Food rebel with a cause
> Chef Allison Xavier has turned a healthy lifestyle into a successful business by making people rethink their approach to food
ALLISON XAVIER decided to turn her passion for a healthy lifestyle into a business when she realised how effective it was at keeping her weight in check, and that, like all good things, it deserved to be shared.
So for someone trained in the culinary arts, running a food delivery service might seem a natural progression.
But some customers might do a double take when the food is pitched as ‘healthy’ but the chef doesn’t shy away from using butter or coconut milk (santan).
However, that’s exactly what this Kuala Lumpur-born chef behind The Rebellious Chickpea (TRC) hopes to do – redefine the way food is approached.
“Of course, [the term] ‘rebellious’ [in The Rebellious Chickpea] is me,” Allison says pointing to herself.
“I’m quite rebellious myself. So I always go against the norms of healthy living or healthy eating.
“I was fat, lost the weight, then started to wonder how I managed to do it, but it’s really just moderating the things you eat – and I don’t need to eat salads every day.
“The thing is, we’re trying to tell people that butter is not bad. Santan is [also] not bad.
“But they don’t realise this because they’re so fixated on ‘low-fat’ [foods], which aren’t really healthy because of their sugar content.”
Allison credits two women in her life – her mum, a Chinese ‘chap fan’ (mixed rice) seller, and her aunty, with whom she shared a home in Ipoh – for instilling in her a love for cooking, which influenced her choice of career and led to the creation of TRC.
Besides being a health-focused food delivery service, what sets TRC apart is the fact that Allison cooks up varying menus each week with different components, using fresh ingredients like quinoa, salmon, and duck eggs.
There’s even a ‘Surprise Me Wednesday’, where Allison whips up something extra-special for customers who order for that day.
“The thing is, if you select our ‘Surprise Me Wednesday’, you won’t know what you’re getting. A hint would be, I like using seafood quite a lot, but definitely no beef.”
Allison, who spent almost five years living and working in the UK, says she bases a lot of her recipes on places she has visited while travelling abroad.
The choice of ingredients and flavour combinations are largely built on TRC’s tagline – ‘Eat to live and live to eat’ – making sure customers enjoy great food that is good for them, and most importantly, not being repetitive or boring.
Allison explains: “We believe in giving something different to everyone. If we rely on a set menu, it becomes a bit boring, and we’re not the boring sort. We live up to our name.”
Part of the variety lies in how she sources her ingredients.
“[I] have a chicken aunty, a fish aunty, an egg uncle, and a vegetable boy, who will recommend me the best stuff for the day, and from there, I’ll plan my menu each week,” Allison says.
Experimenting with food can sometimes be a pleasant surprise for her customers, as was the case when Allison tried her hand at making pulled jackfruit with barbecue sauce.
“It’s actually quite nice, because when you cook it with barbecue sauce, it does taste like pulled meat,” she says.
Allison also makes an effort to maintain environmental sustainability and to support local businesses, inspired by a childhood spent accompanying her mother to bustling Chow Kit market.
“It’s a conscious effort because we want to support local. We have an abundance of local vegetables, and definitely don’t need imported greens all the time.”
Even the duck eggs in her recipes are sourced fresh and salted inhouse.
“My uncle [breeds ducks on] a farm in Sabak Bernam, and we currently use his ducks’ eggs in our menu,” Allison adds.
TRC also encourages healthy snacking, with jars of nuts and dried fruit trail mix – often with the contents changed to suit major festivities in the country – providing alternatives for midday office cravings.
Allison also hopes to educate her customers to waste less food.
She advises: “Food is so scarce and so expensive, yet people take a bite and throw it away. Eat what you can, and don’t take more.”
For more, visit The Rebellious Chickpea on Facebook and Instagram.