed, pre-prepared and convenience foods within the retail and foodservice environments. • Consequently, the heritage practices may be forgotten by modern practitioners and young generations (Pieniak, Verbeke, Vanhonacker, Guerrero, & Hersleth, 2009). What Can We Do??

• Parents’ attitude and behaviour serves as the main socialisation agent and gatekeepers to the children’s eating behaviour (Pedersen et al., 2015). • The young generations learn to cook with their family such as mother, father and grandmother. By cooking together, the transmission of heritage food knowledge between older generations and young generations will occur. • In general, the traditional food knowledge transmission refers to a cultural tradition of sharing and passing down the collective understanding of food, recipes, cooking skills and cooking techniques from one generations to another (Kwik, 2008). • Moreover, family involvement in planning and preparing traditional food will affect the children’s eating behaviour and food consumption of Malaysian heritage foods. • Bava et al. (2008) stated that children who grow up relying on convenience foods will have high possibility of continuing to do so as adults. • Vise versa, when family consume and practice Malaysian heritage foods at home, the children are most likely to consume the Malaysian heritage foods when they grow up and eventually, they will be able to influence their children in consuming and practicing Malaysian heritage foods. • In addition, social environment also plays an important role in shaping the young generation’s eating behaviour. • Training program such as teaching Malaysian Heritage Foods to share knowledge about food heritage and cultural diversity with educators should be developed. This can help teachers develop their content knowledge and teaching skills within this topic area. • This way, food knowledge can be transmitted and this will enables the young generation to get connected with the heritage food practices which eventually, ensuring the sustainability of Malaysian heritage foods. Conclusion

Malaysian heritage foods must be preserved and sustained to ensure that we don’t lose our heritage food culture and food identity. Therefore, it is very crucial for the young generation today to learn about Malaysian heritage foods so that the future generations can have the chance to enjoy our treasure foods. Thank You [email protected] IG @drshahrimkarim