Busy in the kitchen

Recipes of yesteryear are reconstructed based on her recollections, triggered by the smell and taste of the ubiquitous herbs and spices used liberally in her family kitchen back then.  

"The aroma of certain herbs has the ability to transport me back to those times and evoke memories of incidents or events related to the aroma. As I began dredging deep into my memories, I'm glad to recall so many of those wonderful times," she chuckles. 

And those memories are recorded for posterity as accompaniments to the over 150 recipes in the book that was two years in the making. 

The celebrity chef-cum-food consultant has a reason for moving away from sharing recipes to incorporating those relevant cultural nuances, to give depth to her food creations.  

She reckons that understanding the living culture behind a recipe will enhance its appreciation among the people who cook and eat it.  

The difference between an Asian cook and a Western cook, s! he says, lies in their respective cultural experiences - or the lack of it - and this translates into the food that they prepare. 

"Western cooks learnt the art of making Asian dishes in their adult lives but Asians learn it from young. They (Asians) are exposed to the cultural elements of the food that they prepare and the memories associated with it. And that makes for a distinctive flavour," she says, adding that she relied on these memories in preparing the "old" recipes for the latest book, which also features new and fusion recipes.  

For instance, she was inspired and influen-ced by her amah who picked up Indian cooking through observation and the uncanny ability to deconstruct a dish down to its ingredients and cooking steps just by tasting it, a skill which Carol says she is blessed with as well. 

Her interest in cooking later saw her picking up the skills of mastering other South-east Asian cuisines. She ranks Nyonya and Thai cuisine! s as her favourites, and garlic as the indispensable ingredien! t in her cooking. And, here's a tip for doing away with MSG - substitute it with garlic and salt.  

Some Asian dishes are high in cholesterol, such as those with coconut milk, and hence some ingredients are substituted with healthier alternatives, such as evaporated milk. However, Carol would not do that with her food. 

"People can have a diet but make sure it is also enjoyable. What's there to enjoy if you are overly health-conscious? Don't forget that when you eat something that makes you happy, you gain the benefits of the happy hormone endorphin," she adds. However, she advocates moderation and a diet that is high in fibre. 

The flourishing Asian food business in Australia has brought with it the demand for fresh produce and spawned an agriculture sub-sector that caters to Asian palettes. Farmland growing Asian vegetables and herbs has sprouted in Queensland and Northern Australia, states that enjoy a tropical climate. 

With her vast experience in! Asian cuisines, it is only natural that Carol is conducting guided tours in such places as the bustling Cabramatta market in western Sydney, that stocks all the ingredients that one would need to cook any type of Asian food. Aptly named "Day Trips to Asia", the guided tours not only allow the participants to purchase the array of raw materials that go into an Asian dish but also allow them to explore the vitality and diversity of a typical Asian marketplace. 

Apart from conducting tours in Cabramatta, the energetic woman continues to create new recipes and conduct cooking classes in her test-kitchen located next to her garage in her Sydney home.  

Is there anything else that she feels needs to be done? Yes - documenting the history of Malaysian food, perhaps.  

By: Victor Dawson

Article Director! y: h ttp://www.articledashboard.com

Victor, a copy editor by profession, is also an e-entrepreneur, and has been involved with a wide array of home-based business opportunities for the last eight years. He has hit upon hassle-free ways to carry on with panache in the world of turn-key businesses. As for money-making scams, they are here, there and everywhere. Don't be fooled. Genuine, time-honoured opportunities come to you as an eye-opener at rakeinthemoolah.com

Source: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/11/19/lifeliving/17679973&sec=lifeliving
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