Tjaart Potgieter
LIFESTYLE
Malay/Indonesian food is an important, if often unexplored, part of our cultural heritage. It reached our shores during the 18th century in the hands of slaves brought from Sumatra, Java, Bali and other South East Asian islands, indiscriminately called Malay because they all came from vaguely the same place “out there”.
Most of them were Muslim, and they were called “the kings of all slaves” (to quote an unidentified 18th-century slaver) because the men were “excellent carpenters, tailors, musicians, coachmen and fishermen”, and their wives excellent cooks who could play the range of exotic spices that came with them like harpists.
In time, and the tangled webs it weaves, the food they cooked acquired some Indian and some specifically local tones, and it lives on in dishes that have become part of all our lives: sosaties (satay), bobotie, koeksisters, blatjang (chutney), atjar, sambals, and many more.
I remember living in Cape Town in the Seventies, trying to recreate an “authentic” waterblommetjiebredie from a recipe recorded by the Afrikaans poet, doctor and gourmet Louis Leipoldt, and after quite a search finding fresh “sari” leaves at a vegetable stall on the Parade – they added a tantalising citrus aroma to the dish. Later, much later, when Thai food became all the rage, I realised … it was lemon grass, of course!
Which brings me right back to the present: from May 15 to June 11 we can all go to our local “Nick’s original” Fishmonger restaurant and rediscover some food roots by ordering from the chain’s country-wide “Fishmonger’s Singapore Food Festival Menu”, presented in conjunction with Singapore Airlines, which seems to be by general consent probably just about the classiest airline in the world at the moment.
They flew out a master chef, Alfred Ng, from Singapore’s Merchant Court Hotel, to assist the Fishmonger’s chefs in preparing authentic dishes like prawn satay with peanut sauce (R20,95), crispy fish in chilli sauce (R39,95), chilli or black pepper crab – with crab-crushers (you’ll need them!) – (R49,95) and an interesting- sounding dessert: red bean soup (R12,95).
Singapore or prawn noodles are served with all main dishes, and you stand a chance, as long as stocks last, to get a stunning free coffee-table promotion book, Singapore Live. If you’re really lucky, you might win the two air-tickets to Singapore that also go with the menu!
I met chef Ng, and tasted his prawn satay. He is a master chef: the peanut sauce is nothing short of brilliant (funnily enough, chain owner Nick Georgoulakis told us how difficult it was to find fresh lemon grass after they discovered at first tasting that the dried version just didn’t quite do it), and the crab is wonderful, as long as you’re willing to get your fork, fingers and face in there and lick it all off afterwards. A bib and crab-crusher are obligatory – they tell me there will be crab-crushers, but I’m not too sure about big napkins, so it might be worth bringing along your own, or at least not wearing a super-expensive shirt/ jersey/blouse and so on.
The crispy fish and chilli sauce and the Singapore noodles were excellent as well, but I didn’t get to taste the drunken prawns or the red bean soup. I’ll just have to go back for those, won’t I?
Nick’s Original Fishmonger restaurants can be found country-wide. This review was based on a meal at the Illovo outlet: Tel: (011) 268 0068