Other than the vibrant Peranakan culture and colorful culinary traditions, Nyonyas and Straits Chinese also thrive on intricate, elaborate, one-of-a-kind Nyonyaware–crockery, tableware, porcelain, kitchen utensils, tools, and pots and pans.
In prominent and wealthy Peranakan families, tableware such as serving plates, bowls, tea pots were mostly imported from China and Europe. Nyonyaware are much-valued items. There are often special cupboards and cabinets to store all the Nyonyaware and utensils. Different tableware is also marked for different festivity, and one can’t mix them up in everyday use. For example: in my family, we have a separate set of tableware, kitchen utensils, pots and pans just for the vegetarian month, during the 9th month of the lunar calendar. Suffice it to say, those tableware and utensils are strictly vegetarian, meaning, they have never been used to cook or serve non-vegetarian foods. As soon as the vegetarian festival is over, all “vegan” tableware and kitchen tools will then return to the storage area, covered, and waiting to be uncovered again the following year…
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