18 maart 2010 - In most cases it is the husbands who work at TU/e and the wives who come along with them to the Netherlands. This situation is reversed in the case of Raha Sulaiman (34) from Malaysia. She came to TU/e for her doctoral research and her husband joined her.

Raha has prepared dinner together with Noordini Che Man (31). She is the second of a total of three Malaysian employees at TU/e. Raha: “Many people take us to be Indonesians, which is quite understandable, as Indonesians and Malaysians look a lot like each other. Our languages have many similarities and we celebrate the same feasts. That is why we have joined the Indonesian community here in Eindhoven.” Raha and Noordini are good friends and live in the same building.

When they go to work, Raha’s husband minds their two children as well as Noordini’s child. Noordini’s husband has not come along with her to the Netherlands, because he is still at work in Malaysia; plans are for him to come to the Netherlands in December. The ladies have experienced that it is occasionally quite tough to combine doctoral research with motherhood. Raha: “Fortunately my husband stays with the children, but we can never really work late, which is awkward at times.”

Some two weeks ago Raha first read the Food For Thought section in Cursor. “Then I thought: I should like to feature in that section too. I like cooking and besides, there are only three TU/e employees from Malaysia. So a little bit of extra attention can never hurt anyone!”

According to Raha and Noordini, Malaysia has a genuine culinary culture: you can eat anywhere at any time. Both of them set great store by good food. Noordini: “When I miss Malaysia, cooking a sumptuous Malaysian meal helps me a great deal.” For this dinner, too, they have really done the best they can. We are having coconut rice, curry noodles with mashed sweet potatoes and banana cake for dessert. Noordini says that she has not used fresh coconut milk, but milk from a jar. “In Malaysia you buy a coconut and they take out the milk in the shop. In the Netherlands that is not possible. I did once try to open a coconut at home and use the milk, but it was not a great success.”

Both dishes have a very authentic flavor. The curry is spiced with garlic, ginger, lemon grass, coconut milk, curry powder and tamarind paste. And all these separate ingredients can still be tasted in the end result. (HB)