Kam Raslan’s Talking Edge

(Reprinted from The Edge – Options pullout, 10 October 2016 issue)

Hi Kam,
My wife thinks she is very sophisticated and likes to cook high-class, meals such as Jamie Oliver’s shepherd’s pie. She gets upset when I cover it in chilli sauce. She says I’m not being “authentic”. What is she talking about?
Expert eater

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has managed to get himself in trouble with Spain by posting a recipe for paella that includes a Spanish sausage called a chorizo. What’s wrong with adding chorizo? Isn’t it Spanish? But according to Spanish purists, you simply do not add chorizo to paella. I guess it would be like serving rendang on a bed of noodles. Each might be delicious in its own right but combining them is inauthentic. Oliver received advice from Spaniards on Twitter on making fish and chips with aubergines and chicken nuggets with his fingers. Nowadays, we all want to be authentic.

I remember watching a British TV show where people were invited to submit their recipes for a new dish for a supermarket chain. A Malaysian living in Britain almost won the competition (naturally) with her family recipe for prawn mee. The judges loved it but in the final stage, one of them said, “This is delicious, but I think we should replace the prawns with chicken”. And she replied, “But it’s called prawn mee”. She refused to replace the prawns with chicken and so she lost the competition — all because she insisted it’s called prawn mee. It tastes delicious because it has prawns, but so what? Just replace the prawns with chicken and call it “Penang Chicken Noodles”. And why not throw in some pineapple at the same time?

It might be funny how the British feel they can change traditional recipes but Oliver’s paella fiasco has made me wonder: Have I ever actually eaten Thai food? I’ve eaten lots of Thai food, but have I ever eaten authentic Thai food? Some English friends took me to a Thai restaurant in London. It was awful but they loved it, and they were upset with me when I (repeatedly) pointed out that it was disgusting and inauthentic. For instance, for some reason, the Thai restaurant served “sar-tay”. This was lumps of meat on a stick that had been spray-painted with a colour that must have been called “Malaysian Brown”. I felt very superior, which for me was the best thing about the meal.

But then I went to Bangkok for the first time and ordered a red curry. All the Thai people around me were tucking into their curries and I was very excited. Unfortunately when I finally ate my food, it was disgusting. And for a moment I thought to myself, “This isn’t Thai red curry”. But of course it was. I was in Thailand eating Thai food that Thai people were loving. But I didn’t like it. I decided I would go back to Malaysia to enjoy real Thai food cooked in the traditional way by Bangladeshis.

Does it matter if the food and culture we take from another country is inauthentic? Does it matter if Oliver is serving paella with chorizo? I feel compelled to think that it is important to get a glimpse of a real lived experience and to show respect for that culture. But it is hard work trying to be authentic and it never pays off. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to eat the paella that Spanish people eat. I might travel to Spain but I’ll be served the muck that tourists have to eat, or I can scan the internet to find the real thing in Cordoba, but even then I won’t know for sure. There will always be the suspicion that there’s some other place that I don’t know about that is more authentic, more real. But even then I’ll probably wish I could add some chilli padi because it’s boring.

It’s hard work and probably not worth the effort and yet when I’m in some out-of-the-way stall in Kuala Lumpur tucking into real Malaysian food, I wish that others could enjoy the same experience. They might not like it, it might not even be any good, but this authentic experience is exceptional and I only wish I could do the same in Spain, Thailand or even Britain. In the UK, they eat Indian food that people in India would find weird and disgusting. But chicken tikka masala is authentic in Britain and Oliver has a great recipe.

Kam,
What on earth is happening in Malaysian politics?
Absolutely irritated

I find it very hard to understand or agree with the direction that Malaysian politics is now taking. It is all too strange and heartbreaking, and so I have found myself ignoring red shirts, electoral redelineations and the amazing fact that 1Malaysia Development Bhd does not appear to be a problem anymore. That answer to that issue reminds me of Ross in Friends, when he kept saying, “We were on a break!” Nobody believed Ross, but I guess he just did not say it enough.

Every so often I find myself taking a break from Malaysia’s unhappy stories. I think many of us are doing the same seemingly defeatist thing, even though that is precisely what is hoped for. But it would be an error to read the quiet as acceptance.

Dear Kam,
Is it my imagination or did nine Australians get arrested for stripping at the noisy motor car race thing?
Naked ambition

So nine young Australian men were arrested at the Formula One Malaysia Grand Prix for stripping off their clothes to reveal swimming trunks inspired by the Malaysian flag, and so they were arrested. This has been an opportunity for a rare moment of international bonding as Malaysia and Australia discover that we both lack a decent sense of humour.

Apparently, in the culture of Australia, it is a mark of respect for young men to take off their clothes, hold a beer in one hand and shout, “Woo!” I did not know that about Australian men. Fortunately, Malaysia grabbed the chance to show the world what a lack of a sense of humour really looks like, and so they were arrested and held in detention for several days.

Didn’t these young Australians realise that F1 racing is a traditional Malaysian pastime and that Western-style japery is completely out of place in that venue? Watching high-performance cars race around a track at great speed should be an opportunity for quiet reflection. Shouldn’t it?

Reprinted with the kind permission of