I am one happy chick. First I received a call from Solitude; my order on “Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III and Britain: The Making of Brunei Darussalam” has finally arrived. I believed I ordered it back during Ramadhan. But I will have to wait till pay day as it cost quite a bit.
Also, I finally got my hands on ‘The Traditional Cakes of Brunei’ book. I am deliriously happy!!! Okay, perhaps it is just a book, but the uniqueness is blatantly transparent from its title ‘traditional cakes’ of Brunei.
It is amazing how simple ingredients could make you a delicious ‘kueh kering’.
Also, just in case you are wondering, it is in English. This book is published by the Language and Literature Bureau (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka). Can you believe that it first came out in 1986 while the first printing for the English Edition came out this year? I only found out this year. Heh…
A recap on the contents;
Dry Cakes (kuih kering) – set your appetite for delicious Amping, Ardam, Bauhulu, Cacah, Cakul, Panganan Cincin, Jala, Jit Manis, Kekara, Kerutup, Koya, Kubal, Kulat, Kuripit, Liking Pisang, Liking Tibadak, Madu Kesirat, Panganan Papan, Roti, Sapit and Sesagun.
To be honest with you, I am only familiar with a few of the cakes. Perhaps I’ve eaten the rest, not knowing their names.
It also has a section on Wet Cakes and Types of Mould and Cooking Utensils.
I’m like a kid who just got her presents.
Can you blame me?
This books are priceless.
Hopefully the Department of Language and Literature Bureau will print more of this book. I’m sure plenty out there would want a copy.
Hmmm.. I wonder if I could extract each of the recipes here?
Borneo Bulletin
Brudirect
Brunei Daily Diary
Brunei Times
Global Voices Online
Posted by maurina on November 20, 2006 at 11:18 pm
Bulih, as long as you attribute the recipes to the respective books and year of publication. Macam any other book!
Posted by s.a.s on November 21, 2006 at 3:47 am
Thanks Maurina
I think I’ll try to extract some of the recipes here.
Posted by Fei on November 23, 2006 at 11:41 am
Oh! That first book should cost plenty!
Posted by s@s on November 23, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Hai Fei
I have no idea how the first edition looked like… hehehe… I dont think it was ever on sale though.
Posted by darbz on April 28, 2009 at 6:41 pm
heya. ehm, sry 2 disturb. i am a very lost stranger pondering the web 2 look 4 tidbits of info of makanan tradisi brunei. i have to find as much as possible espeacially about masakan tradisi brunei as i cud not find any info wat-so-ever anywher. i’ve tried buks but der’s nt reli much available buks like dat anywher. wud u pls help me n tell me da examples of masakan tradisi brunei? it will help a lot. (it’ll help more 2 extracrat sum, but i dun wan 2 trouble u 2 much).
plz help.
my life is in ur hands, well, its actually in my teacher’s. who will pummel me if i dun pass my project. my marks, 2 b exact.
Posted by bibz on April 28, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Hello darbz, I can only recommend you the book I stated above. You can go to Dewan Bahasa and it is available in English and Malay.
You can also try Brunei Darussalam Newsletter but they only show you the recipe of the cakes, not much of the background.
Is there any particular areas you want to look into?
Basically our traditional cakes are divided into two – wet and dry. The wet ones doesnt last that long while the dry ones can stand a much longer period.
A number of ingredients were used even until today.
And there are a variety of utensils used to make these cakes which we call “calak”. The Brunei Museum are now showing these calak and you can find an assortment of samples there too ( of the kuih ).
I hope these helped. If not, do get the book at Dewan Bahasa. If you have difficulties in finding this book, please tell me too.
Posted by tomoyo on June 17, 2009 at 12:43 am
Hi there
I found your site via google search. I was searching about kuih tradisional kitani and did not realise that they have published a book about it udah. I missed out on the calendar back in 2007 ..my mom makes alot of our traditional kuihs ani but I never got a chance to jot down the recipes ..bukan apa her measurements is of her own ia tah payah tu nah ^_^ I can ask her but i know ill be absolutely lost in her explanations hehe ..so anyway you advise to go to Dewan Bahasa to get it? How much are they selling it for? I’d like to give it away to my pen-pals as a cultural exchange. I wish DBP ani would sell it online kan bagus. I hope you’ll be able to help me out.
Terima kasih daun keladi…ada soalan saya tanya lagi ye ^_^
Posted by bibz on June 21, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Hello Tomoyo..
if inda silap, it cost less than $10 satu buku.. dlm $5 kali or around that. I’m afraid you might have to go to Dewan Bahasa to get it because yes, they dont sell it online. But the good thing is the book is bilingual.. they have it in Malay and English.. each sold separately, so it would be a good gift for cultural exchange 
Bah if ada apa apa.. give me a holler.
Posted by tomoyo on June 21, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Thanks Bibz, unfortunately ku dengar di DBP masa ni habis sudah, they are printing the 2nd edition (?!) And yes you’re right its a good gift for cultural exchange as we can promote our country’s food & desserts to other countries. I can only get it when I go home ..if not terpaksa bekirim arah peradian atu pun kalau durang sanggup venture into our ‘archival’ library ^_^
Thanks for the info!