Inaugural Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015
http://www.klbigkitchen.com/file/news/press-release-kl-big-kitchen.pdf
Kuala Lumpur, 6 May 2015 – The city of Kuala Lumpur is set to come alive amidst a 3- day food festival at the iconic Dataran Merdeka later this month. Kuala Lumpur City Hall in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism Culture, is proud to present the inaugural Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015.Heating its way from the 29th to 31st May 2015, the food festival will bring together gastronomic delights from the 13 Malaysian states, making local and international foodies spoilt for choice with the range of over 60 food counters serving up only the best. This was announced yesterday by Y.Bhg. Datuk Seri Hj. Ahmad Phesal Hj. Talib, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur at the media launch which simultaneously introduced its participating chefs, sponsors and partners held at Samplings on the Fourteenth in Berjaya University College of Hospitality.
Y.Bhg. Datuk Seri Hj. Ahmad Phesal Hj. Talib, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur quoted in his speech, “According to Euromonitor International, Kuala Lumpur is ranked 9th out of 100 leading cities for tourist arrivals in its annual Top City Destinations Ranking 2013.It is no surprise that Kuala Lumpur made the Top 10 list, as one of its attractions is the variety of food it serves which has always created a lot of interest with visitors from around the world” He added “The Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015, taglined “Bringing You the Gastronomic Experience”, is the ideal platform to introduce Kuala Lumpur as the ‘MELTING POT’ of South East Asia.
The food festival will serve delectable dishes ranging from street food right up to fine dining while highlighting Kuala Lumpur as the GASTRONOMY HEAVEN to the foodies around the world.” Incidentally Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015 is a walk the plan initiative under Kuala Lumpur Tourism Master Plan 2015 – 2025, positioning Kuala Lumpur as a Malaysian cuisine heaven. One of its criteria is to create a food fesival in Kuala Lumpur.
The Food Festival Partners Sponsors.
This exciting food festival is supported by a list of multinational companies as its festival partners:
• Official airlines – Malaysia Airlines for flying down the festival chefs, international media and bloggers. Malaysia Airlines is also utilising this festival as a platform to promote food on-board its First and Business class flights in collaboration with Her Royal Highness Tengku Puan Pahang during the 3-day festival. Malaysia Airlines’ Director of Customer Services, Dato’ Mohd Salleh Ahmad Tabrani said,
“Malaysia Airlines is delighted to be collaborating with Her Royal Highness Tengku Puan Pahang to bring our guests flavoursome and delicious meals to savour on-board. We hope that our guests will enjoy these dishes, as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them from the Dapur Istana.”
• Official gas partner – Gas Petronas for supplying gas cylinders with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that burns with a true blue flame to provide hotter, cleaner and economical usage for safe cooking “Gas PETRONAS is privileged to be the event’s Festival Partner.
As Malaysians, we take our food seriously and cooking gas is an important component in addition to the ingredients and tools required to create magic in the kitchen. We are excited to be part of an initiative that brings people together through the familiar flavours of well-loved dishes that make up Malaysia’s unique food heritage,” said Nik Faizanira Nik Affandi, General Manager of LPG Business Division, PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad.
• Official kitchen appliances partner – Electrolux for equipping the Big Kitchen Festival with the top range appliances and kitchen fittings Mr. Koh Soh Hoie, General Manager, Electrolux Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei quoted, “It gives us great pleasure to partner with the inaugural Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015, a showcase for the different cuisines available in Kuala Lumpur, which reflects our diverse and beautiful culture. The chefs will be using our Inspiration kitchen range that is built on European designs and adapts the features and innovations previously only available in professional kitchen appliances for home use.”
Other partners include culinary school partner, Berjaya University College of Hospitality for kitchen technical advice and volunteers. Madam Mae Ho, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of BERJAYA Higher Education Sdn Bhd quoted “The KL Big Kitchen Festival 2015 is an amazing initiative to showcase our culinary masterpieces of heritage cuisine to visitors.” Majestic Hotel is the festival’s hotel partner, hosting the Big Kitchen chefs and International media
Chefs on board the Festival
Curated by UK Based Malaysian Chef and Kuala Lumpur Food Ambassador, Chef Norman Musa, the festival will also witness a host of celebrity chefs who will thrill and entertain with live cooking demonstrations and workshops throughout the Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015.
The list of participating chefs besides Chef Norman Musa include:
• Chef Wan – Celebrity chef
• Chef Dato’ Ismail Ahmad – Celebrity chef
• Chef Isadora Chai – highest ranking Malaysian-born chef
• Chef Adu Amran -London-based Malaysian culinary expert
• Chef Malcolm Goh – Culinary Executive Supervising Chef of AFC‘s “Great Dinners of the World”
• Chef Firdaus Hanan – UiTM Culinary Lecturer Host of Astro Maya’s Makan
• Chef Dr Ezani – winner of MasterChef Malaysia Season 1
• Chef Izyan Hani – winner of MasterChef Malaysia Season 2
• Chef Jochen Kern – German born Director of the School of Culinary Arts at Berjaya University College of Hospitality
• Chef Anis Nabila – Celebrity chef
• Chef Darren Chin – Celebrity Chef owner of DC Restaurant
• Chef Kamarul – Celebrity Chef
• Chef Martin Yan -Chinese-born American chef and food writer host of awardwinning cooking show Yan Can Cook
• Chef Will Meyrick from UK – Top Chef Indonesia judge
• Chef Claire Ptak from UK – owns a bakery and café, the Violet Bakery her latest book named after it
• Chef Cyril Rouquet from France – French Masterchef finalist 2011
• Chef Mark Jarvis from UK – previously Head Chef of the Bingham
Visitors will get the chance to meet with local and internationally renowned chefs as they conduct cooking workshops and demonstrations, give talks and interact with them. Visitors can also learn to prepare and cook some authentic Malaysian dishes, and get some useful tips from the experts themselves during the festival.
Daily food talks at the Festival will be by Bondan Winarno (leading Indonesian Food Reviewer Television Presenter) on similarities in the so-called “national cuisines” of Malaysia and Indonesia, Dr. Halijah Binti Ibrahim (Professor at Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, UM) will be presenting the health benefits and medicinal uses of ginger and Datin Nik Radiah Nik Hassan (Editor-in-chief of Garden in Asia) will talk on cooking with ginger
About the Festival
The Mayor of Kuala Lumpur further added “As a result of history, and Malaysia’s geographical position, the culinary style in the present day is primarily a combination of traditions from its Malay, Chinese, Indian, and ethnic Bornean cultures with some heavy to light influences in its cuisine. This has over time resulted in a symphony of flavours, making the Malaysian cuisine highly complex and diverse.”
The 3-day festival will transform Dataran Merdeka into 8 QUARTERS to include every facet of Malaysian food – Negeri, Warung, Manisan, Food Trucks, Warisan, Samplings, The Dulang and Mayor’s Courtyard. Each Quarter will be set up in a unique presentation serving everything from one’s favourite childhood dish to science defying “molecular gastronomy” dishes.
Negeri – This zone will feature the various signature cuisines that represent the 13 states of Malaysia.
Warung – This zone features handpicked stalls or warung that offer some of the country’s best street food fare such as Nasi Lemak, Roti Canai and Char Kueh Teow
Manisan – This zone will have all kinds of sugary delights from traditional ice creams and candy to more localized sweet treats like cendol.
Food Trucks – food trucks have become a growing trend in modern KL’s food offerings. These mobile eateries serve up interesting fare from fusion dishes to traditional delicacies that are prepared from inside a food truck.
Warisan – This zone showcases the many traditional preparation techniques and instruments preserved for many years and recipes handed down from the elders.
Samplings – The Samplings zone will have a list of 5-star hotels in the city serving up some of their signature menus in bite sized portions.
The Dulang – “Dulang” is the Malay word for tray,that serves “Nasi Ambeng” – a traditional communal dining and bonding experience that is popular in the southern state of Johor.
The Mayor’s Courtyard – Guests are in for a special experience in the Mayor’s Courtyard. Set in an indoor air-conditioned space, top chefs and culinary experts will whet the palette in preparing their signature gourmet cuisines. Participating restaurants and establishments in this area will showcase nothing but the best in the world of fine dining
The festival will also have various interesting pop-up stalls:
• The FAMA market selling tropical Malaysian fruits and fruit juices
• The Spices and Malaysian purees “on- the go” stalls
• Tuck shops selling Malaysian snacks like kerepek, coconut candy and dodol plus these shops will hold experiential demonstrations for tourists on heritage food like kuih bangkit, kuih bakar and kuih bahulu that will be made on “pangkin” with the “makciks”.
With a single entry ticket, visitors will have the opportunity to attend all the cooking workshops and demonstrations (based on a first-come, first-serve basis as seats may be limited), listen to gastronomic talks and be entertained by cultural performances.
Food items may be purchased using “Kupang”, a specially designed token that will replace cash at the festival. The “Kupang” will be available in denominations of half Kupang, one Kupang and five Kupang. The “Kupang” can be purchased at the ticketing booth near the main entrance to the festival venue. The term “Kupang” is taken from the traditional Malay coin currency that was used in the Malay Peninsula since over a century ago.
The 3-day festival is also geared to be eco-friendly and ethically responsible, whereby THE QUARTERS will be using bio degradable and non-Styrofoam packaging plus recycled bags, sharing a communal washing up area to wash their pots and pans and also recycling bins for the food waste disposal.
At the media launch today, the guests were treated to Chef Norman Musa signature Beef Rendang Wellington dish taken from his late mother’s recipe but modified at Ning, his restaurant in Manchester, to fit the English’s taste buds.
Chef Norman Musa quoted during lunch, “I’m really excited to be here today, as I’m passionate about introducing Malaysian food to the world. My success in UK can be attributed to my ability to carefully balance authenticity with contemporary touches.”
About the Festival Competitions
To create more excitement during the festival, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall has organised the Big Challenge which includes three competitions. First, the KL Big Kitchen, Big Race, a cooking competition which includes racing against time to buy ingredients at KL’s oldest market, Chow Kit Market and returning to the Big Kitchen site at Dataran Merdeka to cook a dish. The second competition is the KL Signature Mocktail Competition, open to Malaysian amateurs or professional mixologists to create KL’s signature mocktail.
Finally the KL Signature Dish Competition, a competition only open to Malaysians, is in search of a unique, signature dish using local herbs and spices.The winners of each competition will receive Cash Prizes, a Trophy from the Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur and gifts sponsored by the festival’s partners. Interested participants can download the entry forms from the festival website www.klbigkitchen.com
At the closing of his speech at the media launch, Y.Bhg. Datuk Seri Hj. Ahmad Phesal Hj. Talib, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur applauded the participating festival chefs for taking the time and sharing their cooking expertise during the festival. Chefs present at the media launch were Chef Norman Musa, Chef Martin Yan, Chef Dato’ Ismail Ahmad, Chef Firdaus Hanan, Chef Will Meyrick and Chef Izyan Hani.
For more details on the festival kindly contact:
Puan Noraza Yusof (Head of Tourism, Kuala Lumpur City Hall)
Phone: 603- 26980332
Mobile: 6013-3399915
Email: norazayusof@gmail.com