BAMBOO sprout cooked with fresh water snails and a dish made of raw fish mixed with lime juice, bird’s eye chili, sliced shallots and grated ginger.

These dishes may be foreign to some, but they have been eaten traditionally by Sabah natives.

Others include linopod (hill rice wrapped in tarap leaves), tuhau (raw fish mixed with lime juice, shallots and ginger), Ambuyat (Sago starch) to Sada Pinarasakan (sour fish stew) and Linabo (steamed banana and rice).

These are a few of  the authentic Sabah ethnic dishes being featured at the Sabah Traditional Festival at the Sabah Cultural Centre, in Donggongon, Penampang.

Haslinah Bilog, 53, said it is no longer easy to cook these dishes as they are not commercialised food and some of the ingredients are no longer easy to find in the wild.

“People prefer to eat normal food these days. Some of the items are seasonal and you could hardly find them when it is the rainy season.

“The Tengurou fish (a type of freshwater fish) and freshwater snails is hard to get when it’s flooding,” she said.

Haslinah, a Dusun Liwan from Ranau, was among those who exhibited at the show.

She also brought along her 39-year-old daughter Rosmawati Sutian and 63-year-old husband Morris Lajimin.

She brought in the Linopod, Linabo, Sada Pinarasakan (sour fish stew), Sinalau daging (smoked beef) and bamboo shoots with freshwater snails, all of which are authentic Dusun Liwan dishes.

Haslinah and her family, who stay in Kepayan, have set up a food stall at the Cultural Centre but sources her ingredients from suppliers back in Ranau.

Chef Albert Korom said he had spent years going around perfecting his recipe of Sabah’s traditional dishes and there are hundreds of traditional dishes in the state.

“Each district and different ethnic group has their own authentic food… after resigning as a chef at Sutera Harbour in 2010, I have been going around Sabah to learn about them,” he said.

The 35-year-old freelance chef said there are more than 30 ethnic groups in Sabah and they each have their own recipes.

Sabahans, like any other people around the world, also consider sharing meals as a sign of good will.

“Tribal wars can be resolved in the olden days, and opposing politicians could set aside their differences for awhile, when it comes to food. Food can unite the people,” said Penampang Assistant District Officer Henry Idol.

The Sabah Traditional Food Festival will be held until July 23 at the Sabah Cultural Centre here, where the National Youth Folk Dance Festival is presently ongoing. – July 20, 2017.