Sarika

It all started when...

I've always wanted to do a cooking focussed holiday. I love Malaysian cuisine and I was particularly excited by Nazlina's use of fresh, simple ingredients and holistic cooking. I had always thought of Penang as being this food city, and I’d always wanted to explore that part of Malaysia. So when I saw VAWAA had a local chef, Nazlina, I thought that I could not just learn cooking, but also learn the flavor of the town. Especially since food is so intrinsic to it. I love the whole concept of Nazlina using local herbs and spices, that sort of holistic cooking which is very very authentically Malaysian. I thought that was really interesting because I thought that would really give me the flavor of the town.

What I really liked about that trip was how close she brought me to food and to local Malaysian ingredients. And with every ingredient she would tell me a little about the history, so as I was cooking I was also learning about the place, I was understanding the history of the place. So it all came together very beautifully. It wasn’t just about cooking in Nazlina’s kitchen, it was also about tasting different local food in Penang and other chefs in the town. So it was very, very wholesome, and it was very holistic. And by the end of it, I felt like I really experienced Malaysian cooking in Penang the way it should be.