Home-grown cooks

WHAT spurs people to cook at home?

Cost is one factor. Eating out is not cheap – not where quality is concerned.

A plate of mixed rice with vegetables and meat in the city can cost up to RM7. If you are feeding a family of three, then one meal alone can easily come up to RM30 with drinks thrown in.

Then, there are parental concerns.

The upper floor of Huck’s Cafe, a private kitchen started by Poh Huck Seng in his double-storey corner house in Gasing Indah. As Poh limits the number of diners to 20 per night, the waiting list is one-and-a-half months long.

Two years ago, Susan Beh, 40, discovered that her son, Aidan, now six, had eczema.

“We found out that this was caused by a food allergy, and triggered by oyster sauce, sesame oil and mushrooms, the very things which are often found in commercially prepared food,” says Beh.

As a full-time mother, Beh is lucky that she can supervise Aidan’s meals personally, something she could not do during the first two years of his life when she was working and cooked only on weekends.

Beh says it is love for her family that motivates her.

Poh Huck Seng

“When your loved ones request for a certain dish, it is hard to say, ‘no’. That was what sparked my interest.”

For Poh Huck Seng, a 47-year-old father-of-three, cooking at home was the last thing on his mind in his bachelor days.

But when his first child was born 19 years ago, he had a change of heart, simply because he wanted the best for his son.

“The first thing I made was apple juice. At that time my son was only three months old.”

Since then, this doting dad has used his kitchen skills to impress his children. Since it was Poh’s wife who did the daily cooking, this event organiser thought that he would provide some novelty to their diets.

“They learned how to count by watching me bake almond butter cookies. Each child would have their own shape and they’d recognise which one was theirs. They would gobble everything up before the cookies had time to cool!”

Home cooking eventually paid off for Poh. When he started posting everything he cooked on Facebook in an album called Huck’s Café, it attracted his friends’ attention and soon, they began to request for “sampling sessions”.

“It’s a popular trend in Europe where people will go to an individual’s house for a taste of home-cooking. I thought why not give it a try so I started taking reservations,” he says.

Today, Poh has taken to cooking as a full-time venture, opening his double-storey corner house in Gasing Indah in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, to diners who will either give him a menu to follow or surrender themselves to the surprises he comes up with.

As Poh only limits the nightly capacity to 20, the waiting list is one-and-a-half months long. For reservations, check out Huck’s Café on Facebook.

Published in The Star 28, June 2011.

Cook for comfort

If you care about what you’re eating, preparing your own food is safer than eating out all the time.

ELAINE Ho is not telling anyone not to eat out. Nor is she turning her nose up at those who do. What she’s saying is: Cooking at home can be a good thing.

Ho, 28, lived and worked in Australia for 10 years before returning to Malaysia in 2009 when she got married. That was when she discovered that most of her friends and family members resorted to having all their meals outside. Ho, who has a degree in Food Science and Technology from Curtin University, Western Australia, found this alarming.

“Food may be cheap here but there is the question of what’s inside. The oil may have been reused many times and there is the hygiene issue, especially with hawker food.”

Eating well: Elaine Ho strongly advocates home cooking.

This planted the seed of an idea for her website www.chopstickdiner.com, which she works on full-time. She filled it with simple recipes and food tips, like how to stop vegetables from wilting, the correct way to wash mushrooms, and how to cut meat and store fresh fish. It has everything that a home cook would find handy, and on good days, the website sees up to 600 visitors.

Ho’s recipes may be too simple for advanced gourmet cooks, but they are intended more for the younger crowd, perhaps those who are living on their own for the first time.

“Cooking at home has its own appeal. Thanks to personalities like Nigella Lawson, people are beginning to embrace cooking at home. They see it as a ticket to popularity where the home of a good cook is always a favourite place for a gathering with friends.”

But is Ho realistic? Not every young adult can afford his own apartment. When all the space one has is a room and the landlady says that the kitchen is out of bounds, then what?

“Find another place. Obviously, she does not have your best interests at heart. A reasonable person will realise that in order to put in your best at work, you will need proper nutrition,” she says.

All that fuss over a meal, says Ho, will definitely pay off in the end.

“When you take charge of your own meals, the quality is there. Let’s say you fry your own noodles. You can throw in lots of vegetables and meat, adjust the salt level and hold back on the oil. Noodles cooked in a shop will either be too oily, salty or will not contain enough meat or vegetables.”

Nutrition is another crucial issue. A burger bought from a stall will contain too much fat. A plate of chee cheong fun is made up entirely of starch and sugar. If you include fish balls, there may be a little protein.

In the long term, a diet high in fat, carbohydrates and sugar is not going to bring good news.

“I am not saying, ‘Don’t eat out’. If you’re Malaysian that’s almost impossible because there are so many good food places here. What I am advocating is that eating out should be a treat, not something that is done for every meal.”

Ho has heard enough groans though – the two most common complaints are: no time, and too much hassle with the cleaning up later.

This is where Ho makes her entrance as the food scientist.

The first thing she asks is for the lazy cook to think green with spinach, green apples, kiwifruit, green pears, celery, cucumbers and broccoli. They are rich in nutrients that can support retinal health, and help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Green fruits and vegetables also contain chlorophyll, which has been proven to be effective against cancer.

The next thing is to wave the flag for things like tomatoes, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, red apples, red onions and red grapes. They contain powerful antioxidants that protect cells from damage.

So, can eating out offer the same deal?

“The thing here is to think of the end result, not the hassles,” says Ho.

Next is to set aside the notion of cooking as a chore.

“Think of quick meals. A baguette stuffed with minced chicken, a slice of fried egg and Chinese parsley is an example of a quick and easy meal. Egg sandwiches sprinkled with spring onions don’t take more than five minutes.”

As for the lack of space or appliances, well, there is always the rice cooker. Think of one-pot meals where carrots, beef and rice can be cooked at the same time. There is also the option of steaming fish and vegetables in the same pot while the rice cooks.

Ho suggests looking at cooking as therapy.

“The goal is not to achieve full marks for whatever you have cooked. Instead, look at it as a way to bond and communicate. At the end of the day, the aim is to bring your family or friends to the dinner table where you can eat and enjoy each other’s company.”

Published in The Star, Tuesday June 28, 2011

Living the Fabulous Life

BETWEEN riding a horse and driving a car, there are no guesses as to which Datuk Anna Lim, 40, prefers.

"Most people can drive a car but not all can ride a horse! Though I will not deny that a car is an essential mode of transport, I must admit that driving a car is monotonous compared with riding a horse," says the two-time beauty queen who was crowned Miss Malaysia in 1990 and then Mrs Malaysia in 2004.

"With a car, as long as you have the basic driving skills, you are set to handle almost any car. A horse however, is different as you can never predict how it will behave every time you sit on its back. For the rider, this means being in a constant state of alertness and to me, that makes it challenging and satisfying."

As a dressage rider who has committed herself to the sport for the past four years, Anna speaks the fondest of Sorento, a 14-year-old chestnut thoroughbred Gelding owned by the Selangor Equestrian Club.

She also rides on Jimmy, a 16-year-old Warm Blood from New Zealand that had made an appearance at the SEA Games in 2001.

Riding, says Lim, is her way of beating stress and having gone as far as England and New Zealand to hack, it is a sport that runs deep in her blood as her cousin brother, Benny Woodworth, is a champion jockey while another one of her cousins, Joe Lau, is a horse trainer in Macau.

"Iím planning to buy a horse with a view of training it for the race tracks very soon but I'm still at the stage of talking to some breeders,"says Anna.

Despite her preference for horse riding, it has not stopped Anna and husband Datuk Jeffrey Lim, who is also the president of the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts' Club, from being proud owners of a fleet of luxury cars.

To begin with, the Lims have no less than seven Rolls Royces parked in various private garages which include classic beauties such as the Corniche, Wraith and the Cloud.

The couple's present favourite is a red Silver Spur, a 6.75l V8, which has a beautiful beige interior with a luxurious wood paneling finish. However, it is a golden Wraith which holds the fondest memories for Anna as it had been the Lims' wedding car when they wed in 1995.

"It was wonderful feeling to be sitting in a Rolls Royce at that time because it meant that Jeffrey wanted the best for me," recalls Anna.

Little has changed for this couple who now have three children. At the time of this interview, it was Jeffrey who came to Anna's rescue after she found that a nail had punctured a rear tyre of her Mercedes Sport CLK. Gamely switching his BMW 5 series with her, Jeffrey gamely proceeded to pump up the back tyre with a foot pump before proceeding to the nearest repair facility while Anna continued with the question and answer session.

Just like horses, Anna reveals that luxury cars have always been a predominant feature in her life. Both her grandfathers had a collection of Cadillacs and Mercedes in the 1950s.

Anna herself would own a BMW when she turned 21 while still working as a stewardess with MAS in 1986. After sustaining a fractured ankle during an emergency exercise, Anna then took on a safer but more challenging role as Miss Malaysia in 1990, after which she became a stockbroker, which put her smack in the middle of the 1993 bull run and made her a proud owner of a 2-door Mercedes Sports.

Later, she would go on to a 190E and subsequently, a chauffeur driven S-class.

ìI have always been an advocate of the fabulous life in terms of living well, eating well and looking well. I cannot stand the idea of poverty as it depresses me,î admits Anna, who does not smoke.

This is a philosophy that Anna, who practises yoga and swims no less than 55 laps a week, imbues into her work.

Her latest projects includes the launching of her book called Magical Moments which will take place this 10th of July at The Club Saujana with Casa Vino and Trinidad Tobacco as her sponsors.

An elegant coffee table hard copy which highlights the luxury resorts in Malaysia, it had taken Anna two years of hard travelling and research.

Before this, she has also authored two other books, Beauty and Beyond which details her experiences as a beauty queen and Children-The Future of Tomorrow, a book on parenting.

In line with her role as a former beauty queen, she is also the founder of Beauty and Fashion Studio with Amber Chia and come this August 7th and 8th, the pair will be presenting a grooming workshop in PJ Hilton. This star-studded event will be graced by the presence of Datin Josephine Fonseka, who was Miss Malaysia Universe 1970, and Miss Malaysia International 1979 Nancie Foo.

. For more information, call 012-331`6257 or visit www.beautyfashionstudio.info

Story and pictures by Grace Chen

The Abishegam Formula

JUST what does it take to own a fleet of luxury cars? Andrew Abishegam, the proud owner of a Jaguar XJ V6, a Ferrari F1 Modena Spider and a fleet of Mercedes Benz motorcars which includes the S Class, SL, CE and a nine-seater Mercedes Vito Grand Luxury and the managing director of X2, which specialises in the management of international corporate launches and special events, gives us his take.

The first crucial ingredient is the ability to turn a "no" into a "yes".

"To me the question of 'no' does not even arise. I have banned the words "cannot", "I don't know" and "impossible" from my vocabulary," says Abishegam, who founded X2 on Aug 8 in 1988.

It is a simple principle and assures Abishegam, easily applicable as well. All one has to do is to ask nicely.

Of course, it pays to cultivate the art of effective communication to put the message across clearly and effectively.

For this seasoned launch master, it all boils to creating a first good impression.

"How you look, how you dress, how you look people in their eyes, the way you talk, your language, your accent and how you read the person in front of you is all part of the communication process," says Abishegam.

Definitely, having knowledge on what you can or canít do is also supremely important.

This father of four says that he would never dream of asking for the impossible or putting the service provider in a position where he would have to incur expense.

Another trait that one must have is the readiness to push everything to the extreme and to the very end until almost to breaking point because, according to Abishegam, that is the only way to achieve the best.

"The one phrase that is prevalent in my life is, ëTo give the best, to get the best and to be the bestí- nothing less, nothing more. As long as you're not stealing or hurting and upsetting anyone, do whatever pleases you. It's your life! You have one life. Don't waste it. Make your life an experience, the best experience ever," he says.

Naturally, one must also have a perfectionist attitude.

In Abishegam's case, he says that the only reason guests get to see a beautifully orchestrated event is because it is planned, rehearsed and executed exactly according to how he wants it to be.

One example was the simultaneous launch of the Proton Perdana V6 2.0 and the Proton Satria 1.8 GTi at the Bukit Jalil in-door stadium in 1998.

The logistics, he says, was one of the most complicated as it involved 3,000 Proton employees which had to be choreographed, fed, clothed and kept entertained for three days from nine to five.

Another event was for a Ferrari Club dinner earlier this year which entailed pushing (yes, you read me right) a Ferrari ENZO from the ground floor to the ballroom of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center of which the path had to be carpeted every step of the way.

"Nothing is left to chance. Absolutely nothing! I don't believe in luck or even hope for the best. As Confucius said, 'Preparation + Execution = Guaranteed Success'," says Abishegam.

The idea of celebrating life with a touch of fanfare is something that is not only confined to events organised by X2.

In one year, Abishegam bought his wife, Chris Liew, the creative genius behind X2, a red Mercedes SL convertible, wrapping the whole car in bows and ribbons before presenting it to her.

"When she saw it, the first thing she said was, "Can we afford it?" That's Chris, always the practical minded one," laughs Abishegam.

It also helps to abide by a life philosophy.

For Abishegam and Chris, both in their youthful 40s, it is the fairy-tale life for them and as Liew admits it, the love for the fabulous life.

This means running the gamut of hands on childcare with the fraternal twins, Alexa and Alia, both 10, Adam, 8 and Allegra, 5, and creating out-of-this-world experiences for their clients.

Once, they chartered a private jet from Malaysia Airlines to bring 130 passengers all on first class service, including private air hostesses, special meals, private check-in as a treat for a group of international VIPs.

Another time, it was a sail into the sunset among the 99 islands of Langkawi on a private yacht, Lily Marleen, with a band and dancing on board.

It is also important to remember one's humble beginnings.

For Abishegam, who recalled how he had to spend nights working in the office while his friends partied, the first car he owned was a Proton Saga 1.3 manual which he bought for RM26,000. Five years later, he sold it at RM27,000, at a time when Protons were highly sought after.

Lastly, one must have a strong desire to progress in life.

From a Proton Saga 1.3, Abishegam would jump to a Mercedes 300 CE Sports Coupe with electric seats, electric steering, remote robotic safety belt, sun roof, electric head rest.

ìI was 29 when I bought it. Everybody was very surprised when I moved from a Proton Saga to a Mercedes Sports. I enjoyed it so much because I knew that every part of that car was earned by my own hard work," he says.

"This is one car I will keep in my collection forever."

Story and Pictures by Grace Chen. Published in CBT