A Cook’s Blast From The Past
By Sheere Ng - Wednesday, Aug 31, 2011
Imagine a recipe book that was written just after the Japanese Occupation, and way before Singapore’s independence… What dishes do you think the writer would recommend?
While browsing through the list of food books on the National Library’s online catalogue, I chanced upon Cookery Book On Local Food. It was published in 1946, a time when cookbooks were about function, not fashion.
As a young food writer, this discovery was exhilarating. The book was like a portal into my great-grandmother’s kitchen, teaching me how people of her time cooked and ate. It is, I believe, one of the earliest known recipe books on local cuisine. The librarian’s uptight mood seemed to suggest that too. To gain access, I had to submit a written request and my identification card. They would probably lock me up in a secret chamber if I were to leave my fingerprints on the book.
Anyway, the author’s name was unfamiliar, at least to me: Lois Theresa Kao. She wrote short and simple instructions, crammed up to four recipes on a page that just half a foolscap-sized. By today’s standard, the instructions would be considered terse or even unclear. But it was good enough for most women in those days; they had a wealth of cooking experience and an instinct that they could trust. A step-by-step guide would have been an insult to them.
Most of the recipes were for local Chinese cuisine, including familiar dishes such as “Groundnut (Peanut) Soup,” “Steamed Promfret and Carrot in Stew Beef” and vanishing flavours like “Cane Shoot and Pork” and “Dried Shrimp and Scallion.” Besides Chinese food, a few Southeast Asian recipes like “Curry Chicken” and “Tapioca Balls (Onde-Onde)” were also featured.
Kao also provided recipes on making Pau (Steamed Chinese Bun) and noodles from scratch. People didn’t buy them from the streets back then, but made them at home. Such concepts are now alien to the modern-day Singaporean whose spending power has driven them away from cooking.
As a reflection of the colonial rule, there were dishes with Western influences like “Boiled Garoupa with Butter Sauce” and downright English food like “Beetroot in French Dressing,” “Roast Turkey” and “Maize Scones.” Even the measuring units were written according to the old British imperial system. Volumes, for example, were given in “pint” rather than litre.
Finally, there was a whole section dedicated to offals, such as “Sheep Brain and Egg Fried,” “Heart and Pork in Sauce” and “Ox Tripe in Sauce.” This practice of eating from nose to tail could be associated with the desperate times shortly after World War II. Rice cracker (made of leftover burnt rice), crumbs from stale bread and candied orange peel showed how people in the past turned “inedible” materials into food.
Based on the introduction and foreword, the author was working in the Singapore Public Relations Office while preparing this book. She studied culinary arts in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore but was also familiar with the American and European methods and theories.
Despite her exposure to cuisines from various continents, Kao seemed very much in tune with the local taste. The recipes in the book are both down-to-earth and accessible by the ordinary households.
While the recipes are rather comprehensive within the realm of local Chinese home-cooked food, I was left with many questions about the author. What was her background? Why did she publish a recipe book and what were her cooking philosophies?
I attempted to find out more about her via the internet but did not yield any results. If you happen to know her, do let us know so that we can learn more about this mysterious food veteran.
Note: I will attempt a few of her recipes so look out for my next installation!