Filipinos and Malaysians share gastronomic passion

A chef at the Grand Riverview Hotel demonstrates how to cook a traditional Malaysian dish,
with the Kelantan River at the backdrop.

If there's one thing that Filipinos and Malaysians have in common, it's that both love food and gastronomic experiences that is rich and flavorful to the last bite.

Malaysians like their food full of color, especially when it comes to their desserts, which would send sweet-tongued individuals straight to heaven. Like the Philippines, each region in Malaysia feature their own delicacies that help give its locality an identity molded through generations.

To further drum up tourism in the quaint province of Kelantan (an hour plane ride from the capital, Kuala Lumpur) and its many delicious food offerings, the local arm of Tourism Malaysia launched the “Kelantan Food Trail” attended by more than 50 press people and travel agencies from Southeast Asia. [The Philippine Daily Inquirer, represented by yours truly, was the only Philippine contingent].

Needless to say, the 4-day “Kelantan Food Trail” was full of cooking demonstrations, trips to places where local cuisines are best served, and events that center on—wait for it—food. In short, it was death by dinner.

“Kelantan is known as the 'Cradle of Culture' so we wanted to highlight the unique and delicious food that can be found here because a place's local delicacies and cuisine speak volumes about the area and its people,” said Nor Aznan Sulaiman, Tourism Malaysia's senior deputy director for domestic marketing division.

According to him, out of the 24.5 million tourists that visited Malaysia in 2010, some 240,000 (based on hotel occupancy) went to the quiet town of Kelantan.

“The product is there—Kelantan itself, we just have to develop it. At the same time, we don't intend to change the identity of the city at all. The people of Kelantan is ready for tourism,” Nor said of the pre-dominantly Muslim region.

A woman serves "crab meggi"

Among the many food that they introduced to the participants is “dodol,” a sticky and sweet dessert made from coconut milk, jiggery, and rice flour. Dodol owes its delicious taste and aroma to 8 hours of constant steering in a big wok.

There's also the “kuih akok,” that is arguably the most popular food in the east coast states, particularly in Kelantan, thanks to its sweet taste that is achieved from burning cocunut milk slowly using coconut husk. Then there's “kuih sepit”—a crunchy cake that is almost always present during special occasions in this part of Malaysia.

“Sometimes, we don't start appreciating the food until we get to understand and see for ourselves how it is prepared or what kind of ingredients make it up,” said Nor. “That's why we wanted to show the participants the art of traditional manufacturing and cooking demonstrations, too.”

While the 4-day trip has food at the center, Tourism Malaysia also brought the participants to sidetrips that give them a deeper understanding and appreciation of kelantan such as visits to a kite-making community; a bird singing competition; and a factory that produces silver ware and accessories. Participants stayed on different partner-hotels such as Tune Hotel; the Renaissance Hotel; and the Grand Riverview Hotel.

Completing the “Kelantan Food Trail” was the “Festival of 100 Rice” at the Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV where, from the name itself, a hundred different ways of enjoying rice were on display.  It is literally rice heaven on earth.

This festival and the 4-day food trail at large served to confirm what is already obvious—that, again, like the Filipinos, Malaysians are big on food that is nourishing both to the body and soul.