Chef Norhafizatul Akma and Chef Nur Fadillah participated in the Battle of the Chefs (BOTC) Penang, which was held in August 2022.  Both chefs competed in the Class 27: Malaysian Malay Heritage Cuisine Team Challenge. The competition was organised and coordinated three months in advance, including menu planning, recipe research and development, and testing 7 types of dishes from appetizer to dessert which all had to be completed within 2 hours.

The team’s biggest challenge was sourcing high-quality ingredients, such as fresh Rambai leaves for Apam Johol. The chefs travelled almost 100km for locally grown leaves. Fresh local herbs and flowers were hand-picked from a community farm in Shah Alam to ensure the ingredients’ quality and freshness.

During the competition, the chefs must exhibit the correct skills and techniques following the cooking criteria and marking rubrics given by the judges. Although there were some last-minute changes due to unforeseen circumstances, all meals were prepared and served on time for the judges to evaluate.  Since the competition was conducted in an open area under a massive tent, heat and humidity were a real challenge as well.

Overall the team achieved 84% and was awarded the Silver medal. It was a beautiful moment for both chefs, which would not have been possible without the assistance of Jackius Anak Kiking (a Diploma in Culinary Arts student) who was very competent and dedicated throughout the competition. When asked what contributed most to their success, the two chefs said, “It turns out that teamwork, great communication, compatibility and support are the key elements in the overall results.”
 

Besides Chef Akma and Chef Fadillah, Chef Kiong Lian Chai also participated in Class M22: Main Course V Duck and M19: Main Course II Beef. In the former category, Chef Kiong attained a gold medal, whereas in the latter, a silver medal.  Chef Kiong mentioned that the three months leading to the competition were particularly tough especially as he had to juggle between the reopening of Athanor and teaching practical classes. Given the current work commitments, he said, “There are tremendous research and development efforts required to perfect a dish. It was double the practice for me as I was competing in two categories – duck and beef main courses”.

Chef Kiong also highlighted that the amount of time and energy put into practice was incredible. He would also like to extend special thanks to Levina Sasmita (a Diploma in Culinary Arts student) who assisted him in the preparation/mise en place at the BOTC in Penang.

Chef Norhafizatul Akma, Chef Nur Fadillah and Chef Kiong Lian Chai 
School of Hospitality and Service Management 
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