Martha Stewart in the (Baba) House

America’s domicile queen gets gets acquainted with nyonya dumplings … and some very lucky Babas, including The Peranakan‘s Peter Lee

Much like every Peranakan house in the past, the altar to the household deity, Guan Gong, takes pride of place in the reception hall of the NUS Baba House. Who would ever imagine that the most celebrated media mogul and contemporary global household deity, Martha Stewart, yes THE Martha Stewart, would step through its front door to understand a little bit about Peranakan heritage and to introduce it to her millions of viewers all over the world?

Martha Stewart graciously endured the sweltering heat of a late morning in June, looking elegant and both flawlessly and naturally youthful, to do what she clearly loves best: talking about and discovering new flavours for her show, within an environment she expressively approves of. “Your efforts at preservation are ADMIRABLE” she inscribed, in Baba House’s guest book.

The filmed segment on Baba House, put together by her awe-inspiring production team who worked through day and night while still managing to look eternally fresh and cheerful, included a nyonya kueh chang (dumpling) wrapping and beadwork demonstration by brothers Raymond and Edmond Wong of Rumah Kim Choo. This will be part of a Singapore feature to be aired sometime in the autumn of 2010.