The representation of cultural identity in Melaka Portuguese cookbooks

The Melaka Portuguese are descendants of unions between the Portuguese, who conquered Melaka in the early 16th Century, and locals. The language and culture of this minority hybrid community have survived to this day in Malaysia. Over the last decade, there has been a push to distinguish their food, and hence, cultural identity, from other communities in Malaysia. However, there has not been much focus on the cultural representation of this “home-grown” group of people in discourses related to food. To begin addressing this gap, this paper addresses the question of cultural identity represented in four Melaka Portuguese cookbooks. The focus of this paper is on the use of linguistic and visual elements related to food heritage in four Melaka Portuguese cookbooks to examine how they are used in the construction of cultural identity among the community. These elements were analyzed using a social semiotic approach. The linguistic elements in the texts were found to be related to the cultural identity of the Melaka Portuguese people through inclusion of their family narratives and stories in the cookbooks. Visual elements were also used to portray the Melaka Portuguese culture through depictions of traditional kitchenware and food preparation techniques.