As featured in The Star, Weekend “Spotlight” section, Saturday 8 May 2004.
Long before AcarKing had a name, a jar or a website, there was our mother, Elizabeth Dawson — “Amma” to us — cooking in a small home kitchen in Selangor.
In May 2004, The Star ran a feature called “Minding their own business” about everyday Malaysians who had turned a skill into a small home business. Amma was one of them.
How it started
It began, as the article told it, with a friend’s birthday party. A friend who had eaten at our table asked Amma to cook for her celebration. The food was a hit, word spread, and soon Amma was catering for families, friends and church gatherings — all from home, with no shop, no business card and no advertising. Just word of mouth.
What people remembered
The Star described how well known Amma’s cooking was among relatives and church friends, and how her sambals and side dishes kept people coming back. Her three boys — my brothers and I — were her helpers in the kitchen, making jellies and fruit cocktails for the bigger functions.
One line from Amma in the article still sums her up: “I like experimenting with food.” She believed good cooking starts with the freshest ingredients and spices added in just the right amounts, at just the right time.
The article
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The Star, Weekend “Spotlight”, page 4, Saturday 8 May 2004.
From that kitchen to your table
More than twenty years later, that same approach goes into every jar of AcarKing Salted Kurau Fish Acar: real salted kurau, small batches, no added preservatives, and a recipe we didn’t change because it never needed changing.
When you open a jar, you’re tasting the same kitchen The Star wrote about in 2004. Thank you for letting Amma’s cooking into your home.
With love,
Alban
Source: Grace Chen, “Minding their own business”, The Star (Weekend, Spotlight, p. 4), 8 May 2004. Photos by The Star.