Dari Kebun Ke Dapur – From the Garden to the Kitchen

Nyonya cuisine owes its bright flavours to the leaves, flowers, and roots that go into dishes like Nasi Ulam (Herbed Rice) and Kerabu (raw salad).

Chakap Masak group leads you into the edible garden of a traditional Peranakan household. From bunga telang to daun kesum, learn how Nature’s bounty adds magic to our food.

Discover the secrets of classic dishes like Nasi Ulam and Kachang Botor Urap through our cooking demos, spiced up with a sprinkling of Baba Malay patois. Plus tips to cultivate a herb garden on your balcony and high-rise corridor.

Places are limited, sign up today!

Details of the event

Our guest participants:

Nyonya Sylvia Tan is the author of nine cookbooks including The Modern Nonya Table. It presents recipes for Nyonya food classics that caters to the modern busy cook yet retaining the well-loved tastes. Her recipe for Nasi Ulam allows anyone to enjoy this well-loved dish in the time it takes for the rice to cook!

Nyonya Lilian Chua is a fifth-generation Peranakan who picked up her cooking skills from her mother and in the hotel of her in-laws from Manado, Indonesia. She considers herself semi-retired and is active with the Gunong Sayang Association’s performing team.

Lilian is passionate about her heritage and is adept at restoring vintage kebayas using sulam or hand-embroidery as well as sewing kasut manek (beaded slippers) and preparing the bunga rampay (fresh potpourri.) Her last assignment was as a consultant to MediaCorp guiding the matriarch played by actor Zoe Tay in the Emerald Hill Chinese television series.

Lilian will demonstrate her mother’s Kachang Botor Urap.

Andrew Tay is a 61-year-old nature educator who is totally obsessed with plants and animals. He conducts nature study and organic food gardening programs. He is a co-founder of Cicada Tree Eco-Place, a local nature culture group. Andrew will share his knowledge on cultivating herbs and edible plants in Singapore’s high-rise living environment, based on his own large collection of potted plants strewn across the balcony and corridor of his 16th-storey flat.

About Chakap Baba-Nyonya group:

An informal group of like-minded individuals intent to revive the joy of speaking their mother tongue Baba Malay, a patois of predominantly bazaar Malay mingled with Chinese dialects and English.

The group has been meeting over the past four years to read Peranakan play scripts, stories, listen to pantun (verses) and songs, to strengthen their identity and generate friendship through their shared heritage.

Remarks by some members on Chakap Baba-Nyonya’s Facebook reveal a desire to stay in touch with the culture.

About Allspice Institute:

We are a Culinary & Hospitality Institution that focuses on Heritage, Culture and Wellness.
Our premise is spacious and conducive to conducting demos, events and even those as elaborate as the exquisite Peranakan Tok Panjang.