CULINAIRE 2011 - KL CONVENTION CENTRE

WELL, I'M BACK AGAIN. TWO YEARS OLDER BUT, I think, not too much wiser!





Yes, once again, I've been invited back as one of the (many) judges at Malaysia's biggest cooking competition, Culinaire Malaysia 2011, being held at the KL Convention Centre. I am mostly doing (what else) Nyonya Food with our very own celebrity chef AMY BEH and two other honourable judges.


It's interesting to see so many more teams taking part this year; the first four of the 12 took part today; the others over the next two days. More news about that at a later stage.


It's a huge event, and the six convention halls - which are quite big already - are full to the brim with all kinds of equipment specifically for the catering industry, although some of them will do for domestic use as well.





It's nice being back in KL again, although one thing I will say for it: it is NOISY, especially where I am in town where the judges are being put up. There seems to always be something being built so there is continuous piling going on, not to mention the traffic which is bumper to bumper most times. And people who visit Penang have the cheek to complain about OUR traffic there! I always try and tell them it's because they only come up when it is a festive season when everyone else from Malaysia seem to be there!!





Last night the judges met up at Pacific Regency for a briefing, after which we adjourned to the 33rd floor where cocktails were held at the poolside. It was a real bunfight, with lots of drinks flowing and the band trying to make themselves heard across the water. It was nice to see the Twin Towers in the background. Dr M really brought Malaysia to the world stage when he commissioned it. It's really quite impressive.

Another thing is some can be quite unfriendly. I went to 1-Utama today to do some shopping and have dinner with a friend, and she wanted to stop by the Lavender bread shop which, to be fair, was quite impressive. So I stood there waiting for her, and decided to take some photos. They told me I was not allowed to. So I stopped. But in the mean time, here's one that I took earlier ... The arrogance of it. Is it because they think someone is going to steal some of their ideas? They're good, but not that good!

CHAMPAGNE AND SAN PELLEGRINO AT IGGY'S

THE PLANE WAS SLIGHTLY DELAYED, hence my finely-honed plan to get to the hotel, check in, then have a leisurely shower and change was completely skedaddled. On top of that, clever clogs here decided to take the MRT to Chinatown, where my hotel was. Which was not a bad thing to do seeing as it cost only SD1.90 (well SD2.90 actually but you get SD1 refund at the end of your journey) instead of the usual SD40-50 if I had gone by cab.

But I had to wait 8 mins to get the MRT out of Changi airport only to get off at the wrong stop for the inter-change so had to wait another 6 mins. That delayed me again, and when I got out at Outram Stop the walk was a good 10-15 mins. So when I got to the hotel and checked in, it was already 6.40pm. The single receptionist took ages to handle the other person's query so by the time I got to my room I had exactly 10 mins to get ready. So much for the leisurely prep!

What made the evening particularly enjoyable was the fact that LAURENT PERRIER the famous French champagne house was sponsoring the drinks, so apart from the bubbles from the San Pellegrino (although there is also still) the bubbly flowed freely pretty well all night long.

Yes, I was in Singapore once more, to do a few things. All to do with food of course. That night was the get-together of the prestigious San Pellegrino Asian Judges Panel, of which yours truly is one. So there I was hobnobbing with some 40 of the best: journalists, restaurateurs, food writers and whatnots, at Iggy's, one of the top restaurants in Asia, with no less than Iggy himself there.

The food is very interesting, sort of fusion cum molecular, as you can see from some of the photos and descriptions, starting with an Amuse Bouche of uni, cauliflower, chocolate and foie gras to Egg with White Truffle Powder. The Blackmore Wagyu was delicious. It requires a lot of research and testing to come up with the matching and pairing of these very different foods, and now I know why Iggy's has such a good reputation. However, there's rather a lot of washing up to do, I thought. But then you know what a Philistine I am.

What a night to remember, and thank you San Pellegrino!