Pecal Azizah



The salad part consisting of blanched bean sprouts,
long beans, kangkong and tapioca shoots.



 It is strange how your memory of someone tends to become more intense as a significant date about that person draws near.  As for me, I have been having this sudden craving to have 'Pecal', and I found it difficult to stop thinking about it!  And today as I was preparing all the ingredients to make this tradititonal salad, all in the way my mother used to teach me, it dawned upon me that the reason for this was, today would have been my mother's 71st birthday!



The salad is tossed with a dressing made from
dried chilis, shallots, shrim paste, tamarind juice,
peanuts and cekur roots.



The most special thing about this salad is not in the salad itself, but in the way how it was taught to me by my mother!  I remember sitting beside her as she painstakingly prepared everything from beginning to end, all the time telling me about the finer points of making the dish, giving some tips on making it taste better and keep longer and persistently making sure I remembered and understood; which until now, I still do, with a note of gratitude from the depth of my heart.

Like I said, this salad is special to me because of the way my mother taught me how to make it!  You may have your version of 'Pecal', which in any case may taste better, but mine is superior to me, thanks to my mother!