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Sago, Coconut, Palm Sugar

Friday, 2 Apr 10

Memory is an odd thing. Sometimes it is clear, evoked by a certain scent drifting past, the smell of a bakery that reminds you of that cake your grandmother used to make on rainy sundays afternoons, of the fruitiness of  that shampoo that leaves a bittersweet note, because it had been so present when you ran your fingers through that someone’s (now gone) hair. Other times, it hits you completely unexpectedly, when you try something you thought was new. A barely tangible familiarity that lingers on the edge of your tastebuds, teasing and prodding gently, until…That’s it!

That coconut candy we spent a whole summer hoarding jealously after a trip to muggy Vietnam. For dad, it was the cake his mother used to make in his childhood. Sago, palm sugar, coconut milk. Something from a place different from home, but striking each of us in its familiarity. So, inspired, I borrowed the flavours from that Malaysian dessert, sago gula melaka, that Tim’s family had introduced us to, and created something I hoped would evoke those fragile threads of memory from in others.

It was a success with the extended family at Tet. It’s hard to go past the deep, almost burnt caramel notes of palm sugar, softened by silky coconut pannacotta. The acidity of passionfruit gelee, though thoroughly breaking tradition, prevents the dessert from being too cloyingly sweet, while pearls of sago provide a link back to the original inspiration. (Can you tell I was a Visual Arts student with a flair for justifying my work after the fact?). Not that anyone really understood the links back to sago gula melaka. No, instead, I hope they were drawn to search out the ends of a memory thread of their own.

…Though I’ll settle for them acknowledging it was a damn good dessert too.

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Posted at 12:40 pm in Desserts, Recipes | Respond?

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