TORRENTIAL downpours in December last year resulted in floods in eight states, forcing the evacuation of some 20,000 people to relief centres and leaving more than 50 people dead. Hundreds of volunteers in the country rallied around to render much needed aid to the flood victims, whose plight also caught international attention, from South Africa to Australia, and even to Germany.
Over in Germany's capital city of Berlin, Malaysian Zakiah Omar and her German husband, Hanno Baethe, cooked up a storm in their kitchen, making vegan mushroom sambal and kuih bakar, and pre-recorded their two cooking sessions that were later put into a slot in the Cooks For A Cause show. This went on live over eight hours on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch on Jan 2, this year.
Helming the show was the Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) group co-founded by Jackie Tang (professionally known as Jackie M), a Malaysian-born Sydney-based TV presenter, founder of Malaysian Street Food Academy and former restaurateur, together with her business partner, Paul Gray, a digital marketer from Johannesburg, South Africa.
It all began with the connection Zakiah made over Instagram with Malaysian chef Johari Edrus who'd invited her and Baethe to become a part of MOMC@Heart, a spin-off of MOMC, consisting of celebrity/professional chefs and passionate hobby cooks, with one interest in common — Malaysia!
Enthusiastically, Zakiah reveals: "It was chef Johari who recommended us to Jackie. We felt very honoured to have been asked to join MOMC. The Cooks For A Cause show charity event was our first involvement in MOMC activities."
REACHING OUT
The programme went live and saw invited chefs from seven countries around the world taking turns to share their Malaysian cooking expertise through cooking videos with avid foodies. Besides Jackie M, who's also known as a hawker cuisine expert, and chef Johari, a Masterchef Malaysia judge, the other elite Malaysian culinary experts involved in Cooks For A Cause included chef Datuk Ismail Ahmad, owner of Restoran Rebung and Tourism Malaysia's culinary ambassador, acclaimed Nyonya cuisine expert, Debbie Teoh, chef Rene Juefri (who's ranked among the 50 most influential executive hotel chefs in the Middle East), and Bob Adnin, president of the Professional Culinaire Association of Malaysia.
The 60-year-old Zakiah and husband, Baethe, 75, are co-founders of daundaun, which is a part of their media company, mata-mata media. The couple has been creating Malaysian food experiences from their home in Berlin since 1993, and over time, have carved a name in the culinary circle.
Continuing, Zakiah enthuses: "Jackie and Paul, who's in Johannesburg, did a fantastic job as always to get everything organised, content-wise and technically. We had plenty of Zoom meetings prior to the live event. It was fun getting to know all the Malaysian cooks from around the world and doing something collectively online for a good cause to help Malaysians in Malaysia."
Why choose mushroom sambal and kuih bakar for the show,? I couldn't help asking.
Her face creasing into a smile, Zakiah shares: "Before the show, Jackie had put out a call for requests from MOMC followers. These were the ones we chose to do. The kuih bakar was for a request for a recipe using coconut milk."
While the hot sambal is quintessentially Malaysian, the kuih bakar or baked egg custard is a traditional dessert with a rich pandan and eggy coconut-ty flavour. A favourite with many Malaysians, the cake is crusty on the outside and comes with a generous sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. Meanwhile, the inside is soft, sweet and moist. Baked in a flower-shaped mould, it's also called kuih bakar kemboja, named after the kemboja flower (frangipani).
"After our two cooking sessions went on air, Hanno and I chatted with Jackie live to answer questions. It was great to see some familiar names popping up in the feed. And of course, it was great to see all the donations coming in after," recalls Zakiah, adding that the fundraising started with a GoFundMe initiative.
They also reached out to a handful of overseas-based Malaysian businesses, namely MyBlueTea.com.au and Jim's Malaysia in Australia, and Mal-Asia.de and Madame Mei in Germany. Everyone was happy to come onboard and support this worthwhile initiative.
"We raised about RM10,000 in total from GoFundMe and private donations, and they came from all over the world, including Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, North America and Europe. We partnered with Yunus Social Business Centre @Sunway Education Group, which disbursed the funds to YouthCare Malaysia, to help in their flood relief efforts on the ground in Malaysia," elaborates Zakiah with a smile.
A number of Malaysian diplomats, she tells me, also participated in the broadcast, including Ambassador Datuk Nadzirah Osman (the Netherlands), Ambassador Francisco Munis (Hungary), as well as Acting Consul General, Kartini Tajul (Sydney, Australia).
Continuing, Zakiah adds that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (MAFI) Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Haslina Abdul Hamid also joined in the show. She happily answered some questions from Jackie regarding MAFI's and the Malaysian government's undertakings in assisting those affected by the floods. In addition to helping the flood victims, the Cooks For A Cause programme has enabled people the world over to enjoy cooking demonstrations by some of Malaysia's top chefs.
HOW IT BEGAN
For the affable Zakiah, being involved in the programme also meant that she was able to continue with her passion to promote Malaysian food. However, she confides, it wasn't actually something that she'd planned on when she left Malaysia for Berlin in 1990 on a Goethe Institute cultural exchange programme.
Suffice it to say, she also had no inkling that she would meet her future husband, Hanno Baethe, a professor in videography, in the city. They partnered up to produce interactive media under their company mata-mata media, and bagged international awards for their video and interactive works, including the first prize in an international competition for CD-ROM in Viper Festival 2001 in Basel, Switzerland.
Her success in media consultancy and production led the Malaysian to clinch a professorship at Konrad Wolf, Germany's film and television university, where she lectured in German. Recalling her first foray in food promotion, Zakiah shares: "In 2018, we had a client Madrabaz Gastro-Events, a company creating events that promoted Turkish food. The founders Gokcen Ceylan and Tali Akin wanted Berliners to learn more about Turkish art and culture through food. They even organised food and film events."
Continuing, she recalls: "A year later, after our contract ended, we felt that we should do a film food event about Berlin, especially for the many new Berliners. Hanno, who is a trained chef, and I, who've always loved designing food, chose two Berlin films from the 1920s and developed a four-course menu based on typical Berlin food."
Adding, she remembers: "We prepped them up a bit. Then it hit me. Why weren't we doing something more Malaysian? So many of our friends and acquaintances know very little or next to nothing about Malaysia. It never really occurred to me, but after more than 30 years here, I felt it was time. Hanno was all for it!"
They subsequently teamed up with two Malaysians in Berlin — Maz and Along — towards the end of the Covid-year 2020, and held a couple of food-related events. Shares Zakiah: "Maz still cooks and sells. In fact, Along came up with the name daundaun, but since they weren't going to use it, and we'd already bought the domain, and my brother Zaid, who's a designer, had already worked on our brand identity, we kept it. Later, we decided to carry on, on our own, because our aim was to cook. More importantly, we wanted to tell the stories behind the dishes — the cultural and historical aspects (of Malaysian food) and personal stories from my family kitchen."
Continuing, she says: "We're also keen to showcase the stories of the Peranakan, the Bugis, Indian, Chinese, and so on, including our colonial past. At the moment, it's mainly by words of mouth, friends and friends of friends — that sort of thing. We don't host all the time. When we plan an event, we let people know through email and other texting channels. Definitely, we'll open up more in the future. We're still taking it easy at the moment."
Before forming daundaun, both Zakiah and Baethe taught as professors for many years. They've both stopped teaching at the universities, something the former attributes to their desire to pursue their "next calling", namely to share knowledge about Malaysia and the region with people in the West.
Shares Zakiah: "Our events are informal and so is daundaun. It also extends to our family in Malaysia. My brother, Zaid, who did a short stint at a renowned studio in Berlin, designed our logo. My sisters Zawiyah and the late Zuraidah have been very supportive and their opinions have helped us a lot."
Beaming, she adds proudly: "My aunts Kalsom Taib and Datin Hamidah Ahmad, authors of the prize-winning cookbooks The Johor Palate and Malaysia's Culinary Heritage, have helped us a lot, too. What would we do without their many traditional recipes like the kerabu Bugis and sambal kualoh? Both do very well at our events."
Happily, Zakiah goes on to tell me about their efforts with creating thematic food events such as the Malay Wedding and Peranakan Dinner, and events like the Malaysian Breakfast (nasi lemak, etc.) and the Malaysian High Tea with their signature dishes — pie tee with fresh chilli ginger sauce, curry puffs with homemade sweet chilli sauce, satay with nasi impit and peanut sauce, pulut panggang, kuih koci and English scones, which she says, give a little twist and hint at Malaysia's colonial past.
"We even make our own clotted cream. We paint a picture of what tea-time is like in Malaysia, with the table full of all kinds of savouries and sweet foods. We just introduced the chicken kari kapitan, acar Nyonya, pineapple tart and kek lapis berempah as part of our Chinese New Year menu. Our latest creation is the Chinese New Year high tea."
They have also co-hosted with their musician friend, Declan Forde, two live jazz events in their Berlin apartment, featuring international musicians and serving Malaysian food. On the plate this month is a collaboration with illustrator Karen Runge, where Malaysian sweets will complement her drawings.
This will be a Saturday pop-up event in their street-level studio space, which is rented out to their friends. On Saturdays, the space is usually not used and there is the bustling, very popular Kollwitzplatz Market. Zakiah hopes to use this platform to market their other events.
OVERWHELMING RESPONSE
"We are truly overwhelmed at how so many non-Malaysians, from Russia to South America, love all the Malaysian dishes and sweets that we offer. The big favourites for now are the pulut panggang, Malaysian satay, beef rendang, nasi minyak, acar rampai and kuih koci," enthuses Zakiah, her eyes shining.
Continuing, she shares happily: "The reaction we get when they try the kuih koci for the first time is quite amazing. We can't get black glutinous rice flour here in Berlin, not even online, so we decided to buy whole grains and mill it ourselves. We also bought a milling machine that can handle a kilo (kilogramme) at a time."
The majority of people who come to their events are non-Malaysians, although there are some Malaysians too. Elaborating, Zakiah shares: "Our first guests were three non-German, new Berliners, who connected with us via Instagram. Joanne Wong, a Canadian, saw our posts and wanted to try our food. She brought two of her friends. They're also repeat guests and we plan to give them a cooking class when the Covid-19 situation gets better."
They've also had sessions with one other group of Berliners, and noticed that they're also getting repeat guests. "Everyone has their favourites, but in general, whatever we serve on the table are well received," she adds, enthusiastically.
An event usually comprises a table of maximum 12 people, either in their apartment on the fourth floor of their (apartment) building or in front of their street-level studio — in the same building. Due to the pandemic, daundaun has not been able to host larger buffet events. However, Zakiah adds that these are in the pipeline.
These days, they try to keep a tight repertoire because there are still so many who have yet to try their signature dishes, such as beef rendang, acar rampai and nasi minyak. It was only recently that they added rendang Tok, beef serunding and sambal kualoh, which make up a part of their Malay wedding dinner menu. They don't just serve the food, but also share with their guests what a Malay wedding is like. This adds an element of fun to the overall dining experience.
FIRM FAVOURITES
From all the mouthwatering Malaysian dishes, which are served up, Zakiah singles out mee Bandung as her favourite. "Our nanny (adopted aunt), Arwah Uda, who lived with my parents since they got married, made the best mee Bandung I have ever had. And this dish reminds me of her. Her other dishes were just as amazing. Hanno was very fortunate to have been able to taste her cooking too. He loved her food. We weren't wealthy, but having Uda, we were," muses Zakiah, looking thoughtful.
Asked who she attributes her passion for cooking to, Zakiah points to Uda and her own mother. Smiling, she confides: "My mother loved to entertain at our place. Uda was the one who made all the savoury dishes, while my mother was the baker. I learnt how to cook from a young age, helping in the kitchen with my older sisters and cousins. I also have many relatives who are great cooks."
So, cooking really is in Zakiah's blood. And the same passion seems to run in her husband too. Baethe has his own favourites: rendang Tok, acar rampai and grilled stingray. He simply loves the many varieties of food and the mix from different cultural backgrounds.
Shares Zakiah: "Hanno first came to Malaysia in 1989, when he was doing video workshops in Kuala Lumpur. He stayed in a hotel in Bukit Bintang. He wouldn't have the breakfast at the hotel, but preferred to eat roti canai at one of the stalls instead. It was a great new experience for him because he had never had Malaysian food before. It was also his first time in Southeast Asia."
Since then, he has learnt a lot about how to prepare Malaysian food. For Baethe, it's no longer just about eating. These days, he is knowledgeable about the many ingredients in the cooking and has no qualms spending hours in food preparations, like cutting and slow cooking.
He's also familiar with the many steps to make kerisik, in addition to all the spice pastes for the various dishes, including the ever-popular serunding. At the end of the day, the couple not only bonds through their love for cooking, but they also share a common and passionate interest to tell the amazing stories behind every food they serve on the table.
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