Khir Johari's winning title Food Of Singapore Malays lauded for historical ingenuity

Khir Johari's The Food Of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels Through The Archipelago - a tome that took 14 years from conception to publication, and which weighs an impressive 3.2kg - has won the National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore History Prize.

- Clement Yong

Beating five other shortlisted books published in the last three years, Khir's richly illustrated opus bagged him a cash award of $50,000, the highest sum paid out by any Singapore book award.

It is yet another laurel for the much-garlanded text, which has, since Marshall Cavendish picked it up in 2021, been nigh unbeatable in competitions local and global.

Through the lens of the Malay archipelago, the 600-page volume establishes Singapore's pre-colonial status as "the New York of the Nusantara" via essays, more than 400 photographs and 40 recipes. It also pays particular attention to how journeymen, migrants and traders of the area were integral to shaping the island's unique culinary landscape.

The mathematics-trained food historian Khir, 61, says: "While the title says food of Singapore Malays - yes, because I'm a Singapore boy - it uses Singapore as a vantage point to look across the region to understand the story behind why we eat what we eat."