Heritage is key

Childhood memories shape who we are. And the food we eat as we were growing up, often has a huge influence on what our taste palettes veer towards as we grow into adults.  Some of us remain at that child-like level for the rest of our lives; chocolate and sugar has that effect on me.  But for the more dominant taste profile, my heritage has cast its influence. I’m of Dutch Indonesian heritage, living in Sydney, Australia  My parents, sibilngs and I immigrated from The Netherlands, when I was four, so I’m very Australian, but have a love of all things savoury. 

Peanuts, chilli, lemon grass, Indonesian spring rolls, and those irresistible charcoaled satays, are some of the savoury flavours I grew up with. My mother and aunties were amazing chefs in their own right (cooking, and feasting is embedded in my DNA and a defining part of my childhood). With parents who regularly catered for restaurants, it’s little wonder I feel at home in the world of creating and eating food. In far flung North Queensland, in the lush green hills of Kuranda, where I grew up, my father was famous for his homemade tofu, long before it became the popular staple it is today. When I eat tofu now, I always think of him. The tofu pioneer. 

Serundeng is made up of spices including minced onions, cumin (the one ingredient I added that’s not in many serundeng recipes I’ve seen), ginger, and galangal. Once you sauté those spices in the pan, you then add coconut and an amount of tamarind and gently cook this till the coconut takes on a lovely golden brown hue. It's a labour of love and can take up to 50 minutes of patient stirring on low heat. 

Recipes and their origin are the stuff of legends, some of these have taken generations to craft and perfect. I’m so grateful for the digital world in bringing millions of diverse recipes to our small screens. It’s the perfect way to discover new food journeys. Credit for this wonderful recipe to Anita, and you can find the method and ingredients here.