Nusantara on the Plate: Biosphere, Mobility, Trade and the Archipelagic Social Landscape of Food
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29407/kvm5b007Abstract
Southeast Asia’s culinary landscape is an ancient, yet vibrantly living social archive shaped by shared biospheres, maritime mobility, and layered trade histories. This paper argues that the region’s common food heritage — from agricultural systems and cooking practices to spice blends and street‑food ecologies — should form a practical basis for cross‑border social cohesion. By reframing cuisine as a transnational social landscape rather than a set of national possessions, policy and community initiatives can leverage food heritage to strengthen regional solidarity, cultural diplomacy, and inclusive local and regional development. This study draws upon extensive fieldwork through personal travels, lived experiences, and direct interactions across the Malay Archipelago and beyond, complemented by systematic reviews of historical texts, scholarly literature, and archival sources, thereby integrating ethnographic observation with documentary analysis. Shared ecological endowments and centuries of regional trade and migration have produced overlapping culinary repertoires that can be mobilised as instruments of social unity and regional cooperation across the vast Nusantara
Keywords:
biosphere, culinary, cuisine, food, gastronomy, heritage, history, Malay Archipelago, Nusantara, Southeast AsiaDownloads
References
Wallace, A. R. (1869). The Malay Archipelago: The land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise. London: Macmillan.
Bellwood, P. (2017). First islanders: Prehistory and human migration in Island Southeast Asia. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Benjamin, G. (2002). On being tribal in the Malay world. In G. Benjamin & C. Chou (Eds.), Tribal communities in the Malay world: Historical, cultural and social perspectives (p. 11). Singapore: ISEAS.
Higham, C. (2014). Early mainland Southeast Asia. Bangkok: River Books.
Reid, A. (1988). Southeast Asia in the age of commerce, 1450–1680: Vol. I. The lands below the winds. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Pires, T. (1944). The Suma Oriental of Tomé Pires: An account of the East, from Malacca to China (1512–1515) (A. Cortesão, Trans. & Ed.). London: Hakluyt Society.
Surya, R., Hartigan, E. T., & Smith, S. P. (2024). Fermented foods of Southeast Asia: A biocultural review. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 11, 5.
Mardatillah, A., Huda, N., & Firdaus, A. (2019). Riau Malay food culture: Identity and sustainability in local contexts. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 6(3), 4.
David, W., & Kofahl, D. (Eds.). (2017). Food culture of Southeast Asia: Perspectives of social science and food science. Singapore: Springer.
Johari, K. (2021). The food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic travels through the archipelago. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions.
Hill, R. D. (1972). Rice in Malaya: A study in historical geography. Singapore: University of Singapore Press.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1969). The raw and the cooked (J. & D. Weightman, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row.
Tan, C.-B. (2011). Chinese food and foodways in Southeast Asia and beyond. Singapore: NUS Press. Low, A. (2026, January 31).
Khoo, J. E. (1996). The Straits Chinese: A cultural history. Amsterdam: Pepin Press. Chai, W. G. (2023, April 28).
Appadurai, A. (1988). How to make a national cuisine: Cookbooks in contemporary India. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 30(1), 5–7.
UNESCO. (2003). Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. Paris: UNESCO.
Mintz, S. W., & Du Bois, C. M. (2002). The anthropology of food and eating. Annual Review of Anthropology, 31, 104–107.
Alfred W. Crosby, The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1972).
Mintz, S. W. (1985). Sweetness and power: The place of sugar in modern history. New York: Viking Penguin.
Freedman, P., Chaplin, J. E., & Albala, K. (Eds.). (2014). Food in time and place: The American Historical Association companion to food history. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hajamaideen. (2025). Roots, trades and faith of the Chulias (M. Kaur & M. Isa, Eds.). George Town, Penang: Areca Books.
Low, A. (2026, January 31). The backstory of yee sang and the history behind the toss. The Peak Malaysia. https://thepeak.com.my/drink-dine/the-backstory-of-yee-sang-and-the-history-behind-the-toss.
Chai, W. G. (2023, April 28). Is nasi lemak actually from Malaysia or Singapore? This documentary tries to find out. SAYS. https://says.com/my/makan/is-nasi-lemak-actually-malaysia-singapore-documentary-finds-out.
Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Revised edition. London: Verso.
Richards, G., & Wilson, J. (Eds.). (2006). Food tourism around the world: Development, management and markets. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Wilk, R. (2006). Home Cooking in the Global Village: Caribbean Food from Buccaneers to Ecotourists. Oxford: Berg.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Najib Ariffin (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
