The Culinary Heart Of Pahang

The queen’s cookbooks have the power to take us through a historical culinary journey. Manveet Kaur finds out the essence behind this multi-cultural journey of taste.

- Manveet Kaur

When Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Sultan Iskandar is passionate about something, Her Majesty puts heart and soul into making it happen. She drew on a love for cooking and good, authentic food to compile two cookbooks of traditional Pahang recipes to preserve what is an essential part of the state’s heritage.

The queen’s enthusiasm for her culinary journey was palpable. “If I hadn’t compiled these recipes, they’d be lost forever to the next generations,” she said of the effort to trace back some of Pahang’s vintage recipes which have “lost their way through time”.

“I have to be clear. These recipes are not mine. They are traditional recipes from the villages all over Pahang that the womenfolk shared with me. The Pahang Royal Museum and the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) helped me in my search.”

Her Majesty went on to recount, excitedly, how she and her team scoured every nook and corner of the state to collect these recipes, using all means possible. For example, to reach a particularly rural area called Kg Bantal in Jerantut, the queen – who then held the title of consort to the regent of Pahang – dismissed palace protocol of taking a helicopter, travelling by boat instead for more than three hours over fast-flowing waters. The team went to all 11 districts of Pahang, and after 10 months of travelling, some 500 recipes were gathered.

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