Sniff out some recipe books with help from these chefs at Cook Out Day.

DIY: Healthy Body, Great Skin by Dino Goh

THRONGS of book lovers will be making their way to BookFest@Malaysia from Aug 18 to 26, but for a couple of those days, the alluring aroma of cooking will surely be leading them by the nose.

Cook Out Day on Aug 20 and 25 will be a fun time to visit this massive book exposition organised annually by Popular Book Co (M) Sdn Bhd.

Those interested in cooking will be able to attend a host of demonstrations where they can learn how to prepare various types of food, from chicken and seafood to bread and noodles, from reputable chefs. Who knows, you may even find out the secrets of Nyonya or Thai food at these events.

Cook Out Day will kick off with renowned Peranakan chef Ricky Ng.

Cooking is in Ng’s blood. As a boy, he picked up valuable tips on Nyonya cooking and kuih-making from his grandmother, mother and aunties, but he was not happy with their infamous trait of using “agak-agak” (a bit of this and a bit of that) for ingredient amounts.

Thai @ Home by Chef Korn

The observant youngster would shout out, “Wait!” while they were cooking so he could measure a certain ingredient and record a precise recipe. Ng has put these same exacting standards into his books Nyonya Love and Nyonya Kueh.

Thai food is another type of cuisine that gets Malaysians excited, and the author of Thai @ Home will show visitors how to cook classic Thai and fusion cuisine in simple ways.

Before starting his culinary career, Trakool Yodsuk was an artist specialising in acrylic painting. Now better known as Chef Korn, he has transferred his talent from canvas to plate with food that often looks too beautiful to eat.

Chef Korn believes that “anyone can cook” and his book shows the easiest steps to cooking simple and delicious traditional Thai dishes.

Chef Hanieliza is a prolific cookbook writer who excels in local food.

For Malay food, who better to learn from than Chef Hanieliza, who will be demonstrating how to cook local dishes.

The Kuala Lumpur-born chef has lived in Kerteh, Terengganu, for the past 26 years and has been active in cooking for as long. She is the author of 10 recipe books under the Senangnya Memasak series. In just three months, Chef Hanieliza sold 10,000 copies and five of the books were reprinted.

One of these is 1 Hari 1 Resipi: 365 Resipi Istimewa (1 Day 1 Recipe: 365 Special Recipes). As its title suggests, the book is a collection of recipes for every day of the year.

Other cooking demonstrations at Bookfest@Malaysia 2012 will be done by Evon Kow, a prolific author on various kinds of cooking techniques, and Elisabeth Siahaja, head instructor of Sugarcraft Baking and Culinary Academy, who will be baking cinnamon rolls.

Chefs Daniel Koh and Pung Lu Tin (The World Of Noodles), Tourism Malaysia celebrity Chef Johan (Chicken Flavour) and Singaporean cuisine master Eric Neo will also be on hand to give visitors a peek into various cooking techniques and dish preparations.

And there’s more. Visitors will also get the chance to meet experts on Penang heritage food and healthy living.

Ong Jin Teong started cooking Penang dishes while studying in London the 1960s.

Ong Jin Teong learnt to cook in the 1960s when he went to university in London and could not find the kind of food he was used to. And so he started cooking Penang dishes himself, drawing on his observations of food preparation at home and at hawker stalls on the island where he was born.

Ong, a retired professor from the Nanyang Technological University’s College of Engineering in Singapore, is well-known for his book, Penang Heritage Food. It gives a Nyonya perspective of traditional Penang dishes. At Cook Out Day, he will speak on the many influences on Penang heritage food.

Nutritionist Dino Goh believes that the concept of healthy living encompasses creativity, style, trends and beauty. The author of DIY: Healthy Body, Great Skin will be another speaker at Cook Out Day on Aug 20, and will discuss eating well and engaging in a healthy lifestyle. – Jane Ragavan

Cook Out Day at BookFest@Malaysia 2012 is on Aug 20 (11am-7.45pm) and Aug 25 (6pm-7.45pm) at The Stage@Hall 5 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

BookFest@Malaysia 2012 is on from Aug 18-26 (10am-10pm). Admission is with purchase of the BookFest catalogue, at RM2.50 per entry or RM10 for multiple entries over the nine days. Catalogues are available at all Popular and Harris bookstore outlets naionwide and at the BookFest entrance. Entrance is free for students 18 years old and below and for senior citizens aged 60 and above. For more information, visit bookfestmalaysia.com.

Star Publications (M) Bhd is a media partner of BookFest@Malaysia 2012.

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