Meat Livestock Australia Winners @ Culinaire Malaysia 2019

MLA Golden Bull Culinary Competition 2019 and MLA Iron Butcher Challenge 2019

Culinaire Malaysia 2019 has chefs raising their hats to new heights in the culinary world in Malaysia recently. The annual culinary event has chefs from all over the world battling it out for a series of competitions and challenges that showcases exceptional culinary skills and creativity as well as teamwork. With over 1,500 entries and more than 1,000 culinary professionals at this Culinaire Malaysia 2019, it’s certainly a battle of the chefs vying for the title and bragging rights as well as monetary prizes.

Held at The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the Food & Hotel Malaysia (FHM) 2019 and Culinaire Malaysia 2019 takes placed for the eighth consecutive time from 24 – 27 September 2019. Meat Livestock Australia (MLA), the main sponsor of two major culinary competition, has chefs all over the world taking the Golden Bull Culinary Competition and MLA Iron Butcher Challenge.

The 2019 Golden Bull Culinary Competition has 9 teams of chefs from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, China, Brunei and Taiwan battling it out to curate a 3-course menu featuring the versatility of Australian beef and lamb. Judging criteria includes taste, professional preparation, presentation, mise-en-place and service.

The atmosphere was intense as the teams competed in a four-day competition within a 3-hour battle to produce their menu of beef and lamb by True Aussie Beef and Lamb sponsors Stanbroke, Murray Pure and Thomas Foods.

Kimball Launches New Asian Pasta Sauce @ KL Sogo

The Great Kimball Pasta Cook-off!

Kimball, a trusted brand in Malaysian homes, has recently launched their new Asian Pasta Sauce in the market. No stranger to the consumer industry, Kimball has been producing many great tasting sauces under the group for the Malaysian palates for as long as I can remember while I was growing up. Established in 1970s, Kimball has garnered many fans who enjoy savoring their range of affordable and delicious sauces.

In addition to their line of current pasta sauces, Kimball has now added 3 new Asian Pasta Sauce to cater to the local taste bud of Malaysians. Together with sponsors Tefal and Sogo, Kimball launched the new Asian Pasta Sauce with The Great Pasta Cook-off at KL Sogo on March 26, 2015. The event was attended by members of the media and bloggers together with celebrities and guests.

The event highlighted the problems faced by many wives and mothers in preparing a home cook meal for their family. Being a mother myself and also juggling a career, it is indeed tough to whip up a home cook meal at times. After talking to several mothers and wives, time seemed to be the main issue whiles others also said that they are always looking for varieties when it comes to preparing meals for the family.

And that is where Kimball comes in with three new Asian pasta sauce. We do love pasta and many Malaysians cook pasta as often as they could for their family. It’s a hearty noodle dish that many will enjoy. However, cooking a good pasta sauce takes time to produce its delicious flavours. Kimball is introducing a new range of tomato based pasta sauce with an Asian twist. Not only does it save time for many mothers and wives who cooks for their family, the sauces also gives varieties of flavours.

Kimball Sos Spageti Tom Yam, Kimball Sos Spageti Rendang and Kimball Sos Spageti Kari

Kimball’s new range of Asian pasta sauce is inspired by Malaysians’ favorite dishes of spicy Tom Yum, Rendang and Curry. We love our spices and we enjoy bold flavours of savory, sweet, spicy and sour flavours. Hence Kimball’s Asian pasta sauces are perfect to jazz up the classic pasta sauce with local flavours of our Malaysian classics! A botol of 350gm sauce retails at RM4.95 and is already available in the market.

Catch the event of The Great Cook-off…

The Celebrity Cook Off between actress & producer Yasmin Hani and MasterChef Malaysia Season 1 Ezani Farhana took off shortly and it was a battle between cooking the conventional way and the Kimball sauce way. Yasmin cooked her Tom Yum Spaghetti from scratch while Ezani cooked her pasta using Kimball Sos Spageti Tom Yum. While both Yasmin and Ezani were all smiles, it was certainly serious when it comes to the cook off!

Ezani took about 7 minutes while Yasmin took about 14 minutes plus to cook the pasta. Of course Yasmin had a helper with cutting all the ingredients so it was actually more than just 14 mins to cook the dish.

It was without a doubt that an easier option was using Kimball Sos Spageti Tom Yum as it reduces time. Cooking with Kimball pasta sauce was as easy as 1,2,3 as one needs only to add in some diced onions, minced meat or seafood to the sauce. Cook up the pasta and serve once the meat or seafood is cooked in the pasta sauce. Many guests present sampled the dishes and it was concluded that the Kimball new Asian pasta sauce is as good as cooking from scratch.

Now one should have no excuse to whip up a pasta dish in few minutes!

From left to right: Yasmin Hani, Stephane Vilquin & Masterchef Ezani Farhana

For more information on Kimball, visit website: www.campbellsoup.com.my and Facebook: www.facebook.com/KimballMalaysia

Culinaire Malaysia 2013 in Conjunction with FHM 2013: The Grand Finale at The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia’s Largest International Food & Hospitality Trade Event

If you have a chance, please make sure to check out the Culinaire Malaysia that takes place every two years! It is the food and hotel event of the year where Malaysia plays host to our local talents and F&B businesses together with international chefs and F&B trade. This year, there are over 8 halls in KLCC with many international business participating.

As a contributor in the nourish! magazine, the official magazine for FHM 2013, I managed to catch some actions on the last day of the four-day event. Check out nourish! magazine here. The grand finale of the 11^th Culinaire Malaysia climaxes with the announcement of the winners at The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur.

First held in 1993 in Kuala Lumpur, this internationally acclaimed event is currently endorsed by World Association of Cooks Societies (WACS) and the Ministry of Tourism & Culture. Held alongside Food & Hotel Malaysia (FHM 2013) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Culinaire Malaysia drew a gathering of more than 1200 chefs, bartenders, F&B personnel from hotels and restaurants, students of culinary academies and apprentices from the nation as well as 57 local and international teams all the way from Germany, Russia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia who will be vying for 21 individual/team awards. Culinaire Malaysia’s 86 renowned judges from the international culinary and beverage world have made their verdict tonight.

“Culinaire Malaysia is all about reaching your dreams. It is about your passion.  Over these four days, we have witnessed 1,288 participants and 57 local and international teams battling to raise the bar with their mouth-watering concoctions and culinary masterpieces. It’s not about competing against each other to win, it’s about getting recognized. The objective of the event has always been to benchmark high level of competency standards in developing world class skills,” said Mr. Samuel Cheah, Organizing Chairman of Culinaire Malaysia in his speech.

“Culinaire Malaysia has always been a platform for many of our budding chefs, apprentices and F&B personnel to advance their career paths. With each show, the level is raised higher and I am encouraged each time when I see the impact that Culinaire Malaysia has on its participants. Their achievements in Culinaire Malaysia have led them to obtain higher positions in their profession or even have their own restaurant, consulting or training company,” he adds with encouragement.

The Organizing Chairman, Mr. Samuel Cheah, who is also the Secretary-General of the Malaysian Association of Hotels commented, “This is our 11^th edition that featured 34 categories; cold display, patisserie, pastry cup challenge, artistic, butchery skill, hot cooking, team challenge, pub challenge, F&B gold opulence service and many more. Tonight we are all excited to hear of the winner.”

“In conjunction with Culinaire Malaysia 2013, Malaysia was also proud to host the Asean Hotel & Restaurant Association (AHRA) Conference 2013 which concluded successfully on 19^th September with the theme, “The New Age Hospitality - Solutions for the next generation of hoteliers”adds Datuk Mohd Ilyas. The conference featured high profile speakers from the IT industry such as Ms. Tay Shen Li, Head of Internal Communications and Internet Strategies from CIMB Group; Mr. Varinderjit Singh, Vice President of Enterprise Business from Samsung Electronics Malaysia; Mr. Clifford Manifold, Regional Sales Director of Precor Incorporated; Mr. Gregory A. Duffell, President of Creative Advances Technology and Mr. Pearly Lim, 4G/LTE Program Manager from DiGi Telecommunications.

“On behalf of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, I am proud to congratulate Mr. Samuel Cheah and his Organizing Committee for their tireless efforts and sleepless nights all for the sake of this mega event. Our appreciation also goes to Chefs Association of Malaysia and the Malaysian F&B Executives Association for joining hands with us in this endeavour to bring Malaysian cuisine to the world stage,” said Datuk Mohd Ilyas Zainol Abidin, President of Malaysian Association of Hotels.

“Our congratulations to the Malaysian Association of Hotels, for once again organising the spectacular Culinaire Malaysia. As the venue sponsor, the Centre is honoured to host this event that encourages friendly competition amongst local chefs, inspiring then to further hone their skills to the benefit of the Malaysian hospitality industry,” added Datuk Peter Brokenshire, General Manager of Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

The nourish! team and nourish! Publisher, Mr. Ryan Khang with President, Chefs Association of Malaysian (CAM), Chef Chern Chee Hong and General Manager of the Malaysian Exhibition Services Sdn Bhd, Mr. Alun Jones

Many acclaimed chefs from local and international food and hospitality attended the dinner and the prize giving ceremony that night!

The Winners of Culinaire Malaysia 2013

1.     Most Outstanding Chef: Sazli Nazim Ismail – Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur

2.     Most Outstanding Artist: Ahmad Redha – Hotel Royal Kuala Lumpur

3.     Most Outstanding Pastry Chef: Goh Dah Liang – The Westin Kuala Lumpur

4.     Most Outstanding F&B Personnel: Nursamiehah Ismail – Convex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

5.     Most Outstanding Bartender: Ellen Ho Yu Lin – Taylor’s University

6.     Most Outstanding Apprentice: Leong Wei Ming – Berjaya Higher Education Sdn Bhd

7.     Most Outstanding Barista: No Winner

8.     Most Outstanding Catering Services: Berjaya University College of Hospitality

9.     Most Outstanding Team in Culinary: Convex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

10.  Most Outstanding Chocolate Showpiece and Dessert Challenge: No Winner

11.  Most Outstanding Sugar Showpiece and Chocolate Challenge: No Winner

12.  Iron Butcher Chef of the Year: Champion – Norzi Kamis – The Datai Langkawi

13.  Table Setting – Gold Excellence: Chong Hui Lin – Berjaya University College of Hospitality

14.  Fruit Flambé – Gold Excellence: No Winner

15.  Cocktail – Gold Excellence: No Winner

16.  Mocktail – Gold Excellence: Pan Jian Cun – Ching Kuo Institute of Management and Health, Taiwan

17.  Dream Team Challenge: No Winner

18.  Red Majesty’s Chef’s Cup Team Challenge: Society of Chinese Cuisine Chefs Singapore

19.  Nyonya’s Heritage Team Challenge: Champion – Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur

20.  Remy & Linguini Team Challenge: Champion – Junior – Convex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

21.  Junior Chef’s Gourmet Battle Team Challenge Trophy: Project “T” – Taylor’s University

Our dinner of the night was a modern interpretation of modern Malay cuisine with a Western fusion touch. The four-course dinner with a palate cleanser was an interesting conversation piece, at least on my table.

Preserved Prawn Meat with Ginger, Brown Sugar Rice with Herbs & Sambal

A punchy salad with herbs and sambal sits on top of savory firm custard of prawn meat. Flavors are fresh and spicy with many textures on the dish.

Wet Spices Venison Soup with Crispy Puff Pastry

I love this modern take on a rustic and robust venison soup flavored with lots of peppery spices! Bits of tender venison and root vegetables are hearty and warming. The additional touch of golden puff pastry is the perfect partner to dip into the spicy broth. Buttery, flaky and savory, the combination is just delicious.

Soursop with Pomegranate Sorbet

Palate cleanser with soursop, fresh as it should be.

Stuffed Fish with Coconut Chili Paste & Rolled Chicken with Flower Crab Meat

The stuffed seaweed roll filling resembles otak otak, fish paste with spices while the chicken roulade was filled with crab meat. I prefer the stuffed fish with coconut chili paste for its aromatic flavors. The chicken roulade was a wee bit tough and dry as it was lean but the filling was decent. Flavors are good overall and my only gripe was the chicken.

Sapodilla Strudel with Teh Tarik Ice Cream

A lovely ending as the intense Teh Tarik ice cream is so beautiful in flavors. Maybe I am bias since I love a good cup of teh tarik but it’s just so good. An unique pairing with our local ciku encased in phyllo pastry and served with fruit skewer, chocolate and crunchy crumbs. I wanted more ice cream…

It was quite an experience at the Culinaire Malaysia 2013 and I am looking forward to the next one in 2015. I will make sure to check it out earlier next round as there was just so much to see at the event!

More details available at FHM website: www.foodandhotel.com and nourish! website: www.nourish-mag.com and Facebook: www.facebook.com/nourish.mag.my

Simplot Best Food Blogger Cooking Competition: Through the Eyes of Chasing Food Dreams!

 

‘No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.’ Julia Child

It’s funny, despite my obsession with eating, cooking, reading and anything to do with the gourmet world, I have never had the courage to join a cooking competition. When I heard of the Simplot Best Food Blogger Competition, I did hesitate on joining, most so because of public performance rather than anything else. I kept thinking and thinking over and over again… would I have the courage to do this?

Somehow, sometime, some way, I decided to focus on thinking of what to make, what creative twist I could come up with using Simplot Hash Browns. Before I could think further of this, I went grocery shopping and whip up my Simplot Hash Brown Arancini one Sunday evening. At that time I told myself there was no going back and if I have been selected as the 8 finalist, I am just going to do my best!

Then during the week, I was told that I am in the final 8! Sweat starts. Adrenalin kicks in. I got nervous and really worried about what to do for the competition. I spent days Googling, running through my cookbooks, checking magazines and even asking my family on what to make. The few nights were spent tossing and turning in my bed, my brain kept thinking what I can do with hash browns. I only had a weekend to test what I wanted to make and since it was an extremely busy week filled with work and appointments, it really had my stress levels shooting up.

By Saturday, I finalized a few things I wanted to try but I knew time was not on my side. Although I could use back the Simplot Hash Brown Arancini recipe, there was just not enough time on the actual competition day to make this. And so I spent my Saturday shopping for ingredients and doing some costing checks (because there is a limitation on cost for the recipe). I only managed to start testing on Sunday afternoon after come chores and I have decided to go with a quiche recipe.

Ever since my sister made quiche for me from her French neighbour’s recipe, I got hooked. There is just something really comforting and unctuous goodness from a creamy cheesy quiche filled with lots of warming flavors. Now the recipe was made with ham and cheese in a large pie pan. I knew time was my greatest enemy on the competition day so I had to improvise. Since I had to make this a halal version, I also had to change some ingredients. And so I completely forgot about my sister’s recipe and search for one on Google instead.

After much thinking, I have decided to make the quiche in mini muffin case since it would lessen the cooking time. What would most people enjoy I asked myself? Salmon seems to be a favorite and I decided to try this. Now if I use fresh salmon, I would have to cook it, thus adding another step, so I decided to use smoked salmon. Since I love Gruyere cheese, I have decided to add this too. Then I saw on some recipes that spinach is used and decided to add this to the combination. In short, I tested this filling together with another Greek filling of feta cheese, spinach and sundried tomatoes. Testing recipes requires a lot of work, I wanted to make sure the hash brown shells did not turn soggy and so I tested the hash browns fried and non-fried. After a day’s worth of testing, the both quiche did not turn out as good as I had wanted. My heart sank… I kept thinking this is not going to work and the next two nights was extra tossing and turning in bed again. Though my partner kept reassuring me its ok, I knew it wasn’t my best effort to be tasted in a competition.

On the eve of the competition, while lying in bed, suddenly I remembered by sister’s quiche recipe. I consoled myself that maybe this will help and so I got up early on the day of the competition and check out her recipe. It was a little change in the custard and since it was still within the budget, I decided to take a risk. My dear friend Choi Yen and I arrived fairly on time and we both went around to make sure all the ingredients we needed was available.

B.I.G at Publika is one of my favorite grocery stores. It has such a vast international range of products and fresh produce that I can always get everything at one stop. Though some items are a little pricey than other stores, quality is always top-notched at B.I.G. In addition, B.I.G. offers really great imported items that few other stores offers. I have blogged about B.I.G before on how I love the spacious aisles and the neat rows of items arranged for easy shopping. They have a cooking area and that is where the competition is held!

Once we got ready for the competition, we were handed our RM88 for a 30 minute shopping on all ingredients. I raced through the aisle with a list on my hand. Since I knew where most of the ingredients were, I had no trouble shopping at all. (Did I mentioned that I love to hang out at B.I.G just oogling at all the gorgeous food here?) The spacious aisle and quick checkout counters help too. There were quite a few choices of smoked salmon offered and my favorite Gruyere cheese was available there too. Another point I like about B.I.G. was that I could buy fresh veggies like baby spinach or wild rocket by weight. The grocery stores also carry a large range of herbs. Everything worked out as planned as I grabbed the final most important product of Simplot Hash Browns before checking out within budget.

 

Prior to the cooking competition, we were given a demonstration on using Philips Airfryer. Silly me got worried as I forgot to check this out despite being told earlier. Anyhow, glad to say that the Philips Airfryer is super easy to use! Using Rapid Air Technology, we were told that the Airfryer can fry up anything with up to 80% less fat. This means that very little or no oil is used. There are only two settings on the Airfryer, one is temperature and the other is timer. The Philip Airfryer also fry up faster than the regular deep frying method as it heats up faster and the temperature is well controlled. I was quite impressed as we were told that the Simplot Hash Browns only used 8 to 10 minutes in the Airfryer without any oil.

Then we were ready. The cooking competition started and everyone got busy. I barely remembered much but I completely blocked everyone out and tried to stay calm and focus on what I needed to do. Though lots of media and others were around and the judges were also making their rounds, I tried to focus as I knew that I needed the whole 60 minutes to get the quiche done. I have never cooked so hard in my life and so fast to say the least. I am glad that the Philips Airfryer helped to fry the hash browns pretty fast and I didnt have to watch over it while I prepare other ingredients. I barely made it as my quiche was not cooked enough though I only had 3 minutes left for plating. I told myself that I had to cook it more and cranked up the heat to the highest. I waited till the final minute before I quickly took it out of the oven and somehow, plated it and brought it over for testing. Phew…

Oh well, I told myself, I don’t even know how it tasted as I didn’t managed to taste it along the way. I kept repeating I have done my best. When they announced the winners, I was so tired and nervous that emotions flooded me when I heard my name as the winner of the competition. In the midst of all the surroundings, I was suddenly lost at what to do and before I knew it, lots of flashes were going off with lots of congratulatory wishes from everyone. Truth be told, I was still trying to come in terms that I won.

It was indeed a very memorial moment in my life. My very first competition and I won. At that very moment, all I kept thinking was to count my blessings. The last few days of tossing and turning, research, testing, butterflies in the stomach really paid off. I am very thankful and I also told myself even if I didn’t win, I would have been happy since I had put in so much love into this competition. I did my best and that is good enough. Just like Julia Child’s quote above, I have learned and pursued what I love. I never had any education in the culinary field except from my mother’s kitchen and my passion and obsession for food. The one lesson I took home with me that day was really never to give up and put in all that I have got…

Thank you Simplot and Philips for organizing this competition! It is certainly an unforgettable experience in competing for the Simplot Best Food Blogger Cooking Competition. I would also like to thank Choi Yen for being there with me together as we faced off in the competition. To all finalists, everyone was a winner to me as well because everyone put out their best and gathered up the courage to compete in this competition. Congratulations to Kelly and Asliza on their win too! Thanks to the honorary judges, Chef Poobalan, Dr. Sidney Kan, and celebrity Chef Dato’ Fazley Yaakob and Vibes Communication for everything.  Last but not least, thank you Mom, without your guidance, my passion would never have existed.

I won a Philip Airfryer and a Philips Juicer in addition to the cash prize and I am so looking forward to using the Airfryer in the comforts of my own kitchen!

*All photos are provided by the organizers of the competition.

Simplot Hash Brown Smoked Salmon Quiche

Ingredients

1 packet (637gm) Simplot Hash Brown

1 packet (100gm) Smoked Salmon

150gm Spinach

75gm Gruyere Cheese

2 Eggs

200ml Cream plus 1 tablespoon water

Dill

Salt & Pepper to season

Leggo Sauce & Sour Cream to serve

Extra Smoked Salmon to serve

Method

Prepare a big deep non-stick muffin pan that holds 6 muffins. Heat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Deep fry the hash browns till lightly crispy and lightly golden brown. Drain and cool.

Once cool, crush the hash browns and press these into the muffin pan to make a hash brown shell for all 6 muffin cases. Make sure to press the hash brown till it forms a firm case but do not make it too thick. Baked the hash brown in the oven for 10 minutes to make it crispy.

Prepare quiche filling by boiling spinach till soft. Drain and squeeze out all water properly and chopped the spinach roughly.

Cut smoked salmon to small pieces. Grate Gruyere cheese.

Mix eggs, cream, grated Gruyere cheese, chopped dill and season with salt and pepper.

Put smoked salmon and boiled spinach into the hash brown shell. Pour in the egg and cheese mixture till full. Add a sprig of dill on top and baked the quiche for 15 minutes in the oven. Remove and serve.

Add slices of smoked salmon on top of the quiche and served with side of Leggo’s tomato pasta sauce and sour cream.