V. A. POGADAEV Candidate of Historical Sciences University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur) Keywords: Malaysia, native Malaysian Chinese, "peranakan", "baba-nenya" Baba and Nenya,all in red and blue, Run to get caught in the sheer sun. The purchases are done, everyone sits down at the table And takes a fiery gulp of mi goreng*. Vsevolod Vlaskin When I read about "Peranaki meat" in one of the Russian-translated foreign travel guides to Malaysia (I think it was Le Fute), I couldn't help but smile. Well, what can this phrase say to an ordinary tourist who is not experienced in the intricacies of Malaysian cuisine? Meat in African, meat in Kazakh, meat in French - this is more or less clear. But meat in Peranaki seems, at first glance, some abracadabra, although there is a whole culture behind it. And this phrase, of course, needs clarification. Peranakan means "born here"in Malay. This is the name of all Chinese people born in Malaysia. But the Chinese, who were born here and adopted elements of the local Malay culture, are called "baba-nenya" ("baba" - about a man, "nenya" - about a woman). These two concepts coincide only partially (every "baba-nenya" is a "peranakan", but not every "peranakan" is a "baba-nenya"). However, in everyday life, these two concepts are often identified: after all, most Huaqiao (not "baba-nenya"), although they were born here, still call themselves Chinese. Thus, Peranak cuisine is Baba-nenya cuisine. The first Chinese arrived on the territory of modern Malaysia in the early 15th century during the Ming Dynasty with the fleet of the great Chinese Admiral Chen Ho. At that time, a powerful Malacca Sultanate was formed around the port city of Malacca, the rise of which was associated with the development of international trade in the Strait of Malacca zone, successful conquering warriors and the adoption of Islam. Malacca itself was called the "Babylon of the East" - so many languages and nationalities mixed here. And Jong Ho's ... Read more