Chef Anis proud to promote Malaysian food to the world

SHARJAH (United Arab Emirates): Celebrity chef Anis Nabilah‘s passion for cooking began since she was 10.

As a child, she used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen helping her mother who would assign her siblings and her with the food preparation.

“I was amazed to see my mom’s ability to cook up a storm after a busy day at work.

“Each of us will be given our task like peeling onions or cutting vegetables to come up with a wonderful meal for our family of 10.

“That was how I learned to cook and slowly began thinking of taking Malaysian cuisine to the next level,” Anis told Bernama when met at the 13th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival here.

Anis, who has been in the culinary scene for 14 years, had appeared in travelogue series such as TLC Asia’s My Taste of Hong Kong and Asian Food Channel’s Eating Wild.

Also popular with the cooking programme Icip Icip that showcased traditional Malay cooking, Anis who was named Asean’s Most Influential Chef at the 2020 Asean Food & Travel Awards, said apart from promoting Malaysian cuisine to the world, she also aims to unite people through food.

“Malaysia has a variety of delicious food and it has been our culture to entertain guests with food.

“Usually when we meet foreigners the first question will be, have you tried our local dishes and we will be pleased when they say they enjoyed them,” said Anis who has traveled to Italy, Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia to fulfill culinary invitations.

Sharing her experience in showcasing Malaysian dishes during her travels around the world, Anis said among the notable dishes she had demonstrated to foreign audiences were roti jala with durian sauce and jackfruit rendang.

According to Anis, each time she visits a country, she would make use of the staple ingredients of that country for her Malaysian recipes.

The Food Institute of Malaysia graduate said to improve one’s culinary skills, it is important to know about the raw materials from the suppliers and traders because the taste and flavour of food will depend on the quality of the ingredients.

“I have no qualms going into a restaurant kitchen or market to ask and learn from those who are experienced about a certain dish or ingredients.

“Of course we can master cooking skills from Youtube and google for recipes on the internet but it is different from learning from people who are experts in the field,” she said.

A compilation of the celebrity chef’s simple and nutritious recipe is now contained in the book ‘Comfort Food For Thermomix by Chef Anis’ which recently hit the market.

Anis, whose next aim is to open a restaurant, said she would only go into it when she is really ready as managing the restaurant will have to be a full time commitment.

“It’s like raising a child, you need to give your full attention and I hope I will be able to do it some day,” she quipped.