KUALA LUMPUR: Celebrity chef Datuk Fazley Yaakob's new programme Anak Rembau Ke Australia is part of his longtime mission to promote his home state's original recipes internationally.
The 39-year-old graduate of world famous culinary arts and hotel management institute Le Cordon Bleu (LCB) is thankful to host the five-episode, YouTube culinary series where
he promotes traditional recipes from Negri Sembilan in major Australian cities as Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.
"I can't thank LCB Australia enough for coming up with this fantastic programme which enables me to promote the dishes I've grown up with, to a global audience," said Fazley in an interview with Berita Harian Online yesterday.
Fazley, who also runs his restaurant, SukaSucre Bistro in Cheras, said each episode of his programme was four minutes long, and they were filmed two months ago.
"Previously, I've organised cookery classes specialising in Negri Sembilan dishes in Sydney. The locals were impressed, and LCB Australia soon decided it was time to promote
more Southeast Asian recipes - apart from Thai and Vietnamese ones."
Fazley, who was honoured by LCB as its Most Outstanding Alumni last Sept 18, had several invaluable experiences while filming Anak Rembau Ke Australia.
"Chief among these was teaching Australian culinary students how to open a coconut - many of them had never got hold of the fruit, especially the Hong Kong and Chinese students, and they were amazed when I did so with ease."
Fazley, who spent a week filming the series, also recalled that the Australian customs officers in Sydney Airport told him to dispose of some ingredients which he had planned to use.
"Australia is pretty strict about tourists bringing foodstuffs into its borders - that's understandable because agriculture is a mainstay of the economy and they want to avoid pollution and crop damage," he said.
The first episode of Anak Rembau Ke Australia was uploaded on YouTube at 8pm on Friday. It is available at http://youtube.com/fazleyyaakob