Gastrogeography of Singapore

Some years ago we started an art collective to explore our connection as Singaporeans to the plants and trees around us . We were particularly interested in edible plants and what’s edible around us in this lush and green city .?

To our surprise we found more than a 100 samples within a 3 km space in the civic district area . They are in plain sight and within our reach and? most of us walk past these plants without giving it much thought.?

We created several events including an exhibition as a part of the Singapore Arts Biennale. We like curating experiences to showcase the juxtaposition between our concrete jungle and the plant world around us.

We also learnt that people could not connect with the exhibition unless they could touch , smell and taste these samples so that brought us down an interesting track of sensorial experiences including creating recipes and tasting experiences.?

Did you know that the young leaves of a tamarind tree taste sour, the same applies to Kedongdong leaves.?

Wild Pepper leaves are often used ground cover, are edible and the white or black fruit that look like very tiny pepper have spicy “tongue burning “sensation like Mala. Many cultures in South East Asia use these leaves to wrap up other condiments to like coconut, peanuts, chilli and eat them. There is a Thai dish called Miang Kham that uses these leaves and there are variations of this in other locations in South East Asia.?

There’s also the Rukam Masam tree or Lobi Lobi , when in season you will spot lots of red cherry like fruit on the ground . They are extremely sour but high in pectin so it’s easy to make a yummy jam with these .?

The laws in Singapore do not cater for foraging or even picking up anything that falls to the ground.? In some ways it keeps people safe from ingesting something that is harmful but in other ways we miss out the child like wonder of discovering little surprises along our path .?

What I enjoy most about our Gastrogeography projects? is seeing how people light up when they gain a new perspective on a plant, flower or tree they walk past during their daily commute.

The other amazing thing to take note of is the vast variety of plants edibles around us.?The next time you walk outside, look around you, to try to spot the Wild Pepper plant and Rukam?Masam trees.

At GOS, we get commissioned to create multi-sensorial experiences for groups who are interested in connecting with what’s growing around us through art, gastronomy and ethnobotany.?It's a labour of love and we feel it helps us pause for a while to take in what is around us. If you are interested in seeing the world around you through a Gastrogeography lens, contact [email protected]