Eat and let live, says celebrity chef Wan

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PETALING JAYA: Let’s not get too worked up over the “nationality” of foods — that is what Malaysia’s celebrity chef Redzuawan Ismail, better known as Chef Wan, has to say about the ongoing food debate.

He said Malaysians, Singaporeans and all diners in general should cherish the variety of food available in the region instead of arguing over whose food it was.

“Food brings love, peace and compassion to the table,” said the Singapore-born chef.

Chef Wan said food lovers should not get too excited over the “ownership” of food as “we are all from the same roots”.

“Where are our roots? We are satu rumpun (from one creed),” he said, adding that everyone should just eat and let live.

Chef Wan was commenting on the cyber food fight between Singapo-reans and Malaysians after Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen’s statement that Malaysia would lay claim to dishes such as laksa, nasi lemak, bak kut teh, chilli crab and Hainanese chicken rice.

Chef Wan, who was in Singapore for “Asia on the Edge”, a food, culture, fashion and performing arts festival, said he had been inundated with comments from Singaporeans over the issue.

“They tell me ‘Excuse me, chilli crab is ours’, or ‘Chef Wan, you cannot say anything because you are part Singaporean’,” he said.

Chef Wan said most types of food in Malaysia and Singapore were actually brought here by immigrants, and the recipes had evolved or become localised over time.

“Some food is more dominant here while others in Singapore. It is just that Singapore is more aggressive at branding,” he said.

Executive chef Steven Teo of Sheraton Subang Hotel and Towers said the great food debate by national boundaries was very subjective.

“Food has the same name but it is cooked in different styles. For example, anyone can make nasi briyani but it varies from cook to cook.

“At the hotel, we emphasise on our own recipes and create our own signature dishes,” he said.

Whatever it might be, he said, the most important thing was that food had to be good, regardless of its origins.

“There is no point in staking a claim on a signature dish if nobody wants to order it,” he said.

Chef Haizal Yaamin, who runs his own restaurant, agreed that diners had the final say.

“The nationality of food does not matter. What is important is that the food is delicious and marketable.

“We are an Asian country, and the food, especially in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, are not different from one another. We cannot go about saying, ‘This is mine, that is yours’,” he said.