Recalling Forgotten Tastes : Of Illustrated Edible Plants, Food and Memories

Recalling Forgotten Tastes : Of Illustrated Edible Plants, Food and Memories is an illustrative collection of edible plants, centred on environmental knowledge and traditional culinary practices by the Orang Asli communities in Peninsular Malaysia, primarily from the Semai and Temuan subgroups. The foreground of the book is to archive the disappearing knowledge of wild foraging and implementation into their diet.

Dive into the unfamiliar world of indigenous plants and trees that are often times overlooked and allow yourself to be cradled into a tasteful journey of forest edibles, through spreads of colourful illustrations and conversations.

In this book, the reader will come across spreads of illustrated foraged plants gathered from places such as Gombak, Kuala Langat and Jelebu. Guided by extraordinary teachers, mothers and headmen of different communities, each generously shared their know-hows of edible and non-edible plants from their backyard to the majestic forests.

The birth of this collection stems from a deep interest in getting in touch with our immediate surroundings through plants and food, reigniting our primal senses in untraditional settings. Find yourself in a whirl of unusual tastes and sights in their outdoor kitchens and under rambutan trees, uphill and down in the valleys of forest reserves.

The mediums used for the illustrations include watercolour paintings and pen sketches.