Then & Now | Can you tell what it is yet? The evolution of Eurasian cuisines
As Eurasian communities formed across the continent, so, too, did their distinctive cuisines, writes Jason Wordie
Right across maritime Asia, from the 17th century onwards, indigenous contacts with European settlers created new communities. In most places, the Eurasian groups that evolved were large enough, and sufficiently homogeneous, for distinct communities to form.
In tandem, from India to Japan, regionally distinctive Eurasian cuisines developed. Many of the dishes – like these peoples themselves – remain broadly recognisable to their variegated origins. Nevertheless, they differed as a result of specific local circumstances and ingredients. Some initially Eurasian foods became so thoroughly assimilated into local cooking styles that they are now assumed to be indigenous; Japanese tempura, for example, was introduced by 17th-century Portuguese traders around the Nagasaki area.
Commonalities exist across these various Eurasian cuisines. All had a version of chicken curry; country captain being the most widely recognised. Each included a form of potato croquette, rolled in breadcrumbs and shallow-fried. Jams, chutneys, relishes and marmalades derived from traditional recipes (mostly British or Portuguese) were replicated with locally available ingredients. Egg-and-milk-based custard puddings were universal; some were thickened with sweet potato, taro root, tapioca or other local starch variants; Macanese bebinca is a typical example.
All Eurasian cuisines have a dish that combines leftover festive meats into distinctive, tasty dishes. Devil’s curry, a mainstay among the Portuguese Eurasian community in Malacca, spread with them as they migrated elsewhere in Malaysia and Singapore. In Macau, a similar dish is known as diablo (Portuguese for “the devil”); historic connections to Goa, in western India, are obvious cultural roots for the curry addition.
Braised mince variations are also universal; on the Indian subcontinent, Anglo-Indians transformed the local keema into spicier cottage pie variations. The creolised Macanese community, who moved here in large numbers from the early 1840s onwards, brought their own family recipes. Their braised mince, known as “minchi”, has become internationally recognised as Macau’s “national dish”.