The stories behind some favourite Singapore foods that travellers love to bring home with them.
Recently on a flight from Singapore to Bangkok, I watched a passenger carrying perhaps fifteen bags of salted egg fish skin struggle down the plane’s narrow aisle to his seat. Reaching up, he placed his fragile bounty in the storage compartment overhead and settled into his seat. Then a stewardess came by carrying a cabin bag, hauled it high and shoved it in alongside his crisps. With it came the eye-watering snap and crackle of expensive gourmet crisps turning into crumbs. We watched in horror and shook our heads in commiseration. In that moment, the man’s souvenirs—which encapsulated the identity, associations, feel and flavour of Singapore and which probably cost him a pretty penny—crumbled into bits. Fellow passengers quietly suggested a formal complaint to the airlines.
But why the fuss? In the eyes of food-loving travellers, certain foods are associated with particular cities or regions around the world. As important as it is to see famous landmarks, it is just as necessary to taste and if possible, bring home the flavours of the land—a gustatory snapshot of one’s travels. It extends one’s holiday experience, allowing them to recreate the flavours they enjoyed on travels, or share the experience with friends in small way. But while it would be tricky to bring home bowls of assam laksa from Penang, one could easily haul back a few boxes of tau sar piah, which is equally synonymous of that other great food destination up north. Similarly, foodies would buy home limoncello and almond dragées from Sorrento, chocolates from Belgium, olive oil from Greece, baklava and pistachios from Istanbul, wagashi from Japan, for instance.
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