SINGAPORE - A new cooking e-book was launched at community and lifestyle hub Heartbeat@Bedok on Saturday (July 16) to promote cross-cultural appreciation across people of different communities through food.
The Feast From The Heart cooking e-book is a joint collaboration between the People's Association (PA) Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (Mesra), the PA Indian Activity Executive Committees Council (Narpani Pearavai) and the PA Integration Council.
The e-book, which features 45 recipes, includes mains, starters, snacks, desserts and beverages such as hyderabadi chicken dum biryani and kidney bean falafels.
Administrative executive Juriah Yatim, 57, contributed the grandmum mutton rendang recipe, which she inherited from her late grandmother, for the e-book.
She said: "I decided to contribute this recipe because it is a familiar dish among Singaporeans. People from other races and cultures will be able to enjoy this dish at home.
"They can eat it with rice or noodles."
The e-book was launched in conjunction with racial harmony month. Racial Harmony Day falls on July 21.
Recipes were also contributed by grassroots volunteers, new citizens and immigrant associations.
Through the e-book, the public is encouraged to try various recipes from diverse cultures in the community, and to learn about the history, culture and traditions through fun facts and trivia.
Among those who attended the launch were Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information and Health Janil Puthucheary, who is also an adviser to Narpani Pearavai, as well as an MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Mr Alex Yam, an adviser to the PA Integration Council.
Dr Janil and Mr Yam participated in a live cooking demonstration with contributors of the recipes to prepare dishes from various ethnic groups.
Dr Janil said: "It shows us that under the PA ambit, even though we have these volunteer organisations which mobilise people from distinct communities, when we do events, actually, we want to come together and reach out to all Singaporeans from across all of the communities."
Mr Yam said events like the launch show that many cultures can intermingle and learn from one another.
The public can download the e-book for free here.
