Now is a good time for food lovers in Sarawak. The annual Ramadan Bazaars are finally here and if you love food, now is the time for you to be adventurous and to try all the interesting food and drinks at the different Ramadan Bazaars.
At these Bazaars, you can buy your favourite Malay food like mee goreng (fried noodles), nasi lemak (rice cooked with pandan leaves and served with a hot spicy sauce) and more!
Whenever I visit a Ramadan Bazaar, I look out for authentic Malay or Melanau dishes like “Rebung masak lemak” (Bamboo shoots in coconut milk), Fish Umai (dish of sliced raw fish with mixture of onion, chillies, salt and lime juice) or Prawn Umai (dish of sliced raw prawns with mixture of onion, chillies, salt and lime juice). Such dishes are really worth paying for because they are not easy to prepare.
The Ramadan Bazaars are a unique feature of the Ramadan month in Malaysia. For Muslims, Ramadan is a time for intense prayers and fasting.
This year, it began on 27 May and will end on 24 June.
There are Ramadan Bazaars all over Malaysia. They allow Muslims to buy food and drinks for the breaking of fast. But as pointed out by Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg last Saturday when he launched the Ramadan Bazaar at Taman Mini Satok in Kuching, the Bazaars are not just visited by Muslims who are breaking fast but also by non-Muslims.
Among these non-Muslims are food lovers who know how to appreciate good food when they see it. And at the Ramadan Bazaars, good food certainly abounds.
Do you know that you don’t have to travel all the way to Semananjung Malaysia to taste West Malaysian food?
Some of my friends, who are serious foodies, recommend visiting Ramadan stalls near army camps or inside the army camps if you want to taste authentic West Malaysian dishes. I hope to follow their advice this year.
There is also no need for you to travel all over the world just to get a taste of the food around the world.
If you live in Kuching City, you can go for the Ramadan buffets offered by the big hotels and restaurants to get a taste of the food around the world.
Before visiting a Ramadan Bazaar, it is good to have a list of what you want to buy. Otherwise, you will end up buying everything you see. And believe me, at the colourful Ramadan Bazaar, all the food and drinks look good and appetizing, especially if you are hungry and thirsty!
You will only discover your folly later when you sit down to savour what you have bought and find out out that the food or dirnk is not as tasty as you have expected.
If you do not have a list of what you want to buy, you may also end up buying more than you can eat, thereby wasting food and your hard-earned money.
Now is also a good time for food lovers in Sarawak because of the upcoming Gawai Dayak Festival.
The festival is celebrated yearly by Dayaks in Sarawak on 1 June. It is to the Dayaks what the Chinese New Year is to the Chinese. Just as the Chinese community welcome their friends and neighbours to the Chinese New Year open house, the Dayak community will welcome their friends and neighbours to their Gawai Dayak open house.
At the Gawai Dayak open house,especially in the Iban longhouses, you will be served with tuak (rice wine) and traditional delicacies like “penganan” (cakes made of rice flour, sugar and coconut milk) and “Ayam pansuh” or “Manuk pansuh” (chicken meat in a bamboo).
In Sarawak, the Ibans are well known for their hospitality and one of the best times to visit Sarawak and enjoy their hospitality is during the Gawai Dayak Festival.
In my office, many of my Dayak colleagues are taking their annual leave during the Gawai Dayak Festival. I wish them and all Dayak friends who are following this column a “Happy Gawai Dayak”. To all Muslim friends, I wish you “Happy Fasting!”
