Food. Glorious Food.

Some time ago I decided that I should do a cooking course in every country I go to . I absolutely love cooking and trying new things so it seems the perfect fit for me. If I had done this from the beginning I would have done 29 courses by now.. Oh well no time like the present to get stuck into it!

Penang is a place where the Malay, Indian and Chinese societies merge. This fabulous combination creates a hot pot of different cooking styles. At any one of the famous Hawkers food halls you’ll find Nasi Lemak, the unofficial local dish du jour, rice steamed with coconut water, crushed peanuts, cucumber, egg and hot sambal, and Roti Canai, an Indian flacky crispy crepe style bread served with curry and dhal not to be had without a mug of Teh Tarik (pulled tea). Frog porridge and frog leg stirfry sits beside the satay ayam (chicken satay), sushi, nasi goreng and even a burger stand.

In order to learn more about the local Malay cooking I enrolled myself in a cooking class at ‘The Tropical Garden’ (http://www.tropicalspicegarden.com). There were 9 of us, 8 Australians and 1 American so naturally we hit it off instantly. To get us in the mood we were taken on a tour through the Spice Garden. Our fabulous guide showed us an amazing range of ornamental and edible plants. I personally was a bit captivated by the coriander and basil plants! We saw purple chillies, the herb that absinthe is made from, a cinnamon tree and a very old rubber tree.

We were led to the cooking area and it was time to pop on our aprons and get stuck into it! Our class instructor was a lovely local woman by the name of Nazlina. She had four dishes she wanted to share with us, Beef Rendang, Salted Fish Curry, Angle beans Prawn salad and Sambal Belachan. It wasn’t the kind of class where we each had all the ingredients and utensils to make your own, it was more of a combined effort. Naz would show us what needed to be done and we would all take turns doing different jobs.

We learnt to crack open coconuts ‘the lady way’, using your thumb to hold the coconut like a bowling ball and a hammer to crack that bad boy open. Once opened Naz took to showing us how to shred the coconuts. She explained that you can either straddle the machine or ride it side saddle ‘like a lady’.

Naturally I went for the first option.

Apparently in Malaysia your coconut shredding style and ability is paramount to finding a good husband. If the coconut is finely shredded then you are eligible for a good husband. She also showed us how to make Sambal, chilli paste. She had this amazing great big mortar and pestle style rolling block just for the job. Basically we were to crush the whole chillies down to a loose paste. Again a chore that could score you a great man! This time it is based not on the end product (coz lets face it, chilli paste is chilli paste) but on the rhythm of your chilli crushing.

Lets just say I will not be getting married anytime soon!!

Meanwhile we were turning shredded coconut into a chocolate type paste by crushing it in the mortar and pestle. We also had a chain of garlic crushing, lemongrass slicing, vege dicing and meat prepping happening. Just before we threw it all together Naz showed us how to make fresh coconut milk. It basically involved immersing the coconut shreds back through the coconut water a few times and then pouring it through a sieve. Then, one handful at a time, you squeeze the now wet coconut shreds over the coconut water and the end product is coconut milk. It was definitely fun to do but to be fair I will be sticking to the canned option I think!

Together we took turns to combine the ingredients, stir the woks until finally it was time to eat. The meals were amazing, the prawn salad with Angle beans was my stand out favourite and just quietly I did go back for a second serving of the salted fish curry!!

It was a truly fabulous morning, thanks to Naz and my fellow master chefs for such a memorable day.

Oh, and did I mention that the setting for the class had us peering through the Spice Garden on one side and gazing at breathtaking views of the beach on the other?

Bliss.