Ranie Saidi on Malaysian cuisine, cooking as grief therapy and the debate over food authenticity

About this episode

Ranie Saidi discusses his journey through grief and the celebration of Malay cuisine in his debut cookbook, The Malay Cook.

In this episode, host Samuel Goldsmith sits down with food writer Ranie Saidi to explore the deeply personal story behind his debut cookbook, The Malay Cook. What began as a journey through grief after the passing of his grandmother became a celebration of Malay food, family, and identity. Ranie opens up about how his grandmother's recipe book was stolen after her death and how he set out to recreate her dishes from taste memory, with help from his aunt and years of trial and error across Malaysian restaurants in London. He shares how therapy led him to reconnect with his happiest memories: cooking alongside his grandmother, a beloved wedding caterer in Malaysia. We dive into the foundations of Malay cooking. The "four sibling" spices, the central role of coconut, and the turmeric marinade tradition and hear the beautiful origin story of Samine Rice, a rainbow-colored dish born from monsoon season hardship. Ranie also breaks down the differences between sambal varieties, explains the distinction between Malay "gulai" and Indian-style curry, and makes a compelling case against the obsession with food "authenticity." Plus: Ranie's dream speakeasy restaurant concept, his guilty…

People in this episode

Host: Samuel Goldsmith

Guest: Ranie Saidi

Topics covered

• Malaysian cuisine
• grief therapy
• food authenticity
• cooking memories
• Malay cooking traditions
• family recipes

Keywords

• Malay food
• cooking
• grief
• authenticity
• spices
• coconut
• curry
• sambal
• family
• identity

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Malay Cook

Places: Malaysia, London

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