For someone who cooks as much as I do, cookbooks are necessity. I tend to flip through for inspiration and sometimes just for a good read. The best cookbooks are the ones where the recipe tells a bit of a story, it gives us an insight into the author’s life, their cooking rituals, and the specialty dishes that come out of their kitchen.

This is why I found this book particularly endearing. Marina Mustafa chose to pen down her family’s recipes passed down from generations. She calls it her “personal diary with recipes”. A personal diary indeed, this book gives us a glimpse into traditional Malay cooking for all the special occasions. It highlights the types of foods that are necessary at each one of these events all based on her personal experiences. The pages are filled with tiny anecdotes as well as her family photos taken during the relevant events.

Each occasion is detailed followed by the recipes of food typical to the occasion. For example, she explains Aqiqah, which is the slaughtering of lamb when there is a new baby born into the family. This is usually done on the seventh day of the baby’s birth. The spiritual reasoning behind it is to show thanks for the birth of the child. The food that is then prepared on this occasion would utilise the lamb parts once it has been slaughtered. The traditional dishes that are served would be the Bokhari Lamb Rice, Makhtum (a sort of lamb stew), Ribs of Lamb Soup, Kormak Kambing, and Chickpeas Tomato Lamb.

The recipes Marina provides are meant to be for larger gatherings which can be a bit of a problem if you’re attempting to scale it down for a small dinner, but then again most of this cooking is done by look and feel and often varied a bit to suit individual tastes so do give it a try.

"She calls it her “personal diary with recipes”"

Being a bit of a Rendang Nut I decided to give her traditional Rendang Rembau from Negeri Sembilan recipe a try. This is cooked during the ritual of Cukur/Potong Jambul. This follows the birth of a baby where the newborn’s hair is shaved on the seventh day and then weighed. The equivalent value of the hair’s weight in gold is then donated to charity.



It was my first time attempting rendang and as I mentioned before the proportions are for a much larger crowd but I scaled it down and it turned out very well. The meat was tender and it was very rich in flavour. This is certainly a rendang for special occasions.

Ingredients:
6 kg Beef
3 Litres coconut milk
½ Cup oil
10 Stalks lemongrass, bruised
A palm sized galangal, bruised
5 Cups water
3 Turmeric leaves, sliced thinly
5 Kaffir lime leaves, crushed
2 Cups chilli paste
4 Tbs kerisik
3 Tsp salt
3 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs sweet soy sauce

To Blend:
500gm Shallots
1 ½ Inches Ginger
6 Cloves garlic

Heat oil in a large heavy non-stick wok. Sautee the blended ingredients till an aroma is released. Put in the chilli paste and cook till the oil rises. Add in the beef and then the water. Cook till the beef stock dries up. Add in the coconut milk and cook further.

Put in the galangal and lemongrass. When the coconut milk has concentrated and thickened put in the kerisik. Sprinkle in the turmeric leaves and kaffir lime leaves. Lastly, flavour with soy sauce, salt and sugar. Enjoy!