Great singer, good cook

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Singer Siti Nurhaliza shows off her prowess in the kitchen.

MENTION “Datuk Siti Nurhaliza”, and most people would immediately conjure up images of the local pop diva belting out her signature songs or performing melodiously in one of her numerous concerts.

Anyone living in Malaysia for the past decade or so who’s not heard of Siti would really have to be totally cut off from the world. Well, most people know her as a talented singer and lyricist, but what many don’t know is that Siti is also adept in the kitchen!

Multi-talented: Singer Siti Nurhaliza is equally at ease in the kitchen as she is on stage.

And Siti recently showed this side of her when she hosted a 15-segment cooking show on RTM1 titled Citarasa Bersama Datuk Siti Nurhaliza.

The cooking show, directed by Erma Fatima who is also a well-known actress, was filmed in Siti’s bungalow at Bukit Antarabangsa, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

While she is quite comfortable about being filmed while singing, Siti admitted that cooking in front of the 15-odd camera crew was a new situation for her.

“It was a real challenge that had me hyperventilating but I did it,” she said with a laugh.

Besides hosting the show, which featured several personalities who have been instrumental in ensuring her success in the entertainment industry, Siti also shared her own recipes, tips and style of cooking.

Her guests included personalities like her beautician Nurul Sukor; fashion designer Radzwan Razwill; journalist Hartati Hassan Basri; and wedding planner and events management specialist Datuk Shah Rezza.

Siti, whose experience in front of the camera has been limited choreographed routines of singing and dancing, said she was at first overwhelmed by the enormity of the change in her work scene.

Pulut Serawa Durian Seribu Manisan was featured on Siti’s cooking show.

“It was quite harrowing to see the 15-man crew moving the set from place to place,” she said, relating with amusement the day they had to relocate indoors from the compound, where the show was initially meant to be shot, because it had started to rain.

Some of the crew were actually surprised when they saw what she could do in the kitchen, Siti said.

“People would be surprised to find out that I am definitely not out of place in my kitchen,” she said.

Besides hosting the show, Siti also helped to choose the recipes and get the ingredients required for each segment. For this, she said, she had a lot of help from her sisters-in-law Zaiton Mohd Jiwa or better known as Kak Eton and Rozi Abdul Razak, who is also her manager. In each episode, a main course, dessert and one other dish were presented and to make sure that all the recipes were foolproof, Siti enlisted the help of celebrity chef Zam.

Since she only cooks for her family at home, she is not really well-versed in explaining the methods in the recipes and Chef Zam took care of this, Siti explained.

Both shared tips that viewers could try at home and they also stressed on the importance of freshness and hygiene of the ingredients. “For example, if you want to cook chicken, you have to ensure that the meat is clean or you may end up with food poisoning,” Siti stressed.

Among the dishes that Siti presented in the show, which ran three days a week for five weeks beginning Aug 21, were Sup Cendawan Purnama Merindu, Tomyam Campur Pancawarna, Ikan Bawal Cili Padi Kau Kekasihku, Pulut Serawa Durian Seribu Kemanisan, Ayam Tiram Serai Badarsila, and her favourite Gulai Patin Masak Tempoyak.

“I enjoyed it as it was something different from my usual entertainment routines on screen and on stage,” Siti said.