About the book: My Malaysian Food Journey (2024) had its genesis in a fortnightly column on ‘Culinary Inspirations’ that appeared in The Star newspaper during 2023 and into 2024. The author, having previously co-authored and published three cookbooks, each the recipient of Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, decided it was time to pay tribute to her personal food heritage-to her hometown Muar, where she was brought up by both her maternal and paternal grandparents among a wider family interested in the best of traditional Malay cooking, especially Johorean cuisine, and well-known for its exceptionally talented cooks.
Although an avowed ‘armchair cook', the author pays special tribute to Mak Li, her family’s exemplary long-time cook, who first inspired her food journey as she watched Mak Li make dishes when she was a teenager and jotted down what she saw. This led to a lifelong interest in collecting cookbooks and recipes not only of her forebears but also from friends.
The chapters in this collection range from individual specialities perfected by family members to personal favourites, and from culinary inspirations drawn from Malaysia’s multiethnic heritage to reminiscences and stories of family gatherings, all centred around food. Many of the original articles in The Star have been expanded, with more information, recipes and photographs, while others have been added.
About the author: Datin Kalsom Taib holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History and a Diploma in Education from the University of Malaya. She taught in secondary schools for five years before joining the private sector, in human resources, in Shell Malaysia, Malaysia Mining Corporation and Nestle Malaysia. After her retirement in December 1997, she became a writer and publisher, starting with three books about family members.
She then co-authored three Gourmand award-winning cookbooks: Johor Palate: Tanjung Puteri Recipes (2015), a compilation of hard-to-find Johor dishes; Malaysia’s Culinary Heritage: The Best of Authentic Traditional Recipes (2020), a compilation of 230 recipes that capture the unique flavours and textures of Malaysian food, including 213 foods that had been gazetted as traditional foods by the Department of National Heritage Malaysia under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645); and Recipes Are For Sharing (2022), a compilation of 200 Malaysian Recipes that are simple and speedy to make.
Kalsom has been a columnist for The Star since 2023. She has compiled her articles in My Malaysian Food Journey (2024), which marks the culmination of her rich and colourful career in heritage cookbooks. This book is on the list of nominees for the 30th Gourmand Awards in the Food Heritage category.
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