Dine on Clay is a first time event being held in Sarawak, designed to draw together the archaeology of Borneo’s deep past with its wealth of indigenous ingredients, sourced from the bounty of the island’s abundant rainforest, and its long tradition in pottery. This fine-dining event, is taking place from 5-20 March in Kuching, the newly designated Creative City of Gastronomy and the first in Malaysia to be recognised under this UNESCO network.
The event features a fusion of Sarawak’s gastronomic cultures, curated and designed by Lun Bawang Chef Achang Libat and innovatively plated on a series of handmade dinnerware from Tuson Chong’s pottery studio, Gardencraft Co. Diners will enjoy a menu of Sarawak’s unique ingredients, reimagined by Chef Achang with the full range of culinary techniques. Held at Restoran Budaya in Kuching’s heritage Steamship Building, it coincides with Naked: Raw Clay of Sarawak, an exhibition and series of talks that chronicles Sarawak’s pottery tradition through the ages along with newly created pieces that complete this immersive experience into Sarawak’s landscape.
Dine on Clay is based on the archaeological artefacts found in Niah Caves to the north of the state. Dr Franca Cole, Conservation Consultant at the recently opened Borneo Cultures Museum, is a regular at Gardencraft’s studio where she has been exploring the pottery techniques used on the objects found in the cave and researched by Dr Cole as part of her PhD. As well as shedding light on the dark past of Sarawak, her collaboration has inspired Tuson to create this new line of earthenware, appreciating the beauty of low-fired, unglazed pottery made with Sarawak clay.
This has lead Tuson into a second collaboration with Chef Achang, who builds on fine-dining events such as Tenun and Plating the Wild at the Rainforest Fringe Festival in 2019. The dinnerware was specifically designed to complement this experimental chef’s innovative menu. Diners can experience five courses of original Sarawak food. It starts with Jakok, a Kayan old school cigar of smoked fish, accompanied by local honey spiced with Sarawak pepper, followed by beef caramelised with gula apong and served with mushroom nuba laya (rice wrapped in Daun Isip leaves), a dish nicknamed ‘Cow Smoking in the Paddy fields’. The evening ends with an ‘Enchanted Forest’, the unexpected but entirely satisfying exploration of tapioca leaves and teh C peng ice cream – every mouthful a revelation of flavour.
This event, supported by Penjana and Cendana, exemplifies exactly the kind of gastronomic creativity that earned Kuching its designation under UNESCO. It supports local artists across multiple creative fields, promoting collaboration with academia for new expressions of creativity. It celebrates the state’s natural ingredients and materials, the foundation of its traditional food and crafts culture.
