<story><title>The mesmerizing geometry of Malaysia’s most complex cakes</title><url>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kek-lapis-sarawak</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>qubex</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;the Sarawak government designated it as a “protected geographical indicator,” decreeing that true kek lapis Sarawak can only be made within state borders&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;I love stuff like this... a governmental body’s deliberate grab for &lt;i&gt;extra-&lt;/i&gt;territorial authority. We have similar things in Italy (D.O.C.: &lt;i&gt;Denominazione di Origine Controllata&lt;/i&gt;, meaning “Name with a Controlled Origin”) but at least that’s substantiated by a E.U.-level authority. I suppose in this case it is supported by national authority, but the funny thing is that it’s only within the confines of a higher authority that &lt;i&gt;grants&lt;/i&gt; these powers to its lower constituents that such powers can exist (or within the context of international trade deals). A better term than the active-voice ‘&lt;i&gt;designated&lt;/i&gt;’ might’ve been the mixed active&amp;#x2F;passive-voice “&lt;i&gt;requested, and was granted&lt;/i&gt;”, but I’m probably splitting hairs here.&lt;p&gt;I spent quite a while in Malaysia back in the early-to-mid 2000s, but I never actually tried this. The ingredients don’t sound super-appetising to me.&lt;p&gt;EDIT: fixed formatting &amp;amp; punctuation.</text></comment>
<story><title>The mesmerizing geometry of Malaysia’s most complex cakes</title><url>https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/kek-lapis-sarawak</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>9nGQluzmnq3M</author><text>Kueh lapis is delicious, but by local standards eye-wateringly expensive due to the effort involved, even when it&amp;#x27;s just &amp;quot;regular&amp;quot; layer cake and not further remixed like the Sarawak variant.  With a minimum wage of RM 1100&amp;#x2F;mo, that RM250 cake is a week&amp;#x27;s income.&lt;p&gt;Some well-known local chains if you&amp;#x27;re even in the region:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lavender.com.my&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lavender.com.my&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bengawansolo.com.sg&amp;#x2F;cat_signature_range.aspx&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bengawansolo.com.sg&amp;#x2F;cat_signature_range.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the spirit of HN, perhaps there&amp;#x27;s room for a startup to automate the process with robotics and 3D printing...</text></comment>