A food that has been called rank and disgusting is a beloved condiment in Southeast Asia. Librarian Toffa Abdul Wahed talks about the long history of belacan (fermented shrimp) in Southeast Asia and Singapore.

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About the Guest

Toffa Abdul Wahed is an associate librarian with the National Library, Singapore, and works with the Singapore and Southeast Asia Collection.

Resources

Toffa Abdul Wahed, “Belacan: Caviar? Or Vile and Disgusting?” BiblioAsia 19, no. 1 (2023).

Gracie Lee, “Crawfurd on Southeast Asia,” BiblioAsia 11, no. 4 (2016).

Sally Grainger, The Story of Garum: Fermented Fish Sauce and Salted Fish in the Ancient World (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2021). (From National Library, Singapore, call no. RSEA 338.4766494 GRA)

Credits

This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Gibson Analytics. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Toffa for coming on the show.

BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.

Transcript