What my Baby is made of…

As I was just talking to my friend about food and dessert, I realised that I did eat a lot of sweet things during my pregnancy. People say that baby boys are made of sour things that the mother always crave for sour food such as raw mangoes and pickles. Baby girls, on the other hand, are made of sweet things such as dessert, sugar-based food and such. Now, let me list the food I craved for when I was having my baby in me…

Mangoes, mangoes and mangoes… I was fed with mangoes a lot during the initial stage, be it local mangoes, Thai mangoes or Indian mangoes. One particular type of Thai mango that I often ate was namdok mai (meaning yellow mango in Thai). It supposed to be the sweetest among Thai mangoes. Yet, when it comes to mango-sweet, nothing beats the Indian mangoes…

Almost every weekend, I would hunt for cendol at Damansara Utama. It’s not too sweet, but it’s a special delicacy from the Malay community. Even though it is famous among Malays, nothing beats the cendol this Mamak makes in Damansara Utama. It’s just nice. Not too much of crushed ice, not too much of coconut milk and not too sweet.

Recalling the days when I was in University, travelling to other countries for culture meet, made me remember the big box of bika ambon I used to carry from Medan, Indonesia to Penang and further to Alor Setar without stop, via public transport. The moment I shared this cake around, I realised that it was not enough for me. That shows how much I liked it! Therefore, without any shame, I made my colleague (Rene) hunt for this cake in Jakarta, during one of his visits there. The way I described it was “a very sweet cake that looks like a honeycomb”, or in other words, spongy and with holes in its texture. I could manage to get 2 cakes, one for my office colleagues and one for myself. Yet, eventually I had to surrender half of my share to my colleagues, because I enjoyed watching them craved for it like I did. It’s really sweet, with a unique taste and texture, recommended (by me) as delicacy gift to friends and family.

When my colleague (Arull) was about to leave for his hometown visit in India, one word came out from my mouth… soan papadi ! Thus, he bought a whole box for myself. On the first day itself, I could finish half the box; even my partner couldn’t believe his eyes! Soan papadi is a special yellow-coloured sweet, with flaky melt-in-your-mouth texture. It contains pistachios and dried fruits as well. It is really sweet that common Malays might find it too sweet to consume.

Another colleague (Kevin) went for a visit to my hometown – Alor Setar! This was another chance for me to get another dessert for my baby. Dodol durian, the sweet sticky candy sold in kilogram, made of rice floor and durian. My favourite place to get it in Alor Setar is a bazaar called “Pekan Rabu”. It’s the place where all sorts of traditional food can be found.

Once in a while during my maternity, people might catch me entering an Indian restaurant famous for it’s sweet delicacies. Among my favourites are carrot halva and gulab jamun. It is not so easy to find good gulab jamun in Kuala Lumpur, but one particular vegetarian restaurant in Bangsar makes it just right.

The rest of the time when there’s no one for me to bully in getting sweet delicacies, I satisfy myself with a lot of sugar, without any fear of high-blood pressure. I had roti canai with sugar, tea with extra sugar, canned drinks that contained sugar and such.

I guess my baby is made of sweets after all… and that’s where the sweet, million-dollar smile comes from!

- MommieSha
17 Jan 2006