KOTA BARU: For the past four months, a group of 20 friends have been spending their days off combing the state capital's wet markets, seeking out veteran traders and elderly residents who hold the recipes, memories and stories behind Kelantan's lesser-known culinary treasures.
Their search goes beyond a shared love of food; it is part of an ambitious effort to put Kota Baru on the world gastronomic map.
For the Kota Baru Gastronomy Club, the mission is to bring the state's rich culinary heritage out of the shadows and into the international spotlight, with the ultimate goal of securing a place on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (Unesco) Creative Cities Network.
