Varied, complex Southeast Asian flavors
“For this exhibition, we interviewed immigrants from four countries, and presented spices and dishes from seven countries in Southeast Asia,” says curator Emily Hsu-wen Yuan.
There are many kinds of Southeast Asian spices, and this results in a rich, multi-layered cuisine. On display are ten containers of spices including pepper, cloves, tamarind, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cardamom, cumin and candlenuts. “And those are just the basics!” she says.
Yuan emphasizes that a more authoritative list would also have to include the herbal plants displayed on the walls, such as mint, lemongrass, Vietnamese coriander, pandan leaves, makrut lime, sawtooth coriander, turmeric, and Thai holy basil leaves.
At times the information she gathered about the region’s aromatic plants approached explosive proportions. Prior to conducting interviews, Yuan prepared background materials on ten plants per country, and notified her interviewees of the content of their talk. But some enthusiastic respondents added another 30. “We actually use this many spices back home,” they said, leaving her almost overwhelmed.
Ester Kartika Condro, who is from Indonesia, brought sand ginger, her favorite, to the interview. When peeled it is white, and if you taste it, it is not as hot as Taiwan ginger, which can make you choke, but it does possess a refreshing mint oil fragrance. Sand ginger is not only edible, she said, it also has medicinal properties. Her mother grinds it into a paste that she applies to the abdomen to reduce flatulence. Feng Chun-yan, from Myanmar, revealed that her father adores lemongrass. After boiling it to make soup he likes to chew on it, and can’t bring himself to just throw it away.
The exhibition doesn’t just bring to light little-known usages for seasonings; nostalgia for the immigrants’ homelands is also revealed. “When they recount their memories about spices, their eyes often turn red, or they seem to revert to their teenage years, as if they were young girls again at their mother’s side,” describes Yuan. She admires the courage that brought these female immigrants to Taiwan on their own, and their strength and perseverance in facing the challenges of their new lives.
The enthusiastic women immigrants often went on at length, describing the delicious flavors of their hometown dishes. “During the interviews, when I didn’t feel like I was starving, then I was so moved I thought I’d cry my eyes dry,” says Yuan.
Outside the exhibition, a seedbed is planted with aromatic plants to allow visitors to smell their fragrance and identify them based on shape. Pictured is sawtooth coriander.