Surprise, surprise

Datuk Redzuawan Ismail, fondly known as Chef Wan, is lobbying with organisers to hold the prestigious 15th edition of the annual Gourmand World Cook-book Awards in Penang this year. The Malaysian food ambassador feels that the state will make an ideal backdrop as cuisine is one of Penang’s most popular attractions. If all goes to plan, it would be the second time the country will play host to the awards which will be held in late November, with Kuala Lumpur previously staging it in 2006.

Chef Wan said by holding the awards in Malaysia, it would do wonders for the country’s publicity and tourism as several thousand of the world’s most prominent celebrity chefs, food writers and editors are set to attend. “Penang, being a food haven, is the ideal host for the crème-de-la-crème of the food industry. “It would be a great opportunity for the world to come and see what Malaysia has to offer. We could even take participants on tours of various destinations, and let them explore the roots of the country’s multi-ethnic cuisine,” he said. Chef Wan, who turned 53 on Jan 6, was given a surprise early birthday bash by the Shangri-La Group’s in Penang at the Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa the day before.He was in Penang together with Swedish celebrity chef Karl-Christer Wallberg to scout locations for an upcoming cooking show.

“I was caught by surprise. The hotel staff asked me to come down for a meeting! “But it’s very sweet of them, and I’m deeply touched to be loved and cared for by so many people,” Chef Wan quipped as he held back tears before blowing out the candles on a chocolate fudge cake. Chef Wan said he would be gracing the World Cookbook Fair in Paris in March, whereby a Malaysian Street Food Festival is among the event highlights. A space will be set up with various hawker stalls to allow visitors to sample the country’s cuisine.

Also in the works is an iPad application for his Best Wan ‘Flavours of Malaysia’ cookbook. With all his recipes and cooking tips set to go online, he believes it would be the best source of information on Malaysian cuisine in cyberspace. Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa executive pastry chef Nazeri Ismail, who made the cake, revealed that the affable chef had always been his idol. “It’s not everyday you get to bake a cake for someone like him. I’m glad I had the golden opportunity to do something which I hope he’ll cherish,” Nazeri said. Rasa Sayang and Golden Sands communications director Suleiman Tunku Abdul Rahman said the idea for the surprise birthday bash first came up several months ago during the chef’s previous stay at the hotel. “Chef Wan has done so much in promoting Malaysia while being a food ambassador. Once we knew he was coming back here for his birthday, we wanted to give him a treat,” he said.

-thestar online.