The best meals to cook for loved ones, according to chefs

“I would definitely cook a good ol’ Chinese home cooked meal with a soup to die for. The star of the show would definitely be the soup! I wouldn’t cook a meal like this for just anybody, so this would be one that I would work on just for my loved ones.”

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“I would definitely love to cook a casual and intimate dinner, but the main act has got to be dessert! I would go for a warm and intensely dark chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream. It’s a hug in dessert form–warm, familiar and comforting.

A lot of my best memories were created sitting around a dining table with people who matter most to me. As people don’t usually make plans for after dinner, everyone usually ends up staying till late, drinking and nipping on after-dinner bites like cheese and chocolates, bonding over shared stories and jokes.”

“As desserts are my forte, I would treat my loved ones to a range of my crafted dessert delights, particularly my Le Sesame Noir. This creation holds a special place in my career as it is one of the very first desserts I created.

It draws inspiration from cherished memories of sipping sweet black sesame soup with my parents during my childhood. This sentiment led me to infuse a Chinese essence into the dessert while employing refined French techniques in its preparation.”

Don’t miss: Off Menu KL 2023: Meet the 10 chefs in our star-studded lineup

“I would definitely go for a rice, vendhaya kozhumbu (fenugreek seed curry), and fried fish. This meal has a sense of nostalgia to it with the vendhaya kozhumbu, which is a very simple curry. It’s something that every Indian grandma would always cook when you don’t have much to cook with at home.”

“I would cook a simple Cantonese family meal, with three dishes and a soup. The star dish will be the soup, as soup is something I had daily as a kid, and it is nourishment for both the body and mind.

Growing up in a Cantonese household, my mum always cooked three dishes and a soup every day. It has since become a daily routine and a habit for me with my own family as well.”

Off Menu KL 2023 will be held in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board and take place at Sentul Depot in Kuala Lumpur. Free flow beverages will be pouring all weekend long, courtesy of our beverage partners Hennessy VSOP, Chandon Garden Spritz, Hennessy, and Minuty.

The session on November 3 is completely sold out, but tickets are available for the remaining sessions on November 4 and 5. 

Date: November 3-5, 2023
Time: 2pm-5pm (November 4), 8pm-11pm (November 3, 4, and 5)
Venue: Sentul Depot, Kuala Lumpur
Theme: Souk Bazaar
Price: RM600; RM650 at the door

Secure your entry with an advanced ticket purchase and be part of this epicurean gathering. Get your tickets to Off Menu 2023 here and for more information on the event, click here.
 

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