Supper club host Ranie Saidi has recreated his late grandmother's recipes from memory after her cookbook was stolen following her death. The Malaysian-born chef, now based in south London, says the theft spurred him to piece together the dishes he grew up with, resulting in his debut cookbook, The Malay Cook.
Saidi, who was largely raised by his grandparents in northern Malaysia, began cooking as a way to grieve. 'I wasn't grieving my grandmother properly,' he says. 'I started cooking as a way of grieving her and remembering her in good times.' The process became a 'pilgrimage' to rediscover his grandmother's flavours and his own identity.
His grandmother was a renowned wedding caterer, and Saidi sympathises with the person who took her book. 'They wanted a piece of her,' he says. 'This book is me reclaiming it, but also part of me wanted to share it and make it available. You don't have to steal it. It's out there.'
Saidi moved to the UK in 2013 and initially embraced British cuisine, delving into Delia Smith's cookbooks. However, after experiencing racial abuse, he began to question his sense of belonging. 'Someone said to me, “Go back to your country,” and it made me think, “Where do I belong?”' he recalls. 'Now I'm proud to be British and have my Malaysian roots. I have the best of both worlds.'
The cookbook includes unexpected ingredients like tomato ketchup, reflecting Malaysia's colonial history. 'During colonisation, all these ingredients were brought into the culture with no instruction, so locals adapted and used them,' Saidi explains. He hopes his story encourages others to document and share their family recipes.
