Experiencing Culture Through Cuisine

At Old Trail, food is viewed as much more than merely a substance to feed the body. Rather, it’s a window into another culture—opening students to a world of new spices, geographic regions, people and experiences. Continuing a tradition established last year, two more cultural family recipes have been introduced to the monthly lunch rotation.

TERIMA KASIH

Thank you TEACHING AND LEARNING

SELAMAT MENCUBA!

Malay@Bahasa Malaysia: the official language of Malaysia

Today, we explore two dishes brought to us by our very own Old Trail families: Mee Goreng (Malaysianstyle noodles), a favorite of Shaashwatiyaa Balamurugan ’24 and her parents, Balamurugan Lae Chimanan and Thulasi Kamalanathan; and Tahchin (Persian rice dish), introduced by Milan Haghnazari ’29 and his parents, Sogoli and Behnam.

MEE GORENG Balamurugan

Family

Please share the significance of this dish to you, your family or your heritage.

As Malaysians, we grew up with siblings from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. All religious and cultural festivities are celebrated together. The unity in diversity is aptly represented in our cuisine. Although we have many ethnic groups in Malaysia, our food resembles the amalgamation of spices and ingredients that are unique to ethnic groups.

Mee Goreng is a perfect representation of the unity amongst Malaysians as this dish combines spices, sauces and ingredients from all the ethnic groups in Malaysia. We have the traditional Malay ingredients such as Cucur (the fried fritters), and “sambal” (spicy condiment made from dried red chilies); chives, bean sprouts, soy sauce (representation of the Chinese cuisine), and curry powder (blend of turmeric, chili, coriander, cumin, black pepper and fennel) and boiled potatoes that represents the Indian cuisine.