-By Michelle Moran

Editor's Note: International Enterprise (IE) Singapore created a culinary mission for a group of food and kitchenware retailers, chefs and writers from the U.S., Canada and Mexico this past June. TGR was lucky to be a part of the journey along with three members of our Retailer Advisory Board.

Singapore's borders dance along the coastline of Malaysia, kissing the mainland with bridges while its strait plays host to massive ships transporting goods between the East and West. This is an island of diversity, a place where centuries of trading and migration have brought together the cultures of China, India and Muslim Malaysia.

If America is the melting pot of the West, Singapore's location in the Orient lends itself to its status now as the melting pot of that region. In the political world, Singapore is a bit like Switzerland. It is a stable nation, focused on pushing forth economic missions. At first glance, the visitor is struck by how Western this nation appears; it's not until you get into the street scene and the food that you understand the depth of its culture.

Food is a national obsession -- and rightly so. Its cultural development through the years has resulted in this amazing fusion of cuisines from around Asia.

The History of Food
Singapore is an island nation located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is the smallest country in Southeast Asia. Development on the island began in 1819 when the British East India Company established a trading post there. The main settlement at that point was a Malay fishing village at the mouth of the Singapore River. Several hundred indigenous Orang Laut people also lived around the coast, rivers and smaller islands. The British used Singapore as a strategic trading post along the spice route. It became one of the most important commercial and military centers of the British Empire.

During World War II, Singapore was occupied by the Japanese, but reverted to British rule in 1945. In 1963, it merged with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia. Less than two years later, it split from the federation and became an independent republic on August 9, 1965.

While the British were the catalysts behind the settlement of Singapore as a strategic geographical trading post in Southeast Asia, their main influence that is still apparent is the fact that Singapore is an English-speaking country. Tea service is carried on in both British and Chinese styles. You can also discover some great meat pies in restaurants tucked along the way, but it's really hard to tell if that's a remnant of colonial rule since Singaporeans embrace much that is Western -- from shopping malls to theme parks.

Tourists (writers and chefs included) still find their way to Raffles Hotel -- which is said to be the birthplace of the Singapore Sling -- named for Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who landed on the main island in 1819 and signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah on behalf of the British East India Company to develop the southern part of the island as a British trading post and settlement.

Today, Chinese comprise the majority of the 4.59 million English-speaking population that celebrates a healthy standard of living within a modern economic base. In fact, this tiny country is the sixth wealthiest in the world in terms of GDP per capita.

So what does all this history and wealth have to do with food? Well, the state-run country encourages business and manages most facets of its success. The government works to find the brightest and best to run the country -- with salaries competitive to private sector jobs.

And its history of conquerors and strategic geographical location have led to the bountiful presence of culinary attributes -- spices from around the world landed in Singapore, lending to its fusion of cuisines from Malaysian to Indian to Cantonese Chinese.

Singapore is still roughly divided into the ethnic regions created during the planning of colonial Singapore. The Singapore River was largely a commercial area that was dominated by traders and bankers of various ethnic groups, with the mainly Chinese and Indian coolies working to load and unload goods from barge boats. The Malays worked mostly as fishermen and seafarers, and Arab traders and scholars were to be found in the southeast part of the river mouth, where Kampong Glam stands today. Early Indian migrants settled more inland of the Singapore River, where Little India flourishes even today.

The varying cuisines brought by the immigrants that comprised the nation's population merged to create hybrids of Chinese, Indian and Malaysian cooking. While there are true examples of these cuisines within the ethnic communities, by far the most interesting element of Singaporean food is discovering how each culture adapted to the new spices and ingredients made available to them.

The Hawker Centers
The emergence of the street hawkers in the 19th century turned Singapore's food culture into theater and history. This cuisine came about as a unique blend of the food of the Southern Chinese -- mainly the Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hainanese who settled here -- along with that of the South Indians from Kerala and South Indian Muslims, as well as the native cuisine of the Malay Peninsula, which includes elements from both ethnic Malay as well as the Straits Chinese.

In the late-1860s, the men outnumbered women 10 to 1, resulting in the emergence of the street hawker phenomenon as the bachelors all needed to eat and there wasn't much food being cooked at home. It wasn't until the 1940s, as the female population increased, that food began being prepared more at home.

But even with home cooking developing, street hawker fare became an integral part of the Singapore lifestyle. The government brought the hawkers off the streets and into hawker centers, which even today provide cheap, gourmet food, keeping high-end restaurants on their toes with stiff competition.

Hawker food represents the Chinese, Malay and Indian heritage of Singapore. Foods made popular from this style of cooking include: Hainanese Chicken Rice, Fried Oyster Omelette, and Laksa Lemak, among many others. Roti Prata is also served alongside many dishes (mainly Indian-influenced) and is one of the interesting parts of the cuisine that would be fun to adapt to U.S. flavor profiles.

Roti Prata is the Singaporean evolution of the Indian paratha, a pancake made of dough composed of fat, egg, flour and water. Roti means bread in Hindi, Urdu, most other North Indian languages and Malay, while Prata means flat. Some try to refer to it as an Indian croissant, but the translation didn't work for me. The pancake itself is comprised of layer upon layer, but the final products is still flat.

There are two main types of the dish: the smaller but crispy version (made famous by the Jalan Kayu chains), and the flatter and more fluffy version common elsewhere. Both versions are prepared in similar fashion, by flipping the dough into a large thin layer before heating it on a hot plate.

I was delighted when our Singapore editor Alka Ahuja and her husband, Rajeev, took me to an out-of-the-way eatery -- Shah Alam Restaurant -- that served what I was told was the best Murtabak in Singapore (I later had the opportunity to sample another and can attest to the fact that this is the best). Murtabak is a divine combination of chicken curry (or more commonly mutton) between two layers of Roti Prata -- an Indian lasagna, so to speak. I am starving (and salivating a bit) right now thinking of it. I am going to have to try this one at home.



At the markets, we sampled and sampled, and ate and ate and ate ... During a special lunch at Tiong Bahru Market, we sampled fried Carrot Cake (a Daikon omelette), a wealth of glutinous rice and a fantastic dish called Chwee Kueh (steamed rice cakes with salted radish topping). My co-diners included Lisa Smith from HEB/Central Market, Larry Oates from Kitchen Art, and Rick Vernon from West Point Market -- it was all we could do to clean our plates. But of course, we did, and then moved further on to check out every stall to see what delights were roasting or frying or boiling inside. Pig organ soup anyone?



And still there are fantastic eats outside of the hawker stands. From the incredibly tender tofu at Red House to the Chilli Crabs at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant or the Black Pepper Crabs at Long Beach UDMC Seafood Restaurant. While the popular chilli crab is a taste making its way to our shore, the black pepper crab is an interesting combination with earthy richness -- it can be a little overpowering to a delicate crab for some tastes, but I came home with this crab dish as my favorite.

Another interesting production is the Steamed Bamboo Clam with Minced Garlic -- which is a large razor clam cooked in a sweet garlic sauce that makes the clams dance. And, I have to admit, the chilled Jelly Fish over at Jumbo was pretty darn good as well.

Diana Cheng is a restaurateur getting ready to take her mission global, having begun with the launch of her restaurant My Mum's Cuisine in 1995 (which serves Peranakan and Hainanese cuisine), the Noodle Hut in 2001, and now launching a prepared food line of sauces and desserts (www.mymumscuisine.com). I tested out a curry sauce when I got home to try and recapture some flavors of the trip.

True Blue Cuisine
Another Singapore phenomenon is its Peranakan culture and cuisine. Aside from the incredible and inexpensive foods found at the hawker centers, this cuisine is perhaps the most intriguing result of Singapore's history.

According to my handy Lonely Planet guide, Peranakan means half-caste in Malay, which is exactly what the Peranakans are: descendents of Chinese immigrants who from the 16th century onward settled in Singapore, Melaka and Penang, and married Malay women.

So, the Peranakan culture is the product of the marriage of two cultures -- Chinese and Malay -- resulting in probably one of the most unique fusion cuisines. As part of our Tasty Singapore journey, we were lucky enough to share in a meal at chef-owner Benjamin Seck's Peranakan restaurant True Blue Cuisine on Armenian Street next to the new Peranakan Museum that opened in January.

After a day filled with eating products from a handful of Singapore companies exporting to the U.S., many of us could not eat another bite when we arrived at True Blue. But that all changed when the Bakwan Kepiting (a Chinese influence) arrived at the table, a simple dish of meatballs made of crab, pork and bamboo shoots in a delicate broth. The aroma itself brought me back to life.

But the most amazing thing was yet to come -- Buah Keluak Ayam, pan-fried chicken with Buah Keluak Sauce, a Malay influence. While this dish is not for everyone, it was definitely an amazing sensation for me.

Buah Keluak (black nut) is a nut that is soaked in water for two to three days, scrubbed clean and knocked open to reveal the soft kernel inside. It's said to have the taste of truffles, but I found the sauce much more akin to a mole, its rich depth reminiscent of chocolate and spice.

Other amazing dishes from this cultural merging include: Garam Assam (fish and pineapples in spicy & sour gravy); Rebong Masak Lemak (bamboo shoot and chicken in spicy coconut gravy); and Ngoh Hiang (deep fried pork and seafood paste wrapped in bean curd skin).

For the Trades
Singapore's food and beverage industry was worth S$17.6 billion (Singapore dollars) last year, of which imports make up 59.8 percent and exports 40.2 percent. Of the countries in closest proximity to Singapore's F&B industry, Japan does the most business, with over S$1 billion in 2007. This is a country eager to export and spread the word about not only its cuisines but also its tourism potential.

"The U.S. is a very important trading partner for Singapore. Last year, our bilateral trade was valued at S$88.1 billion, making the U.S. Singapore's fourth-largest trading partner (after Malaysia, the EU and China). In the sector of food, our bilateral food trade grew by 8 percent in 2007 to reach S$268 million, establishing the U.S. as the eighth top market for our local food industry players," explained Ted Tan, deputy chief executive officer, International Enterprise Singapore. "Singapore's food players are not strangers to the U.S. market; 12 Singapore companies participated in the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York last July, showcasing more than 180 Asian food products. We also hosted a dinner reception of Singapore food at the renowned James Beard House for 55 U.S. food industry leaders. We also partnered with the Culinary Institute of America to bring a delegation of Singapore's renowned expert chefs and culinary figures to participate in the Worlds of Flavor Conference in Napa Valley. Chefs such as Sam Leong prepared specially developed recipes and iconic Singapore dishes such as Chilli Crabs, Laksa, Roti Prata and Hainanese Chicken Rice during the seminars and cooking workshops for 200 participants. The response to both events was very positive."

Last month, IE Singapore completed an F&B mission and roadshow to Mexico, followed by participation in the Tree of Life Show in Texas in early June. They will also participate in the Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing Show in Arizona this coming August.

All of this U.S. promotion is a good thing, considering Singapore is not the easiest place to get to. Well, it is easy, but it takes some time from the States (try nearly 24 hours of travel connecting through Frankfurt in economy, and you'll be hankering for a Chilli Crab stand next to your house in Georgia). Still, it's not too bad (then again I would hop on a plane to Australia tomorrow for a great meat pie from this bakery I love in Cairns).

But, lucky for you, IE Singapore is ready to help with promotion stateside. Its Tasty Singapore mission promotes the country's exports as safe, diverse, innovative and dynamic. During our visit, we met with many companies and sampled their products -- some were perfect for our market (and some are already here) and others needed to revisit their ingredient labels to make products more appealing to U.S. consumers and fit within tightening restrictions on trans fat and other issues.

Still, even companies who had work to do were willing and determined. Shortly after coming home, I heard from one company that had already worked to lower fat content and rid its product of trans fat. It is impressive to know they took our recommendations to heart and were prepared to make changes based on U.S. consumers' requirements.

For more information on IE Singapore, visit http://www.iesingapore.gov.sg. For a list of Tasty Singapore Products in the U.S. and distribution contacts, click here.

Great Reads:
Lonely Planet's Singapore City Guide (7th Edition), www.lonelyplanet.com Grandmother's Recipes: Tales from Two Peranakan Kitchens by Rosaline Soon The New Mrs. Lee's Cookbook (Vol. 1 & 2) by Shermay Lee, www.marshallcavendish.com/genref Timeless Recipes, published by IE Singapore, http://ieshop.iesingapore.gov.sg/shop/research/productdesc.asp?pid=1704 Cooking With Asian Leaves by Christopher Tan & Devagi Sanmugam, www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
Great Research:
• www.makansutra.com
("Makan" is Bahasa Indonesia for eating and "sutra" is Sanskrit for guide or lessons.) Just check out the eateries on this site and you'll be booking your tickets for Singapore. Just be sure you travel with a Makansutra guide in hand as well -- what can I say? Makansutra's founder KF Seetoh simply rocks.
• www.violetoon.com
Cooking classes, recipe files and more -- all supplied by IE Singapore's culinary ambassador Violet Oon.

Murtabak



For the Roti
Ingredients:
600g plain wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water or milk
1/2 cup ghee or margarine
1 egg
1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation:
Sift the flour and salt together.
Knead flour, egg, sugar and ghee with water/milk (a little at a time) good enough to make a moderately soft dough or easy to handle.
Leave for three or four hours or overnight.

For Filling
Ingredients:
300g minced meat (mutton/beef/chicken)
2 large onions, diced ½ cm
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
4 green chilies, seeded and sliced
1 tablespoon meat curry powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cm ginger
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons ghee
4 eggs, beaten
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Mix meat curry powder, chili powder, turmeric, garam masala and pepper with a little water to form a paste. Heat two tablespoons ghee in a frying pan. Fry the garlic and ginger till fragrant. Add blended spices above and fry for three minutes. Add meat and salt. Keep frying; add water; cover the pan. When the meat is cooked, add onion and sliced green chilies. Reduce heat and simmer until the mixture dries. Allow it to cool. Season the beaten eggs with salt and pepper. Add meat and chopped celery. Mix well. Divide into six portions depending on the size of murtabak. Punch out dough. Divide dough into six parts. Flatten each ball thinly. Transfer it with a rolling pin to a hot greased griddle. Put a portion of the fillings in the middle of the flattened dough. Fold the sides and enclose the fillings by wrapping completely. Spread a little ghee and continue cooking. Turn it over and cook the other side. Keep frying and turning until both sides are crispy and golden in color.
To serve:
Cut the murtabak into bite size and serve hot with curry, pickled onions or plain.

If you would like to comment or send us your feedback, please send e-mail to mmoran@gourmetretailer.com.