Through a partnership with Karen R. Yap and Chef Melvin Gatu, MAGGI® brings the flavours of home to Sabahans and Sarawakians celebrating far from Borneo.
For the thousands of Sarawakians and Sabahans living away from home, Gawai and Kaamatan arrive every year with a particular kind of longing. The celebrations are happening back home, the food is being prepared in kitchens they grew up in, and they are here, in Peninsular, trying to hold on to something that feels increasingly out of reach.
Some things, however, travel well. MAGGI® has been in Malaysian kitchens for generations, a constant presence through every festivity, every family gathering, and every first attempt at a dish that mattered. As lives change and families spread across the country, MAGGI® changes with them, adapting to the way Malaysians cook today while holding on to the flavours that have always felt like home.
This year, that means making it a little easier for those celebrating away from home to bring the harvest to their own tables. At the Borneo Native Festival, happening on 22 to 24 May at Central Market in Kuala Lumpur, where Sarawakians and Sabahans come together to reconnect with the culture, music, and food of home, MAGGI® will be there. As well as in kitchens across Peninsula Malaysia, along with the recipes that bring back the taste of Gawai and Kaamatan.
“We know that for a lot of Sabahans and Sarawakians living away from home, this season can feel bittersweet,” said Ivy Tan Link Cheh, Business Executive Officer of MAGGI® Malaysia and Singapore. “The celebrations are happening without them, and the food they grew up with isn’t always easy to find or to cook. MAGGI® has always been part of how Malaysian families cook, and this year we just want to make it a little easier for them to bring those flavours wherever they are.”
Two Voices, One Mission
To make that possible, MAGGI® has partnered with two local heritage cooks who have made preserving their homeland’s food heritage their life’s work and who understand the diaspora experience from the inside.
The Recipes That Travel With You
Karen and Chef Melvin are each sharing recipes that carry the full flavour of home and are achievable in any kitchen, with MAGGI® as the foundation.
The featured recipes include Ayam Kampung Umbut Pisang, Sambal Ikan Masin Gonjeng, Tenggiri Terung Dayak, Bubur Yilik, and Linombur Bubuk Om Tulod-Ulod.
