My Kitchen, 'Tis of Thee: Carrot Cake and Kristang

Yesterday, I went to the Eurasian Heritage Center by bus. In a little more than an hour, I crossed about half the island, travelling towards the airport. When I alighted, I was ready for lunch, so headed a block or two farther, to the nearest Hawker Center.

Modernised Hawker Center at Dunman Road.

It's located in a section of well-preserved shophouses, about three blocks from the sea. I've begun my photographic catalogue of hawker stalls. The last hawker on my circuit intrigued me.

Can you just make out the chef with his bright red hair?

My instincts were good; I had never had carrot cake in either its black or white form before. He kindly offered to cook me a $3 plate of half each. What is carrot cake? Chai tow quay pieces of steamed rice flour and radish, stir fried. The dark form is seasoned with sweet dark soy sauce. The light form is cooked with eggs.

Dark and Light Carrot Cake.

Delicious. The 35 year old chef sat down with me and explained that the dish is Teochew in origin, and that the Chinese prefer the light version. The dark is preferred by Thai people, it's too sweet for Chinese taste. The chef had wok skills!

Two giant woks.

Refreshed, I walked back to the Eurasian Heritage Center. A graphic explained that Eurasian refers to people who are a mixture of first Portuguese, Dutch, British and other European peoples, with Burmese, Ceylonese, Indian, Malay, Chinese or Indonesian peoples.

The first Eurasian came to Singapore with Raffles from Malacca. One Tomas Ferrao spoke Kristang as his mother tongue. I love Creole languages and Portuguese, and Kristang is creolized Portugeuse, but has vocabulary from Hokkien, Dutch, English, Hakka, Koncani and Malaysian.

In racially segregated colonial Singapore, Eurasians were not accepted as European, nor as Asian.

I was drawn to the brief section on Eurasian food in Singapore.

Contemporary Singaporeans attribute their cosmopolitan, adventuresome tastes in food to these early creations.