Why Pandan?


A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Some of my buddies have raised the question: Why Pandan?
Why not? The Pandan leaf has always had a special place in my heart. I remember, when I was a kid, this cluster of long,green, slender leaves was a common sight at the back of everybody's house, including mine. And I would be like the official pandan leaf picker of my family. My mom always yelled at the top of her lungs when she needed the leaf: "IIIIJAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!!!! Pegi ambik daun pandan!!!!!"
What amazes me is the versatility of the leaf. Everybody knows that it is a popular ingredient in Asian cooking. Being a leaf, it has a floral flavour. That's why it is used to flavour rice dishes and puddings so much. Furthermore, I have always been fascinated by the aroma. It's fresh, floral, invigorating and kinda therapeutic. That's why it is used as pot-pourri in important Malay household events, such as weddings. Plus, it lasts quite long, though eventually, it will dry. Oh, and one more use of the leaf: for wrapping. Mainly food. I've always been fascinated by those cute made-from-pandan-leaf-boxes which hold the tepong pelita kueh. And those chicken wrapped in pandan leaf - yum! yum!
Oh, and have you ever wondered why so many places in KL are named after Pandan? Pandan Ville, Pandan Indah, Kg. Pandan, Pandan Perdana, to name a few...Because PANDAN rules!!! Huhu!!!
Sadly however, do you realize that despite its popularity and versatility, the pandan leaf is always overlooked? Always taken for granted? Discarded when not needed? I mean, how many people out there actually appreciate the leaf?
So anyway, what has Pandan gotta do with me? I guess it's like a metaphor for me. Don't know what is metaphor? That's when you compare two dissimilar things. Or when you say something is something else. Go figure :-)!!

Originally posted on http://izzyz7.reciter.com on 23 January 2007.

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