PARIT: Born and bred in Budapest, Hungary, Adam Abdullah, formerly known as Barak Nobert, is famous for his country’s hot-selling traditional street food, langos — a deep-fried dough.
He sells langos with his wife, Elsuraya Mohamed, in Batu Gajah but since the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO), they have been staying at home in Kampung Teluk Bakong, Bota Kanan here.
Instead of being idle, Adam who is fondly known as Adam Mat Salleh, spent his time with his wife learning to cook authentic Malay dishes and playing traditional games.
“I can’t just sleep and eat all the time. So I took this opportunity to learn how to cook authentic Malay delicacies such as sekaya, pulut wajik durian and gulai tempoyak as well as playing traditional games like congkak.
“We made our own congkak using coconut shells. I even use this time to learn how to use the traditional coconut grinder.
“It is very interesting as we don’t have it in Hungary. I even taught my wife how to play ‘Windmill’, a traditional Hungarian game,” said Adam, who has been living in Malaysia for the past six years.
Adam, who is fluent in the Bota dialect, said that previously he was busy making and selling langos and never had free time to do anything else.
However, since the MCO, he had using this stay-home period to learn about more about Malay culture.
“To be honest, I would be dead if l lived in Hungary during the MCO. There is nothing to do there.
“Here, I have a lot of things to do. I can cook and all the ingredients can be found around my home such as turmeric leaf, lime, coconut, eggs, curry leaf and so many others.
“I enjoy kampung life... it’s quiet and peaceful.
“ I also learnt via YouTube on how to use an incubator to hatch eggs using polystyrene boxes. I have 13 chicks so far and currently there are 28 eggs in the box waiting to be hatched,” he said.
Adam said the MCO which had also been enforced in his home country was not as strict as Malaysia’s since Hungary had so far recorded about 800 positive Covid-19 cases.
“I was planning to return to Hungary next year but looking at the current situation, it’s best we cancel our plan,” said Adam who had not met up with his family since he first moved here six years ago.