The whole of the first week of November, all our staff and guides were treated to a cooking class of their choice. In return, they were asked to pen down a few comments of their experience while cooking.

I joined a couple of classes myself. I finally understood what was ‘pecah minyak’  and also the importance of balancing the flames at the different stages of cooking. Really, half the secret to a good curry is in the cooking and getting the temperatures just right to draw out the aromas and not burn the dish – a very thin line at times!

I enjoyed making hong ark, curry kapitan and masak titik [watermelon skin soup] with Pearly who made the whole experience so safe and enjoyable. It was so well organized and well paced and I really left the class like I had accomplished 3 dishes that I could replicate again.

Below is a comment from Beatrice, our sole lady in-house guide:

“It has been a great learning experience to cook like a Nyonya, I had not expected I could actually enjoy slicing delicately vegetables for the signature dish “jiew hu char”,

as mentioned by Pearly every new nyonya bride has to produce this dish for the mother-in-law’s appraisal, the skill is in how fine are the vegetable strips.  However

the dish would have been more authentic and better tasting if pork bacon instead of chicken meat has been used but I have no compliant of my masterpiece

The other dish “otak otak” is easier but the banana leaf wrapping requires again the womanly delicate skill which I obviously found lacking, luckily Pearly came to

my rescue to salvage my leaky otak otak!

What made the cooking class outstanding and enjoyable is none other than Pearly  who is the most patient and helpful teacher one would ever have.   The kitchen

is well laid out, comfortably air-conditioned and user friendly, installing cooker hoods will help in smoke & ordour reduction as most asian dishes require frying with oil.”

To enjoy a cooking class of your own, click here to sign up today!

Click here to find out whats cooking for November 2011 and December 2011 at Cooking School, Tropical Spice Garden