Karel H. G. Bos

I remember when my Tante (aunt) Joan came to visit me (for the last time) in California in 2015. It was on this trip that she presented me with this, her father's photo album, and other prized mementos that she had held on to for about 70 years or more. I think she knew that her time was limited (she was 82 and in a lot of pain and discomfort from what turned out to be an advanced stage of bladder cancer.) Otherwise I don't think she could part with any of it yet, although I do know that she trusted me with the family history. (Unfortunately, things got too emotional for her as we were going through this photo album together. Only a handful of the photos were identified and labeled before she needed to take a break. We never finished. The rest of the details are lost, at least for now.)

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As with all of her reminiscing and passing family history on to me over the decades, this occasion too, was over food. Sometimes it was over a plate full of nasi or bami goreng. Sometimes over gado-gado (my favorite!) One time she made tjendol/cendol (yum!), as I watched her press the green pandan rice flour mixture through a sieve to make the little raindrop-shaped jellies while she continued to tell me about her childhood memories in Malang.

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This particular time she made a snack, it was my all-time childhood favorite: roejak. I cut the mangoes, apples, cucumbers, and whatever other produce that we bought, while she made her usual two separate batches. One bowl for her with enough sambal to make any man cry. The other, a giant bowl with much less sambal, for her "way-too-Americanized" niece.

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(It was also on this trip that we went to an Asian market in Sacramento together. She bought an entire jackfruit. We ate it for days. She told me about how when she was a kid in Malang that they used to roast and eat the seeds. She loved her memories of Malang and could never tire of sharing them. Lucky me!)

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As with most of my best Indo-family memories, they are often tied to the familiar fragrance of something frying. Food is the tie that strengthens the reminders of those moments. ...Sate and krupuk, anyone?