New York-based Malaysian entrepreneur Kirby Tan is planning to make a 26-episode film on Malaysian cuisine and culinary art.
Tan who is from Malacca, owned a restaurant in New York called the Malaysian Kitchen USA where he recently sold 25 percent of the restaurant shares.
Bernama reported that Tan plans to highlight Malaysia’s diverse cuisine in over 26 episodes via his film which is privately funded by a group of business people.
Tan hopes that the film will “educate the public about Malaysian food, particularly barbecued food.”
“We will educate people and highlight Malaysian-Chinese food appealing to American and Chinese consumers, though it will emphasise less on the spices.”
“Since I sold the Malaysian Kitchen Restaurant, which took away a lot of my time, I can give my full attention to making the movie,” he continued.
Tan also mentioned that he plans to discuss with Malaysia’s trade promotion agency MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) about using the film to promote Malaysian food and cooking.
Though the authenticity of the Malaysian dishes will be maintained, there will be slight difference in the ingredients used in order to appeal to the American taste buds.
“Americans love grilled food and we should take advantage of that. They host grill parties in their gardens during the summer time, the ‘grill season’, to use a popular local expression,” said Tan.
(Photo source: Malaysian Kitchen USA's Facebook)