Hana Knežević

Korean Folklore

6 December 2017.

Power point presentation Traditional food –Malaysian traditional food

So in this power point presentation we talked about traditional food from Korea and Malaysia. Since I
already had some insight in Korean cusine i decided to focus on Malaysian food.

First point we can make is Why did I decide to write about Malaysian food? I decided to write about
Malaysian traditional food since I've never had any expirence with their food and it seemed like an
interesting way of finding out about their food. Croatia does not provide much of their food, here
and there we find some Indian or chinese food but not the proper/true kind, mostly fusion.

Why are there so many varieties in their food? Malaysia is the home of several ethnic groups. It
found its roots in the colonial period in which hundreds and thousands of immigrants came there to
find an honest living in the country prosperous. The arrival of Chinese and Indian migrants certainly
increase the culinary scenes and without them Malaysian cooking and recipes, in general their food,
would not be so colourful and beautiful as it is now. Malay’s famous food is called ‘Nasi Lemak’ ,
famous Indian’s food is curry while Chinese famous food in Malaysia is called ‘ Nasi Ayam’( chicken
rice).

Why do they use so many fruits in their dishes? Malaysia's tropical climate allows for fruit to be
grown all year round. A huge variety of common and obscure fruits, either locally grown or imported
are available throughout the country. With that in mind, we can easily understand why they are so
many varieties in fruits. Most common ones would be banana- pisang, durian, guava, cempedak,
jackfruit, honey dew and many more. They are mostly used as deserts.

Why is bread not as represented in Malaysia? Malaysia does not produce wheat, and all supplies are
imported from wheat-producing countries. With that in mind and with all the immigrants that came
to Malaysia, it’s easy to conclude that they brought their versions of bread, like Indian bread- Roti
Canai and even western white bread. The Chinese also have their versions of bread , the traditional
one would be wheat-based pleated steamed bao or pao

Why do some Malaysians drink alcohol while other shy away from it? Though Malaysian law forbids
Muslims from imbibing alcoholic beverages, the rest of the population is free to do so. Licensing laws
for the sale of alcohol are regulated by local municipal councils, however, and will vary from state to
state. Major tourist and metropolitan hubs, such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Baru and Melaka,
generally have a more concentrated availability of retail sales of alcohol, but in more remote areas
you may find that Chinese-Malaysian businesses are more apt to stock a selection of alcoholic
beverages than others.
Why don’t they eat certain kinds of meat? Since we already mentioned that Malaysia is a multi-
cultural country and a big part of their population is Muslim, they cannot eat pork. While Malay &
Indian Muslim eateries and government offices/functions serve Halal food, almost all Chinese
eateries serve some pork.

Why there so many spices in Malaysia and where did they get them from? India and South East Asia
was a treasure house of exotic spices and Malaysia, in particular was known for its pepper. The
southeast state of Malacca in Malaysia was an important naval base for trade routes from Europe,
India and China in 400 AD. It was the richest sea port in the world during 1500 and came to be known
as the most influential port in Southeast Asia which impacted the course of the Malaysia’s history,
culture, cuisine and traditions.