A total of 21 people (19 Enak members and two guests) came together on July 10th for an amazing trifecta – a live cooking demonstration, a sharing session, and a delicious lunch featuring Johorean Malay cuisine with cosmopolitan roots. At the heart of it all was Datin Kalsom Taib who opened her home in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail to MCG. For the price of RM100 per person, we experienced recipes come to life from Datin Kalsom’s collection of award-winning cookbooks.
This event was hosted by Yong Mei Leng accompanied by her son Aidan. Datin Kalsom is the aunt of Mei Leng’s husband, Abdul Jalil. According to Datin Kalsom, food has history, story, culture, relationship, and memories.
The cooking demonstration featured Datin Kalsom’s niece, Ungku Balkis Ungku Abdul Hamid, doing the cooking while Datin Kalsom shared about the origins of the dishes. Ungku Balkis is a chef and caterer. She was one of the co-authors along with her sister and Datin Kalsom of Recipes are for Sharing (2022).
The lunch featured:
- Ayam kuzi (a rich, thick chicken curry cooked with tomato puree and yogurt). In Datin Kalsom’s cookbook Johor Palate: Tanjung Puteri Recipes (2023), this dish is described as a Johorean-Malay specialty with Middle Eastern roots. Kuzi is a Middle Eastern spice blend that Johoreans have adapted using local spices and ingredients.
- Nasi minyak (a festive rice dish cooked with ghee (clarified butter) and spices),
- Dalcha (a lentil-based stew)
- Achar (a spicy pickled pineapple and vegetable side dish)
- For dessert, there was cream caramel with creamed corn (a dish introduced in Johor during the British colonial period).
- To drink, we enjoyed sirap ros (a refreshing rose syrup cordial), tea, coffee, and water.
As a bonus, Datin Kalsom had copies of her books for sale and was very gracious in autographing books for MCG members.
As a bonus, Datin Kalsom had copies of her books for sale and was very gracious in autographing books for MCG members.
Our thanks to all who came to this event and made it a success. Special thanks to the following for their work in these roles:
Host: Yong Mei Leng
Collection: Santhi Nair-Moine, Kyoko Hidaka
Guests: Sonia Roche, Aidan
Photos: Yong Mei Leng, Rosemary Chin, Sumitra Sundram, Santhi Nair-Moine, Nusrat Papia, Roshidah Radzian, Koh Kae Ling, Corinne Sibert, Sonia Roche
Review: Sumitra Sundram
