As I trace back my Cape Malay culinary heritage, it’s clear that the intermingling of cultures and world cuisine existed long before my forefathers reached the Cape.

Malacca, the oldest city in Malaysia, was my first stop in my heritage journey.

Toward the end of the 15th century, Malacca was one of the world’s most significant cities for trade and home to a cosmopolitan community of over 100,000. Arabs prayed with Chinese. Armenians traded with Javanese. Indians and Japanese coexisted harmoniously together, respectfully acknowledging one another culture and religion.

One of the most shocking things for me is that Malacca was a British Crown colony still, from as late as 1946 to 1957. It came under British sovereignty after the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, and had been part of the Straits Settlements until 1946. During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese from 1942 to 1945.

The British culinary influence remains ever present here, as it has with Cape Malay cuisine and here I want to specifically focus on one of the culinary delicacies the Brit’s love, i.e. pie, more specifically beef pie.

I found myself in a place called Gravy Baby where one can choose from a delicious variety of savoury pies. True to its name, a velvety gravy is drizzled over the pie and chunky chips – heavenly to say the least!

I ordered their “famous beef pie” which was filled with succulent, cubed beef, cooked to perfection and morsels of tender, sweet carrots. The chunky chips and gravy finishes off this dish wonderfully, providing an ideal amount of starch and added sauce. A good pie filling for me, always contains a generous hit of crushed black pepper, and this pie didn’t disappoint.

I am so excited to recreate this in my own kitchen, but for now, it’s confusing my journey of culinary heritage.