‘Treasure in new book on Sarawak food’
by Edgar Ong · Borneo Post OnlineLAUNCHED on Wednesday (Dec 17), Heidi Munan’s latest book ‘Sarawak – The Story of Our Food’ is an astonishing, amazing and illuminating work of research and insight.
The 144-page softcover is full of photographs – in colours, and black-and-white.
There are historical factual accounts based on written sources, and oral history culled from many interviews and years of intimate and diversified personal incursions into the lives and livelihoods of family and friends from all strata of society.
Having first landed in Kuching after getting married to Iban scholar and historian Sidi Munan, Swiss-born Adelheid Oettli (who later had a column under the pseudonym ‘O.T.Li’) has spent more than 60 years in Sarawak.
She has written and published no less than 16 books since 1988, starting with the ‘Culture Shock – Borneo’ series and her last was in January 2023, ‘The Sartorial Heritage of Sarawak’.
In 2012, Heidi had also authored a book called ‘Food Heritage of Sarawak: A Cultural Perspective’ for the Department of National Heritage.
Her new book ‘Sarawak – The Story of Our Food’ is mighty in content!
Within its pages, photos and illustrations, I have found answers to many questions:
• what did the people of Sarawak eat before there was rice?
• is it possible to live off the land in the rainforest, riverbanks or hillsides?
• how was food procured, produced, prepared and shared?
• what role has religion and superstitions played in our food?
• how has the average local Sarawakian’s taste palate evolved over the years?
The book starts in the Niah Caves, and takes us on a foodie trail through the centuries.
It delves into how the merchants of old, the sailors and traders, the colonialists and travellers had brought new food into our towns and into the countryside.
It tells us the evolution of how population movements affected our food choices.
Heidi’s new book traces the ever-changing food scene of Malaysia’s largest state.
Archival records, old books and many printed sources provided her sufficient material for the historical part of her exciting tome.
For most of the more modern developments of the past century, she had depended on accounts culled and compiled from many interviews, letters and emails and texts from folks who had experienced them first hand.
One of the best features of the book, for me personally, were the anecdotes dotted on each page.
I give you an example.
On page 37, there was a side-story insert which told a short three-paragraph real story of a Kuching family helping out in bringing in the net of a fisherman’s catch of ‘ikan pusu’ (anchovies) at a coastal village.
It was a most touching, heartfelt, true-to-life story (no spoilers here – buy the book to find out the ending).
Did you know that long before rice, the staple food of the locals was ‘linut’ (sago porridge), which Heidi describes thus in her book: “Linut is a white sticky glutinous mass, which (unlike rice) cannot be easily eaten with your fingers.
“The Penans use a peculiar double chopstick with a slightly spatulate end, made of light wood.
“The sago is placed in deep wooden platters, the clean craftsmanship of which at least makes the sago look a bit more palatable.
“Taking the chopsticks between thumb and first finger, you place the two ends in the sago, twirl quickly three or four times, then raise the resulting wrap-up to the mouth and suck off firmly.”
Besides highlighting the historical importance of certain food items of Sarawak’s many diverse races and cultures, Heidi also writes about the styles of cooking, the cookware used and the many varied forms of food deemed to be treated as common daily fares versus those reserved for special occasions.
There are those for folk medicine, there are the ‘invalid’ and taboo one, and those for feasts and celebrations.
However, please do not expect anything resembling a cook book – there are no recipes shared and no family-kept secrets being disclosed there.
Oops – I spoke too soon!
There’s indeed a page of one single recipe, which is one for ‘Manok Pansuh Recipe’ (Chicken in Bamboo with Herbs).
Personally, I am impressed with the amount of information that Heidi has collected and researched, and her well-informed ability to share with us all that wealth of data in such a relatively brief 144-page volume, in a manner so concise, clear and lively.
At the Wednesday book launch, during the Q&A session, I did ask of Heidi that of all of the Sarawak foods she had taken, what’s her personal favourite.
Her answer was the ‘durian tempoyak’, with bacon bits and fried onions, with some white rice.
For those unfamiliar, ‘tempoyak’ is fermented durian flesh, de-seeded and salted.
Depending on personal preference, fermentation may be between two and three days to achieve that mildly sour taste, and between seven and 14 days for it to be a more pungent and sourer.
Some might prefer to fry it very slowly in a wok over a low fire, cooled down and left for a day or two before eating.
Heidi has one ‘wishful thinking’ mission for the authorities at the Sarawak Cultures Museum to consider as well.
With all the wealth of their vast collection through the decades from all the many different races and cultures in Sarawak, there would be more than sufficient exhibits and data relating to ethnic local Sarawak foods and other objects pertaining to our native cuisines, as well as those adapted or modified; for example the Peranakan and Eurasian and others, to warrant an entire space to be dedicated to the ‘Foods of Sarawak’.
Won’t that be an exciting additional attraction to the museum’s already popular appeal and global significance to their future visitors?
To conclude, I would recommend that you buy yourself a copy (or copies for family and friends) – just in time for Christmas – Heidi Munan’s ‘Sarawak – The Story of Our Food’.
May I wish all my dear friends and readers everywhere a most blessed and happy Christmas of 2025!
Love, peace, joy, and the best of health!
* The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist’s own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper.