Egg yolks and sugar seem to turn up everywhere in Portuguese desserts. But it was the fine golden threads of fios de ovos that caught my attention. They looked just like jala mas, a sweet from my hometown, Kelantan.
In Thailand, they’re called foi thong. There must be a story here.
The Portuguese connection might make you think of Malacca, on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. But Kelantan is on the east coast, with deep historical ties to neighbouring Siam. Jala mas may have come to us through Siam, rather than through Portuguese Malacca.
Foi thong is traditionally linked to Maria Guyomar de Pinha, a woman of Portuguese and Japanese descent who introduced Portuguese-style sweets to the royal court of Ayutthaya in the 17th century. A friend tells me there’s a Japanese version called keiran sōmen too. I would love to try it one day.
So a sweet from my hometown may have Portuguese roots, but reached us by way of Thailand. That was the connection I hadn’t expected.