Journey Through Time
At Rempapa, Damian D’silva stands guard over Singapore’s diverse culinary traditions and treasure trove of flavours
He’s been called the “grandfather of heritage cuisine”, but Europe-trained Singaporean chef Damian D’silva is much more than that. As the first-ever Singaporean to receive the prestigious Artisan & Authenticity
Award from French guide La Liste, D’silva is more accurately described as the custodian of Singapore’s food heritage.
At his restaurant Rempapa—named partially after the Malay word rempah (a spice paste that all ethnicities in Singapore use as a base in their cooking)—the 67-yearold curates a multicultural menu based on time-honoured recipes gleaned from his grandparents’ kitchens when he was a child. Together with head chef Alan Chan, D’silva, who is of European and Peranakan heritage, has reignited among younger generations of diners a finer appreciation for Singapore’s treasures from a bygone era.
Here, you’ll find classic heritage dishes presented alongside rarely-seen gems such as Eurasian singgang (flaked wolf-herring fish cooked in spices), Peranakan yong tau foo, Hakka fried pork (deep-fried pork belly), and Sri Lankan chicken curry with string hoppers and tomato chutney. Perhaps most enticing is the chef’s menu, which offers diners an exclusive private room adventure that spotlights local produce and changes according to season.
Rempapa’s irresistible charm is in part due to D’silva’s own “Singapore New Heritage Cuisine”, where heritage recipes are painstakingly elevated in an effort to ensure they do not vanish. “People call me ‘the grandfather of heritage cuisine’, cooking recipes of my forefathers. But I don’t want to stay still,” D’silva says.
The humble nasi lemak, for instance, is enhanced by switching broken rice with jasmine rice that has been soaked overnight, then cooked in a laborious three-hour process. Accompanying it is a juicy deepfried kampong chicken thigh marinated in a dry rub for at least 36 hours. Then there is the sambal, finished with a dash of lime.
Similarly, Rempapa’s chicken curry is a culmination of extensive research. The result is an aromatic iteration that marries Indian and Eurasian curry powder mixes with coconut water and a rempah base.