The Inaugural Ladies’ Alumni Cook & Network Pairing Event

A group of dynamic and professional ladies who are graduates with an Australian academic qualification gathered together for a Master Chef Series 2016 cooking session at the Hotel Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur recently.

This first-ever Ladies Alumni Cook & Network Pairing event was jointly organised by The Malaysian Australian Alumni Council (The MAAC) and Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and has garnered an overwhelming response from alumni although it was initially targeted to host only 20 participants but has been eventually overbooked. It was indeed an extraordinary Saturday afternoon where power ladies from various industry gathers together in smart casual attire and apron, while exchanging business cards and making new acquaintance.

Senior Australian Trade Commissioner to Malaysia, Ms Susan Khawati, Australian High Commission Deputy Director for Education & Training Ms Petronila Maurice, Dato Kong Sooi Lin, CEO of CIMB Investment Bank, Datin Dr Pixie Low, Paediatrician and President of University of New South Wales Alumni Chapter Malaysia are among those present.

In her welcoming speech, Ms Pat Yeoh, President of The MAAC introduced The MAAC which is the national body representing over 300,000 alumni and its untiring efforts by this not-for-profit organisation in promoting welfare and support for all Malaysians graduates from Australia and building a positive bilateral relations between Malaysia and Australia. She also thanked the participants for taking time off to join fellow alumni in this fun and networking event. Special appreciation was accorded to MLA for their sponsorship and making this event a success.

Ms Rose Yong, MLA Country Manager for Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei & Myanmar kicked off the event by giving the participants an extensive presentation on the Australian meat and livestock industry, the handling of its produce which adhere to world class food safety standards and the various types of Australian beef and lamb cuts.

Meat & Livestock Australia Limited (MLA) is the marketing, research and development body for Australia’s red meat and livestock industry. MLA is a not-for-profit organisation owned by cattle, sheep and goat producers. It is funded by a levy on livestock sales, with the Australian Federal Government providing matching funds for R&D investment.

Conducting this special cooking event is non other than the Executive Chef at Intercontinental Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Australian Chef expert, Sam Kung, who has a vast culinary experience in various part of the world including past working experience in Shanghai and with the Crown Melbourne. He has spent more than 25 years in Australia, specialising in South-east Asian and International cuisine.

For the next 3 hours, Chef Sam Kung demonstrated ways on how one can cook up a simple yet amazingly presentable and delicious 3-course meal comprising of a juicy and delicious Aussie steak at the right doneness of one’s choice, served with a rich mushroom sauce and creamy mash potato with a twist of Aussie flavour in a fun and interactive hands-on session.

Serious concentration and discussion mixed with laughter can be heard while the ladies were enjoying the session and networking among professionals over the stove-top while learning to prepare and show-off some kitchen skills in heels! The group was also served with a high tea spread with white Australian wine while enjoying each own’s creation of the day – Thai lamb leg salad with puffed rice, cucumber, mint, coriander and lime dressing (entree), Pan-seared Australian grain fed rump with mashed potato, seasonal greens, glazed shallots and natural jus (main) and Black sesame black pannacotta with seame tuille, mixed berries compote and micro cress (dessert).

All participants also received a certificate of participation from Hotel Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur and a generous bag of door gifts from MLA and some skincare samples from Hanbul Cosmetics.

For full event photos, please visit here.