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!

SPICE N WINE

WHEN AUSTRALIAN WINE EXPERT ROY MOORFIELD was in town recently, I had the honour of arranging a nyonya dinner for him one night. It was hosted by GM of Traders Hotel Karl Karlsson. The whole point was for him to taste the food and try and pair it with wines which would best go with the sort of spicy, very aggressive tastes.

Unfortunately, it was actually on a Monday night, when most of our hard-working restaurateurs take a day off, so there were very few places about to choose from. Finally I settled on the Perut Rumah in Kelawei Road which was open that night, also because I thought would give him an idea of local architecture.

Partner Giannick and his team did quite well, especially the "Nyonya Four Seasons" we started with, which included a bit of everything: Fried Popiah (not Choon Piah), Nasi Ulam, Lor Bak and Nyonya Kerabu. He wanted taste, so I gave him taste - a lot of it was hot and spicy!

It was interesting to hear Roy talk, although he's got rather a low, rumbly voice and I wondered whether the others could hear him. As I was sat next to him it was all right for me! According to him, it's not that difficult to pair wine even with such strong-tasting foods if you treat it like a condiment - rather like a curry goes well with a side dish of pickle which has vinegar, wine can be treated the same way - it's slightly acidic.

Our table consisted of 11 people, including Chef Adam Roy from Feringgi Grill, who although American is quite well-versed with local food, as he spent several years working in Thailand and Indonesia, and has been in Penang for the past 12 months. That's him not taking a night off - serving the food up as usual!

After that we had the main meal with a representative sample of many nyonya dishes: Kiam Chai Ark (Salted Veg with Duck Soup), Fish Assam Tumis (Curry), Heyakay Bak, Tau Eu Bak etc.

The penultimate course was the Nyonya Lam Mee, after which we had what I thought was the best of the lot: the Or Chut Bee or Black Glutinous Rice, cooked with a few slices of dried orange peel - it was perfect: just the correct consistency, not too thick and not too watery; just a touch of salt to offset the creaminess of the santan, and sweet but not too sweet. Unfortunately it went so quickly I couldn't take a photo of it!

I hope it gave Roy, who was there with his lovely Hong Kong wife Selena, a good idea of the kind of food nyonya cooking is, and that he enjoyed it. Thanks Karl for hosting it.

NYONYA DELIGHTS

PENANG IS ALREADY CHOCK-A-BLOCK WITH RESTAURANTS, so it takes guts to open one. It takes even more guts in my mind to open a NYONYA restaurant, seeing as that is the sort of food many Penangites eat at home! That is why there really aren't that many in town.

KENNETH YIP is the brave lad who is proprietor of the SRI BATIK NYONYA CAFE in New World Park. It's the little place next to Star View, the interior an eclectic mix of Chinese and Peranakan artefacts - he loves his antiques, does Kenneth - and despite all odds has survived and is now well on its way to becoming one of Penang's stalwarts.

When I first reviewed it for Star Metro North's Gourmet Guide a few years ago, he was based in Bukit Jambul. That one has since closed down as he has decided, wisely, to concentrate on one good one instead of two mediocre ones. This said, it was not fantastically brilliant then, and throughout the years as I've gone back either as a guest or a reviewer it has had its ups and downs. HOWEVER, I am glad to see that he has persevered, and been prepared to listen to comments (primarily from me!) about the quality, taste, and authenticity of his dishes, and it is definitely on the up and up.

One of his best is his Lemak Perut Ikan, but it really should be eaten with rice as it can be quite tart. However, the other day he asked me to try a few new dishes: Yam Pork, Kiam Hu Kut Tng and his very own home-made nyonya sausages.

Hate to think of the state of my cholesterol but they were all really quite palatable, particularly the soup - delish, full-bodied and fragrant with "dan lau kiam hu". And big chunks of belly of pork ... hmmmm ... And he's FINALLY got his Prawn Sambal Goreng right, flavourwise, as it really was not very good before, and I took him to task over it several times. It's almost there - really delicious combination of coconut and belacan with a hint of bruised lemon grass - although it was still a tad too creamy for my taste - can be a bit "jelak" so he has to tone that down slightly.

I also like his RED BEAN ICE BLENDED, a concoction he came up with which is very tasty and refreshing. And oh btw - he's moving across the way to bigger premises still within New World Park so well done to him for staying the course, and I really wish him all the best.

COOKOUT

WOW ... it was a tiring but fantastic week, and I'm only just recovering from it.

No.1 Son flew in after finishing his first year at Uni last weekend, so we decided to combine a few things and drove down to KL to meet him there and at the same time see my 86-year old Dad. BTW he did it again - yet ANOTHER artificially-created orifice in his head; this time two more in his ears. However, it was good to see him again; he's maturing and starting to THINK (do teenagers?)

As for Dad, despite his back problem (he IS 86) Dad is doing well, and eats like a horse. His appetite is so good he eats easily four times what I do.



Then on Monday I checked into the Legend Hotel in town and proceeded to the KLCC Convention Centre, where I was one of the 55 judges in Culinaire Malaysia 2009 who were being briefed by Chairman of CAM (Chefs Association of Malaysia) Federico Michieletto. There were bigwigs from the culinary industry who had flown in from all over the world: US, Oz, HK etc. After the briefing there was a reception.

The competitions started in earnest the next day, and particularly for me - I was down to judge the "Heritage Nyonya" category which had 11 teams over 2 days. As the designated Head Judge dropped out as he felt he didn't know enough about nyonya food, and so they asked me to step in! WOW. Although honoured, I was a bit nervous - this is only my second big international competition, and I've never really been head judge before. However, it was fun, and I learnt a lot.

Firstly, I learnt that you shouldn't each too much when the first lot of dishes come round cos by the end of it you REALLY feel quite stuffed. Secondly, it's quite tiring being on your feet practically all day long, and thirdly, it's difficult getting a taxi in KL especially during rush hour and particularly when it rains! Apart from that, it was a great trip.

With over 800 contestants taking part in 30 categories, it was an organisational nightmare I think, but it was amazing how it all went so smoothly. Some of the displays were incredible.

Although there are some differences between northern and southern nyonya food, many dishes are similar. We had the usual stuff: Otak Otak, Kari Kapitan, Ulams, Kiam Chai Ark etc.

Winners were the Westin Hotel Kuala Lumpur team, who although novices when it came to nyonya food, put in a tremendous effort and impressed us all with not just their gung-ho attitude but work ethics and even went as far as learning how to make their own kueh ang ku and kueh ketayap, then recreating them there. And their food tasted quite authentic too. Having said that, I'm all nyonyad out!

Overall though, I was impressed by the standard , and it felt good to see the younger generation cooking dishes from this unique cuisine, and I laud the organisers for having the initiative to include this category in such a high profile competition. I hope it gives the wonderful, delicious food more exposure, and we will start seeing more of it being offered all over the country. It is after all one of our heritage foods!

The organisers - Chefs Association Malaysia, the Malaysian Food & Beverage Executives Association, and Malaysian Association of Hotels - also deserve a pat on the back for the smooth running of the whole thing - it is a massive project which took a year to organise. I truly take my hat off to them!