BiblioAsia‪+‬ National Library, Singapore

MasterChef Singapore judge Damian D’Silva grew up by the sea and spent many happy hours foraging for horseshoe crabs, shellfish and sea snails that would end up in the cooking pot. In this episode, he talks about how his childhood and grandfather influenced his cooking philosophy, when he found his calling in the kitchen (later than you'd expect), and what's left for him after winning the prestigious culinary award La Liste.
Chef Damian D’Silva is a judge on MasterChef Singapore and the first Singaporean to be awarded the prestigious culinary prize Artisan & Authenticity Award 2024 from La Liste, a French ranking and restaurants guide. An advocate for local culinary heritage, he helms Rempapa, a multicultural restaurant serving dishes from the ethnicities in Singapore.
What Damian Talked About
02:15 – Why Damian chose to cook sea snail and papaya curry on From Book to Cook
04:26 – Foraging in the sea and on land
07:46 – His fascination with Western culture and food as a teenager
08:28 – The Malay and Peranakan version of the sea snail and papaya curry dish
08:50 – His experience of growing up in a community with different ethnicities
10:09 – Foraging for horseshoe crabs and cooking them
12:32 – About his grandfather, who had the greatest influence on Damian’s cooking journey
14:20 – The difference between a cook and a chief
18:01 – When Damian found out that cooking is his calling
20:26 – Why heritage cuisine is important
22:45 – How Eurasian cuisine is unique
25:23 – What’s next for Damian D’Silva after winning the Artisan & Authenticity Award 2024 from La Liste
27:53 – Why he has not written a cookbook
29:18 – The hardest thing about being a chef
32:28 – The one thing Damian would rather buy than make on his own
34:06 – Food is…
Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/sea-foraging-eurasian-cuisine/transcript
Watch Damian make sea snail and papaya curry: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/videos/sea-snail-papaya-curry/
Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore: https://form.gov.sg/616799db4d9b61001398f79b

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Damian for coming on the show.
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.

Growing up as a Chetti Melaka (Peranakan Indian), Tanya realised her family was different when she was seven or eight years old. Her family spoke Malay at home, ate sambal belacan, and had huge parties with a lot of unusual food. In this episode, Tanya talks with pride about the rituals of the ancestor worship known parachu and the cookbook containing traditional recipes of the Chetti Melaka community. 
A Peranakan Indian, Tanya Pillay-Nair is the coordinator of the cookbook Heritage Food of the Peranakan Indians in a Chitty Melaka Kitchen (Peranakan Indian Association of Singapore, 2023). The book contains close to 100 Peranakan Indian recipes, from everyday dishes to festive fare.
What Tanya Talked About
01:58 – Who the Chetti Melaka are, and where they are from
04:32 – How the Chetti Melaka are different from and similar to other communities
05:19 – The importance of food culture especially in ancestor worship known as parachu
10:04 – The language spoken by Chetti Melaka
10:37 – The musicality of the community and a version of the song Di Tanjong Katong commissioned by the Chetti Melaka (Peranakan Indians) Association (used with permission)
12:10 – The local community in Singapore and origins of the Chetti Melaka Association
15:00 – How the book Heritage Food of the Peranakan Indians came about
19:59 – Tanya’s background as a Chetti Melaka
23:11 – Classic Chetti Melaka dishes
24:44 – How the Chetti Melaka otak blangah is different from the usual otak-otak
26:29 – Reception of the book
29:06 – A must-try and simple dish in the cookbook
29:30 – The importance of preserving heritage food
30:11 – Food is…

Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/food-peranakan-indians/transcript
Watch Tanya make otak blangah: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/videos/otak-blangah/
Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore: https://form.gov.sg/616799db4d9b61001398f79b


This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Tanya for coming on the show.
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.

Set up by five Buddhist women in 1946, Loke Woh Yuen was the first Chinese vegetarian restaurant in Singapore. It employed an all-female staff, was known for its popular shark’s fin made from maize, and was sometimes so packed that it had to set up dining tents that stretched to the main road. Its efforts to spread vegetarianism were complemented by other Buddhist women and nuns who wrote cookbooks and fundraised for charity.
Kelvin Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history from the National University of Singapore. He was a research assistant for the project “Mapping Female Religious Heritage in Singapore: Chinese Temples as Sites of Regional Socio-cultural Linkage” funded by the National Heritage Board.
What Kelvin Talked About
01:48 – The founders of Chinese vegetarian restaurants in 1940s–50s
05:28 – The most popular dishes at the vegetarian restaurant Loke Woh Yuen
06:26 – How Fut Sai Kai Vegetarian Restaurant differs from Loke Woh Yuen
07:26 – Ko Tian-gu, the founder of Fut Sai Kai
08:37 – Cookbooks that helped to spread vegetarianism
10:57 – The famous vegetarian soon kueh recipe by Abbess Yang Qincai of the temple Hai Inn See
12:24 – Legacy of early Chinese vegetarian restaurants in philanthropy and Buddhist education
13:55 – Resources Kelvin used in his research.
16:40 – Why early Chinese vegetarian restaurants have Cantonese heritage
18:58 – The vegetarian dish that Kelvin wants to master next


Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/chinese-vegetarian-foodscape/transcript
Watch Kelvin make soon kueh: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/videos/soon-kueh/
Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore: https://form.gov.sg/616799db4d9b61001398f79b

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Gibson Analytics. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Kelvin for coming on the show.
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.

A tireless steward of Malay culture, Hajah Asfiah worked all her life to preserve and pass on Malay crafts. When she was just 10, she began teaching embroidery and flower arrangement in school. Later in life, she was a mak andam (wedding attendant) for more than 20 years and worked with more than 1,000 brides. At age 65, she got her cookbook Hidangan Warisan Kita (Our Heritage Dishes; 1986) published by Times Books International; it was the publisher’s first cookbook, written in Malay by a Malay person. The book had recipes for dishes that have since become extinct. Sadly, she died a year later, but thanks to the book she wrote and the many courses she taught, her memory lives on.
Toffa Abdul Wahed is an associate librarian with the National Library, Singapore, and works with the Singapore and Southeast Asia Collection. She has written about cookbook author Siti Radhiah and belacan in BiblioAsia.
What Toffa Talked About
00:26 – About bunga kobis (flower of the cabbage), the dish Toffa made in Season Two of From Book to Cook
03:57 – Why bunga kobis is a special dish
04:30 – The complicated process of making the six-layer dish
05:39 – Why Toffa chose to make this dish for the video
06:39 – Toffa's special family connection to the dish
07:36 – How Toffa practised making the dish for the video
09:43 – When bunga kobis was a trendy dish at Malay weddings
10:16 – The secret to making bunga kobis
12:00 – Garnish and presentation for the dish
13:42 – Why Cikgu Asfiah is considered a guardian for Malay arts
15:35 – Cikgu Asfiah's background
18:07 – Why Cikgu Asfiah was invited to teach at age 10
18:40 – The significance of her first cookbook Hidangan Warisan Kita
20:01 – Why she decided to write a cookbook
23:00 – Why her cookbook had limited reach
24:08 – Her work as a mak andam (wedding attendant)
26:15 – How her children helped her
28:43 – What a mak andam does
33:21 – The resources Toffa used to research on Cikgu Asfiah
35:42 – Why food history is important
37:35 – Food is…
Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/hajah-asfiah-guardian-traditional-malay-culture/transcript
Watch Toffa make bunga kobis: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/videos/bunga-kobis/
Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore: https://form.gov.sg/616799db4d9b61001398f79b

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Gibson Analytics. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Toffa for coming on the show.
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.

You hear Malay, Javanese, Tamil and Punjabi as you wander the streets with shops selling colourful textiles and carpets, spices and flowers. Here you find different curries and bread, nasi padang, sup tulang, mee siam, a Javanese kitchen, Hainanese coffeeshops. Bookstores sell literature and newspapers as far away as Cairo. In this episode, Khir tells us about the Kampong Gelam he grew up in.
Khir Johari was born and raised in historic Kampong Gelam, Singapore. He studied mathematics at Santa Clara University in California, and completed a masters in education at Stanford University. Since returning to Singapore, Khir has focused on research into the food cultures of maritime Southeast Asia. He is the author of The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels through the Archipelago (Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2021).
What Khir Talked About
02:32 – The origins of mee maidin, the dish that Khir cooked in From Book to Cook
07:18 – Kampong Gelam as the incubator for the Nusantara (Malay World) kitchen
09:19 – Four main streets in Kampong Gelam selling food, including the only place in Singapore that sells mee odong
14:35 – The origins of mee siam
17:46 – Three types of mee siam that came out of Kampong Gelam
18:36 – Khir’s childhood in Kampong Gelam, where the Tamil Muslim community organized an annual commemoration of a Sufi saint
20:23 – Publishing houses in Kampong Gelam
22:51 – Why Khir spent 10 years writing the book The Food of Singapore Malays
27:12 – What Khir is working on now
28:38 – Khir’s dream job if he lived in Kampong Gelam in the 19th century
29:37 – The most maligned ingredient in Malay cooking
31:15 – The one recipe in his book Khir wants people to try
33:07 – Food is…

Read the transcript: biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/kampong-glam-kitchen-malay-world/transcript/
Watch Khir make mee maidin: biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/videos/mee-maidin/
Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore: https://form.gov.sg/616799db4d9b61001398f79b

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Khir for coming on the show.
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.

Kueh pie tee is not a pie that goes with tea. So where did the name (and dish) come from? Award-winning cookbook author Christopher Tan combs through old newspapers and cookbooks, in search of the origins of the dish.
PS: Dates back to 1570!
Christopher Tan is an award-winning writer, cooking instructor and photographer. His articles, columns, recipes and photographs have appeared in many publications, including Singapore's Sunday Times and Straits Times, The Peak magazine, and America's Saveur magazine. He has authored and co-authored many cookbooks, most recently Nerdbaker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies (Epigram Books, 2024). He loves making meaning with words, images and food. 

What Christopher Talked About
02:11 – The origins of the dish kueh pie tee
11:43 – Why make kueh pie tee shells when they can be bought
13:29 – Christopher's tips for deep-frying
13:54 – What's special about Susie Hing's 1956 cookbook In a Malayan Kitchen
16:39 – How Christopher connected with Hing's family
18:03 – Hing's background
18:55 – Different influences in Hing's recipes
21:36 – Why Christopher shares old recipes and cookbooks on his Instagram account
23:48 – The value of local vintage cookbooks
25:20 – Christopher's latest cookbook, Nerdbaker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies
29:07 – Why toddy (fermented palm sap) is used in baking
35:50 – Christopher's dream filling for kueh pie tee
36:57 – The dish Christopher wishes he can master
38:21 – How Christopher tests his recipes
38:58 – What Christopher would rather buy than make on his own
40:23 – Food is...

Read the transcript: biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/kueh-pie-tee/transcript/
Watch Christopher make kueh pie tee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFO2cLUDagE
Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Christopher for coming on the show.
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.