Now is the time for you to learn how to cook like a real Nyonya. Nyonya Tan Bee Lee is coming especially for a cooking session at Tropical Spice Garden. Don't miss out this opportunity. It will be held on 17th December 2009. Sign up early to book your seat!
Penang as a food haven needs no introduction. One cuisine in particular is Nyonya food. Usage of local herbs and spices as above is abundant. Recipes are guarded jealously. The Nyonyas fight during family get-together who can make the best dish during a cook-out.
Whatever it is, this cuisine is really popular despite its dying culture. Read more here at my heritage site about Nyonya food. Also, you can learn how to make a Nyonya lunch with a real Penang Nyonya on 17th Dec 09. She will come as my guest cook at Tropical Spice Garden. Contact me for more details.
Last week I was invited to join SEGI college tour guide students on an educational tour to Melaka. We also went to Kuala Kangsar, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
These students were prepped so that they could practice talking in a tourist bus. They also needed to know hard facts and fun stories related to the places they visit.
I had fun in Melaka. Three hours walking tour definitely was not enough.
This page illustrates some of the things I learned.
7-8 November 09 were designated as Tourism Day by Tourism Malaysia. On these two days, the event was held at New World Park.. this place used to be vibrant in the 60's and 70's but now it has been given new life. New food court and event area were built. Also, Tune Hotel also made its mark by building its Penang branch next to this place.
Other organizations also participated by setting up their booths there. Most of them were from the tourism industry: hotels, places of attractions, services.
I am happy and proud to be invited as one of the guest chefs to this event. (I am not a chef, I don't wear tall hat), but it was a big honor.
My two sessions were 30 minutes each. In the first session, I mainly talked about Malay spices, its usage, methods of storage and grinding. I also mentioned quite a bit the usage of spices in traditional medicine, modern cosmetics and also ancient rituals. This was capped by a short demonstration how to process coconut to get fresh coconut milk.
Even the locals were surprised to see how much coconut milk could be squeezed manually using my technique.
On the second session, I talked about fresh local herbs, and showing each ingredient, I described their properties. I made a simple kerabu (Malay style salad) that was very delicious even though a tad spicy. Here is the some of the action captured on video:
If you would like more tips, visit my food web site or contact me to sign up for my cooking class at Tropical Spice Garden.
A mother of two who cycles, runs traditional cooking class and maintains a couple of web sites. I am eco-friendly to the world, leaving minimal carbon footprints.
