Cynthia L. Herzog 
The desserts come in vibrant shades of green, brown, yellow and blue – all dyed naturally using ingredients such as pandan leaves, gula melaka (palm sugar), turmeric and blue peas. For example, when performing apom berkuah (rice flour pancakes), a few drops of blue pea tea are added to the batter and swirled to give each pancake a pretty blue spiral.
Unique to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, Peranakan food originated around the 15th century. It is often considered one of Southeast Asia’s first fusion cuisines, blending Malay, Chinese, European and Indian influences.
Men from southern India, China and Europe – many of whom were single – had sailed to Southeast Asia in search of the riches of maritime trade. Some of them settled in the port cities of Malacca, Penang and Singapore along the Malay Archipelago and started families with the local Southeast Asian women. The descendants of these blended families were called Peranakan, which means “local born”.
In a patriarchal system, women were responsible for the household. They cooked in a style they had learned from their Malay and Indonesian mothers: lots of stews and curries cooked in a plethora of local herbs and aromatics – lemongrass, blue ginger, pandan leaves, to name a few. just a few – that helped preserve food in a tropical climate without refrigeration, said Lee Geok Boi, author of In a kitchen born from the strait and other cookbooks.
