I have been wondering about the names of vegetables for a while. I cook, buy groceries and speak their names in Mandarin, English and sometimes Malay. I have noticed that a fruit’s or vegetable’s name can mean different, sometimes contradicting things in different languages. Tomato is a “Caucasian brinjal” to the Hokkien. 白菜 (“white vegetable”) is a “Chinese cabbage” to English speakers. Soursop is a “Dutch durian” to the Malay speakers. Investigating these and other names reveals colonial legacies and cultural biases. We may or may not hold these prejudices today, but we imply them when we say our vegetables’ names.
