IN the house where I grew up, we often had three types of food: Javanese, Minang, and Indian cuisine. Javanese food was served because we lived in East Java and my mother was Javanese, Indian food because my father was a second-generation Indian immigrant, and Minang food because, before settling in East Java, my grandfather spent his youth in Padang, after arriving from India.

These three types of cuisine were sometimes served alternately.