it means festival. And for the ibans (and other locals) of Sarawak, end of May/beginning of June is a time for some serious merry making, thanking the gods for a year of bountiful harvest. And for the men, downing as much Stella Artois or cheap brandy as possible on the day and days to come!! Not that much different from Kaamatan for Sabah locals, I must say. For the longest time, I remember not 'liking' this time of the year. The 1 part of the iban and dusun culture I am ashamed and angry about! Too much drunks and fights breaking out after. Alcohol and Gawai don't mix!
So we spent a quiet and idylic Gawai with Mom's folks. Mom's longhouse is technically NOT a longhouse anymore but individual standing houses. So a much safer environment then it was way back when. Back in real longhouse days, if a drinking session is held in one bilek, the fights ensuing would 'spill' to the other 'bilek's. Next thing, the whole longhouse is in 1 gigantic battle! Not good!
Still ate way too much local delicacies! My cousin made some plain 'pulut pansuh' out of the glutinous rice she planted and harvested. Young bamboo segments are filled with glutinous rice and smoked over charcoal (don't know if I am describing it well!). When cooked just right, the pulut is fragrant and moist. As my cousin didn't add santan to the pulut, it kept for days! My meals would consist of half a 'stick' of pulut. To eat the rice, one would have to crack and 'tear' the bamboo open - Dad would always comment how very 'tedious' the eating process is.
An aunt also gave us some pam, a steamed coconut cake wrapped in Banana leaves. Too bad she didn't give enough! And no the kids, didn't care for any of it!
If only I had some pictures to show!
So we spent a quiet and idylic Gawai with Mom's folks. Mom's longhouse is technically NOT a longhouse anymore but individual standing houses. So a much safer environment then it was way back when. Back in real longhouse days, if a drinking session is held in one bilek, the fights ensuing would 'spill' to the other 'bilek's. Next thing, the whole longhouse is in 1 gigantic battle! Not good!
Still ate way too much local delicacies! My cousin made some plain 'pulut pansuh' out of the glutinous rice she planted and harvested. Young bamboo segments are filled with glutinous rice and smoked over charcoal (don't know if I am describing it well!). When cooked just right, the pulut is fragrant and moist. As my cousin didn't add santan to the pulut, it kept for days! My meals would consist of half a 'stick' of pulut. To eat the rice, one would have to crack and 'tear' the bamboo open - Dad would always comment how very 'tedious' the eating process is.
An aunt also gave us some pam, a steamed coconut cake wrapped in Banana leaves. Too bad she didn't give enough! And no the kids, didn't care for any of it!
If only I had some pictures to show!
1 comment:
OMG! How I miss that 'bamboo-rice'...the fragrance, and of course the taste worth the work one has to do to prepare it...yumm...
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