It is a known epidemic: Singaporeans love to eat, and they love to remember what they eat.
We see food everywhere we go, we eat more than three meals a day, and we will definitely like more than three foodporn images while scrolling through our Instagram feed. With Singapore Food Festival (SFF) 2016 coming up this Friday, from 15 July to 31 July, we now have another option (or more precisely, 18 more options because of the year’s record line-up) to eat and talk.
The year’s theme, “Savour the Past, Taste the Future“, is an ambitious one. What makes up Singapore’s food heritage? Dreams of solid chicken rice with double boiled soup, the colourful displays of sticky kuehs too good to eat, a hot steaming bowl of yellow noodles and two prawns – these are what we were familiar with. The list is endless, but they make up the Singaporean flavour in totality.
Again, picture the scene: a humid kopitam, a cup of condensing lime juice, and a plate of hokkien mee. Now picture this: McDonald’s spot on concept of the Singaporean identity today: salted egg yolk burger, salt and pepper crab flavoured fries, and fried banana pie.
We can’t say that McDonald’s direction went wrong. The idea that Singaporeans love food is still sustained, but the growing notion that Singaporeans love food trends is better procured by a chicken burger dripping with golden evidence of fad chasing. Over the last few years, our food identity has pivoted slightly to suit whatever we can find online. From rainbow toast to cotton candy ice cream, we are now stuck in a struggle between the past and the future.
So one can view SFF 2016 as a statement event that grounds the Singaporean identity today. With 23 years under its belt, this festival is the true Singaporean mission to eat it all. AÂ delectable selection of local cuisines and locally inspired cuisines take the spotlight around the country this time. We have not one, but three different renditions of chicken rice from Chatterbox, Tippling Club and TWG; and multiple throwbacks to the past of the past. In case you’re wondering, no one offered any salted egg dishes, but hey, salted egg wasn’t the sole star back in the days.
Singapore Food Festival 2016
Date: 15 July – 31 July 2016
Venue:Â All around Singapore
For more information, click here. UberEATS is also the official delivery partner, and will be surprising passengers with a special culinary treat on 15 July.
