There is much that is unseen in this watercolour painting, despite its nuanced realism and the intimate framing of its composition. Without the reference in the artwork title, perhaps only the initiated would be able to identify the activity being represented. Although we may recognise the rudimentary charcoal burner often used for grilling satay, the odd contraptions shaped like giant coins held in long clamps are very particular, mysterious items, resting at different points on a thin stick on moss-covered bricks near the burner.

These are moulds for making kuih kapit, delicately crispy, sweet, wafer-thin snacks that only make an appearance during Chinese New Year and Hari Raya celebrations in Malaysia. Some people call them “love letters”, claiming that kuih kapit were once used by young lovers to pass concealed messages to each other.

Also sometimes known as kuih belanda, kuih kapit is thought to have its origins in wafeltjes recipes brought by the Dutch to their Southeast Asian colonies, and adapted by Peranakan Chinese, making them very much a product of our complex history of cultural exchange and fusion. We only see the outside of the clamped moulds marked 4” for the diameter and “S” to designate the steel material (newer stainless steel moulds are marked “SS” at their centre). Inside, the moulds are cast with elegant flower, bird and butterfly designs.

“Kuih kapit” literally translates as “squeezed kuih”, and is made with a thin egg, coconut milk and rice flour (sometimes also tapioca or plain flour) batter, which is poured into the moulds and heated briefly over charcoal. Once cooked, each wafer is immediately either folded twice into the shape of a Chinese fan or rolled, and then put into an airtight container. The process requires a chain of cooks, and it was when the artist got involved in helping their family make kuih kapit that they felt they wanted to share this tradition in some way.

We do not see the kuih kapit themselves, or the designs of the moulds, or the process of making in the rather homely set-up before us. It seems somewhat magical that concealed within the heavy hot metal, away from the concrete, brick and charcoal, there is to come something so delicious and fragile and linked to histories personal and cultural.