BarkellWH -> RE: Spanish Gastronomy (Mar. 16 2016 15:48:17)
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When it comes to seafood, one thing seems to lead to another. In addition to giant tiger prawns, I long ago discovered two other favorite dishes in Southeast Asia, primarily in Malaysia: Sting Ray ("Ikan pari" in Malay) and curry fish head ("gulai kepala ikan" in Malay). Sting ray is one of the culinary wonders of the world. I tasted sting ray for the first time in 1983, shortly after arriving on assignment in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Previously, I had never thought of sting ray as edible, much less the delicacy it really is. It quickly became (and still is) my favorite sea food. I ate it frequently at sea food specialty restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore. Sting ray in Malaysia is prepared two different ways. The Malays grill it and the Chinese steam it. I much prefer the Malay style of grilled sting ray. The sting ray belongs to the shark family and has shark-like cartilage. The Malays grill the wings and serve them with chili sauce and other condiments. One just takes the beautiful white flesh of the wing off the cartilage and tastes the sweetest of sea foods. When I was assigned to the American Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, twice I took leave for two weeks at a time to ramble about the Riau Archipelago, which begins just south of Singapore and runs more or less along the South China Sea side of Sumatra. I first went in 1997 and enjoyed it so much I went again in 1998. My Malay language ability was (and remains) very good, and the Malays of the Riau Archipelago are considered to speak the purest form of Malay, as they are the remnants of the Malays of Malacca, which in the 15th century was the main entrepot of the Eastern spice trade. In 1511 the Portuguese defeated them, and they retreated south to Johore, finally centering their court in the Riau Archipelago. I was anxious to hear what linguists consider a reasonably pure form of Malay. I flew to Singapore and took a ferry to the island of Bintan, which begins the Riau Archipelago. After a few days in bintan, I paid Malay boatmen and fishermen to take me to several islands in their prahus. I spent a few days on Lingga and surrounding islands, finally ending up on Singkep, where I spent several days. In each place I got to know the owner of a kedai, an open air restaurant or stall (Riau lacks the modern restaurants of Singapore and Jakarta--for the most part one eats in what are known as "kedais," particularly in the southern part of the archipelago.) In each place, I made a deal with the owner of the kedai that I would go to the fish market every morning to pick up the finest sting ray I could find from the catch that was brought in from the night's haul of fish, I would bring it to the kedai owner that morning, and he would prepare it for me when I showed up for dinner each evening at about 7:00 PM. I was in linguistic and culinary heaven, learning the Riau dialect of Malay and having Malay-style, grilled sting ray for dinner each evening. It doesn't get any better than that. Curry fish head in both Malaysia and Singapore was originally brought to the Malay Peninsula by South Indian (Tamil) immigrants. The Malays and Chinese (including the Nyonya Chinese of Malacca and Penang) have created their own variations. Snapper is considered the finest fish in preparing curry fish head, and the sweetest, most tasty parts are the cheeks. And, of course, the curry adds the spice and zip. Really delicious. I consider Malaysia and Singapore to have the widest variety of delicious food of anywhere in the world. The ethnic groups--Malay, Chinese, and Indian--each have their own dishes, and each is influenced by the other groups' additions, styles of preparation, and sauces. Bill
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