IPOH: Ask anyone in Ipoh what is their favourite dish for breaking fast and the answer will most likely be "rendang Tok Mak Nik."
People throng the stalls at Ramadan bazaars and pasar tani, which sell this traditional Perak favourite, made from a secret century-old family recipe.
Twenty years ago, 78-year-old Nafsiah Yeop Abdullah and her husband Mohamad Pandak Husin, 81, started their business in the backyard of their Kampung Pasir Puteh home with minimal equipment and a meagre capital of RM35 a day. The couple and their children sold their "rendang Tok Mak Nik" dish door-to-door.
Today, the dish is prepared in a factory in the Sri Pengkalan Industrial area here.
Marketed by the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama), "rendang Tok Mak Nik" dish is now available nationwide, and in Singapore and Brunei.
Giant Supermarkets sell it in heatable aluminium pouches.
Nafsiah no longer cooks herself, but she closely supervises her eight children and 24 grandchildren to make sure only the best quality beef is used, with freshly ground herbs and spices.
"Over a 100 years ago, my ancestors were warriors at the istana and they cooked for the royal family. In those days, this dish was reserved for them."
One of her sons, Mohamad Azmi Mohd Pandak, who is the managing director of the family firm, says the last two weeks had been exhausting, but worth it.

(published: 27/9/2006)