BY CK Lam

Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia – Sunway Institute of Culinary Arts has brought culinary education to Malaysia in their school located in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Representatives from the school and Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand was up in Traders Hotel Penang recently to conduct a seminar.

Attendees at the seminar had an educational afternoon experiencing ‘campus life’. Besides gaining more info on the culinary programmes from both campuses, they also enjoyed a cooking demonstration on the recipe Bonbonnière Au Chocolat – Chocolate Box and Assorted Pralines.

BONBONNIÈRE AU CHOCOLAT
Chocolate box and assorted praline

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BY CK Lam

Over the past few years, Suffolk House Restaurant has had many different chefs. The latest is executive chef Dave Looi. His last job before arriving in Penang was in Parrot Cay, a private island which is part of the Turks and Caicos Islands. He has also worked as a chef in Taipei, London and New York.

Looi’s passion for creativity is apparent in the numerous dishes we sampled at Suffolk House Restaurant.

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BY C K Lam

Tropical Spice Garden recently sees the book launching and cooking demo by Dr Ong Jin Teong at the al-fresco style Pavilion next to the cooking school. The event highlighted Dr Ong’s culinary biography Penang Heritage Food, a collection of recipes for the classic and forgotten dishes of Penang.

Penang Heritage Food also sheds light on the different cultural influences that has made Penang’s fusion cuisine a unique national heritage. Dishes with Malay, Hokkien, Indian, Thai and Hainanese influences are included.

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BY CK Lam

Asian Food Channel’s (AFC) new cooking show, Chalk & Cheese, is presented by Penang’s very own Chef Tommes, owner of That Little Wine Bar and Irrawaddy Fine Foods, a New York- styled delicatessen.

In the show, Tommes and co-host JoJo Struys take us on a gastronomic tour of several locations in Malaysia. The focus is on fresh, natural ingredients that are used to make meat and seafood courses, pizzas, noodles and desserts. Some of these dishes are offered at That Little Wine Bar, and each week, the menu of the episode will also be available on the special’s board.

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BY CK Lam

Recently, I was invited to a cooking session at Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School in Teluk Bahang, Penang. The school offers cooking classes for Nyonya, Chinese, Malay and Indian cuisine and is set in a building surrounded by the lush Tropical Spice Garden.

Under the guidance of Pearly Kee, who is well-versed in Nyonya cooking, the participants and I gained some insight into Nyonya cuisine. We were handed recipe sheets for otak-otak and jiu hu char and Kee guided us through the two dishes.

Both recipes were simple. The jiu hu char had several ingredients put together, each with its unique flavour and texture. This stir-fried dish was so fresh and light and paired nicely with lettuce and sambal belacan.

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I had time to catch up with Taiwanese personality and celebrity Chef Chen Hong (陳鴻) during his recent trip to Penang, the island of delicious food. Popularly known as “Ah Hong”, he is now Penang Food Ambassador for Taiwan, since he was appointed by Penang State EXCO for Tourism Development and Culture, YB Danny Law Heng Kiang.

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Le Cordon Bleu is a world renowned network of educational institutions. Being a top cooking school in the world, it is the place to achieve good standard of exquisite style cooking from the world’s best qualified chefs.

Centrally located on Rama IV Road, the Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School is the first in the global network of Le Cordon Bleu schools that is offering Thai cuisine courses besides French Cuisine and Patisserie. The courses are conducted by Thai Cuisine Chef – Chef Rapeepat Boriboon in English with Thai translation for Thai students.

Thai Cuisine Chef, Rapeepat Boriboon

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Celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, entrepreneur, and television personality, Todd English was in Penang recently for the filming of his TV show. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Todd English is best known for his restaurant, Olives, located in both Boston, Massachusetts, and Las Vegas, Nevada and his TV cooking show, Food Trip with Todd English, on PBS.

When Nadge contacted me about meeting up with Chef Todd, I quickly took up the invitation and tagged alongside the acclaimed chef and the crew during the recording of the show. The outing was truly inspiring, and has opened up a world of ideas for me, seeing the chef ‘in action’.

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*This article was published in the New Straits Times (Life & Times) on 23rd July 2010.

Nazeri Ismail is the Executive Pastry Chef at Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa. He has charmed many diners with his varieties of outstanding cakes and pastries over the years. What’s more, he has been making cakes for the Penang Governor for the past four years.

The Penang Governor cutting the birthday cake

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