KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 -- There is a saying Agustus Sapen remembers: “When you want to build a house, you look for an architect. When you are not well, you look for a doctor. When you want to eat, you look for a farmer.”
Today, palm oil estates have replaced the rice bowls of Sabah and Sarawak, said the Sarawak-born Agustus.
Still, he is on a mission to preserve the culture and heritage of his home state.... one glass of tuak at a time.
“I got involved in the Sarawak Heritage Association six years ago... my passion became my motivation to learn more about Sarawak heritage and culture.
“And since tuak is a part of our native culture, it was the best motivation to learn the art of making tuak,” said Agustus.
Tuak is a traditional alcoholic drink from Sarawak made from the fermentation of rice (usually glutinous rice) using yeast and enzymes which are naturally derived from ragi.
“Ragi is the culture host for the accumulation of yeast and enzymes which are part of brewing tuak.
“The enzymes break the starch in the rice into sugar and the yeast converts the sugar into alcohol, which is the fermentation process. Fermentation also produces carbon dioxide apart from alcohol,” explained Agustus.
He became so interested in tuak that he founded Spirits of the Harvest, a community that promotes the culture of tuak; everything from sharing the ideas and thoughts on the art of making tuak to organising events focused on Sarawakian culture with ethnic performances.
Spirits of the Harvest also hosts a yearly “Tuak of the Year” competition where participants bring their homemade brews to be judged based on ingredients, standard methods of preparation and alcohol content.
Recently, Spirits of the Harvest hosted a Tuak Appreciation and Education (TEA) event as a preview to the “Tuak of the Year” competition which took place on August 31.
At the competition, participants and guests were treated to a free tuak sampling, blow pipe challenge, cultural showcase, Borneo movie screening and traditional performances.
At the preview, Agustus showed guests the different fermentation stages of tuak. He had other types of rice wine including the Korean rice wine (Makgeolli). He explained that tuak is similar to Chinese rice wine in which ragi is also used.
In Sabah, the natives make their version of rice wine, named Lihing. Montoku is a distillate of Lihing.
The outcome of the rice wine is dependent on the type of rice, the ragi as well as the yeast. Water and sugar content would also affect the dryness or sweetness in the taste.
“Women prefer sweeter tuak. Men would go for tuak that’s less sweet,” said Agustus.
Spirits of the Harvest is about a little more than a year old. Agustus plans to have a regional rice wine festival five years down the road.
“I’ve tried tuak Thailand (Sato), tuak China, tuak Jepun (Sake) and tuak Korea (Makgeolli) in the respective countries of origin and I loved the experience!” he said.
In Japan, rice farmers take pride in their harvests. They would constantly try to find ways to improve the quality of the grains. Agustus said that it takes about 30 years for a rice farmer to prove his rice farming capabilities.
Besides the art of tuak making, Agustus has another heritage he holds close to his heart. He is part of the Hornbill Conservation Network.
“Many people forget their culture once they move to a bigger city. I hope I can change that,” said the proud Sarawakian who moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2001 after graduating from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2001 with a degree in electronic engineering.
Find out more about Spirits of the Harvest at www.spiritsoftheharvest.com.
The first edition of this story which appeared in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail, September 6, 2013 contained factual errors which have now been corrected.
