The Kenyahs' Taste Buds

"I am a Kenyah from the Baram," introduced Rita, an accounts clerk with Dynasty Hotel. She was giving an interesting speech for her Toastmaster's Assignment during one of the club meetings.

"How she talked about her own people and her people's tastes in food caught my attention. She was smooth, gentle and cheerful. No hard sales talk, no apologies at all and that was what most listeners like," our mother informed us.

(This is an extract from our "table topics" at home.)

What did we learn from her speech? We have a few Kenyah friends but what Rita said was very interesting and thorough.

Kenyah's tastes:

1. "We like bitter food." That was surprising to us. According to Rita, the wild shoots in the jungles of the Baram are usually bitter. And perhaps it is this bitterness in the shoots and other vegetables, which the Kenyahs like, that give good health to her people.

2. "We cook fish wrapped in leaves like banana leaves, daun long,etc in the river stones which are heated up by drift wood. This kind of cooking lasts a long time. In the past, we did not have refrigerators. So food by the kerangan or river fords, last long. We like cooking outdoors. furthermore, we do not use much salt. Salt was not easily available in the Baram the past, unless we did trading with the Kelabits. But today, we can buy salt in big cities like Miri. No problem with salt today. But we still do not eat very salty food."

3. "We boil a lot of our food in a natural way in bamboo." Rita further informed the audience. Although the food may be considered bland to many others who are used to curries, barbeques, etc. we Kenyahs like this kind of simple cooking. It is healthy and kind to the body."

4. "We sun dry our meat when the hunters come home with their game. This will keep the meat long and clean. Later we will cook the meat again, e.g. boil the dried meat. Add some slices to porridge or vegetable soup. It is very delicious."

5. "We cook rice in bamboo also. Some times we boil the rice with a bit of salt and make it very soft and then wrap up in leaves. These we can carry all over, when we go farming, visiting relatives in a different part of Baram...These are our tastes and we are very happy with how we cook. "

these points from Rita are jewels indeed. For we are peeking through a window into Kenyah life.

To us, it is always interesting to learn about other peoples' ways. In Sarawak, we have the opportunities if we care to open our minds and take time to appreciate the world around us. It is a world given by God the Almighty.

It is indeed a rich land to grow up in.