Searching for Culinary Footprints: A Question of Cultural Identity - Kristang Foodways and the Portuguese Culinary Legacy in Melaka

Authors

Paula Arvela, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

139564

Publication Details

Arvela, P. (2019). Searching for Culinary Footprints: A Question of Cultural Identity - Kristang Foodways and the Portuguese Culinary Legacy in Melaka. In C. Leong-Salobir (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of Food in Asia (pp. 73-88). London, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Abstract

This study follows the culinary footprints left by the Portuguese in Southeast Asia. It focuses on the foodways of Gente Kristang, a small community in Melaka who still claims identity ties with their Portuguese forebears. The objective is to identify, examine and make sense of a process of culinary hybridisation that developed centuries ago and still persists in territories from where the Portuguese political influence has long gone. The cultural and culinary legacies persevere and have become the representation of the layered narratives rooted in these communities.