Meet Mey

Mey firmly believes that nothing tastes better than home. And that’s why she’s doing her most delicious best to bring traditional Indonesian cuisine (and a few secret family recipes) to Australia — her new home. 

Mey has lived several lives already — she grew up on Mandao, a small island three hours from Jakarta; she’s seen pockets of the world while working as a flight attendant; become a mother, and wife; and is now a passionate cook and contributor to her new community in Springvale, Melbourne. 

“Cooking became my passion after I finished my career as a flight attendant,” says Mey. “I love cooking because it makes my family grow — I can see my kids grow because of my homemade food. So when I cook, I feel like I’m sharing love.”

But Mey is not simply passionate about the food — she’s also passionate about the ingredients she uses and the benefits they hold for the body. “When I cook, I try to put all the good energy inside, so people will feel ‘oh this is good’”, she says. From taking turmeric as an anti-inflammatory, kencur for immunity, pahitan for headaches or ginger for digestion, cooking with Mey is also a lesson in healing. 

“I want to share the health benefits of my traditional food, why it’s important. This food is good for your health, good for your body, everything.” 

Then there are Mey’s stories, which accompany every dish on her menu. Like the “very very spicy spicy” red chili pork her family would make at Christmas; how she came to perfect the perfect nasi goreng; the best way to cook over open flame, as she did as a child; or how she learned — and then improved — her mother’s famous sambal recipe. 

In fact, she’s improved her mum’s sambal recipe so much that it’s now being sold, and in demand, here in Australia. “Even my mum said ‘wow Mey, you make this good, maybe even better than me’’, shares Mey. To make a good sambal? Impressive. To improve a family legacy? Unheard of. 

Mey in her flight attendant days!

Mey’s mother is a seminal figure in Mey’s life, helping shape Mey’s relationship with food and cooking. “She is a strong woman, who grew three of us girls. She is a hard-working woman, always there for us. When I was just 10 years old, she taught me how to cook, how to survive at home when she and dad had to go for work,” says Mey. And now Mey is motivated to pass these skills on — both to her own children, and to any willing participants  at Free to Feed. 

“I want people to be happy, to know how to cook at home and how to cook traditional food on a budget,” she says. 

But the most important reason to join Mey’s class is undeniably the fried chicken. Mey’s chicken is the standout on her menu. Described as a ‘VIP dish’ because chicken was a delicacy on Mandao when Mey was growing up. On an island where seafood was plentiful, the decision to kill and cook a chicken was a rare and special occurrence. “When we wanted chicken, we’d have to wait for the chicken to grow,” says Mey. 

And to this day, Mey describes her island fried chicken with almost religious-like reverence. “My menu will teach people how to get the chicken juicy on the inside but crisp on the outside… with all the benefits of the spices and herbs too,” she says. 

Mey exudes an enthusiastic and kind energy, and it’s obvious that she cooks with a passion for her hometown cuisine. “I want people to know my country… know the different taste of my country and the way I cook traditionally,’ she says. 

This beautiful piece was written by our friend Tayla Gentle from GOOD & PROPER.