The town itself is interesting. Quite Chinese-influenced (Malaysia's ethnic populations are Malay, Chinese and Indian) Ipoh today is a blend of authentic old stuff, alongside some quite smart and thoughtfully conceived hipster places. So you'll find interesting, locally-executed, modern cafes and boutique b+b's, alongside fab old peranakan architecture and Chinese hawker stalls. I guess what makes Ipoh currently different from some other towns in this region, is that it has yet to become properly touristy (ie a plasticated and homogenised 'Asia' for foreign audiences) or too gentrified like the now very beautifully restored (and expensively desirable!) heritage areas of Singapore. A lot of Ipoh still has unique charm. Be it the old stuff - which is still reminiscent of the 60s and 70s in this region - or the new, which has definite Malaysian roots.
One detail which slightly surprised me in the old Chinese hawker places, however, were ubiquitous period posters for what looked suspiciously like my mother's homemade English creme caramel dessert. It's the first time I'd seen such ads in this region. And yep, it was the same dessert!
Creme caramel is an old European recipe. The name is French, but the pudding's exact origins might be French or Spanish. In the 20th century it became especially popular across Europe, including being on-trend in 1970s and 80s Britain (when my mother used to make it!)
But the Brits didn't introduce it to old colonial Malaya. Seems this tasty pudd was imported way before that, by the Portuguese in the 1500s, and it began to gain Southeast Asian popularity from there! Although I'd never encountered it before, turns out creme caramel - known in Malaysia as caramel custard - is a fairly traditional and popular recipe with all the ethnic communities there.
In fact, this dessert was introduced variously by the Spanish, French and Portuguese to all sorts of historical colonies and trading partners worldwide. And you will still find variants on these old recipes in Latin America, India, The Philippines, Japan, Vietnam and elsewhere! Who knew?
A truly universal pudding :)
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| Caramel custard image in Ipoh |
This post was first drafted in 2018.
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