Chef Zam’s mission to save Terengganu’s forgotten recipes

KUALA LUMPUR: Terengganu may be best known for keropok lekor and nasi dagang, but the east-coast state is also home to lesser-known traditional delicacies such as pelara and kuih ba’it – dishes that are slowly fading into obscurity.

Concerned that the state’s rich culinary heritage could be lost, celebrity chef Zamzani Abdul Wahan, better known as Chef Zam, has documented 50 traditional Terengganu recipes in his new book, “Sedap Do’oh! Menjejaki Resipi Warisan Terengganu”.

The project took nearly three years to complete, with Zam painstakingly researching, verifying and documenting each recipe to ensure these culinary traditions are preserved for future generations.

“Many young people today have never heard of pelara,” he said as an example. “It is a dish made with budu (fermented anchovy sauce) and grated coconut. It used to be eaten with rice.

“Nowadays, those who still know how to prepare it are mostly the elderly.”

Speaking after the book launch late last month, Zam said his research uncovered many traditional dishes that are becoming increasingly rare, such as kuih ba’it.

Shaped similarly to kuih koci, it used to be widely sold by vendors at village markets. “When I was a child, kampung women would come to the market to sell kuih ba’it for about 10 sen each.

“Today, the women are no longer around and the kuih has become increasingly difficult to find,” Zam said.

He added that the preparation of the kuih also takes time. “You have to prepare the glutinous rice, cook the dhal filling, wrap it in banana leaves and then steam it. Not many people are willing to continue making it the traditional way.”

According to Zam, every traditional recipe is more than just a dish – it reflects the lives, culture and memories of past generations.

“Take kuih urat jati, for example. It is a type of pancake made with plenty of eggs before being rolled up to resemble the veins of teak wood.

“People in the past often named food after things they saw around them.”

He shared that another Terengganu delicacy, sagupal – a traditional dessert of sago and bean paste – always reminded him of his late mother.

Additionally, Zam’s 108-page book features keropok tumis, a snack he remembers buying at school during his childhood but is increasingly hard to find, especially outside of Terengganu.

“Culinary heritage is not just about food. It is also about memories, family, culture and our identity,” he stressed. “Most importantly, it is a legacy that we leave for our future generations.

“I hope more efforts will be made to document traditional recipes from all over the country, so that Malaysia’s culinary heritage will continue to be preserved and not disappear over time.”